High-frequency family contact: a road to nowhere for infants

Abstract

Understanding the practices which support the best interests of infants when placed in out-of-home care in the first year of life is a significant challenge. A study based in Victoria, Australia, explored the practice by the Children's Court of ordering high-frequency contact (4–7 days a week) with the infant's mother and father when they are placed in care in the first year of life. A literature review revealed little attention to the issue of frequency of family contact for infants. An audit of case files of all infants in care in mid-2007 showed that at 1 year follow-up, there was no difference in the reunification rate for children with a period of high-frequency contact and those with less contact with their mothers and fathers. Focus groups revealed deep divisions of opinion about high-frequency family contact which are played out in the adversarial Children's Court system in Victoria. The study highlights the complexity of understanding and supporting the attachment relationships at this critical period in the infant's life.