“The most challenging aspect of this journey has been dealing with child protection”: Kinship carers’ experiences in Australia

Abstract

When children cannot live at home with their parents, a placement with relatives or family friends has become a preferred first option in many Western countries in out-of-home care systems. Whilst practised by Indigenous communities for centuries, this is a relatively new model of out-of-home care in Western child welfare systems. Kinship care has emerged as a form of care that is arguably worth investing in. It offers kin children the opportunity to remain connected to family and community. Studies suggest that kinship care results in promising outcomes for children’s education, health, and wellbeing. There is a growing awareness of kinship carers’ experiences of services designed to support them and their kin.This study aimed to investigate the experiences of kinship carers in caring for their kin children and engaging with services designed to support the kinship placement. A mixed-methods approach was adopted, including participants who had the full-time care of one or more kin children, with or without statutory child protection involvement. The nine individuals identified for in-depth interviewing were purposively selected to ensure diversity in cultural identity and geographical location across Australia. Quantitative analysis enabled the reporting of descriptive statistics and overall patterns relating to the nature of rewards and challenges encountered by carers. The qualitative component of the study design allowed for an in-depth exploration of key issues highlighted in the survey.Consistent with earlier research, kinship carers reported experiencing financial stressors and significant challenges pertaining to their kin child’s difficulties. An unanticipated finding, however, was the level of stress experienced by kinship carers in relation to their interactions with child protection and other government support services. Simply put, services intended to support the placement were experienced as disrespectful, ignoring families’ requests for help or offering a surveillance role only. For Aboriginal kinship carers, this experience of disrespect was compounded by racism and racial micro aggressions throughout the placement assessment process.Based on these findings, further investigation into child protection and other government agency practices is urgently required to assess and support kinship care placements. In the context of Australia’s legacy of the stolen generation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children, further research needs to explore culturally sensitive and safe practices that would strengthen and support kinship families to raise their children within their cultural contexts.