Statutory Child Protection Research Articles

Approaches to Supporting Young People in Out-of-Home Care Who ‘Self-Place’ in Unapproved Locations: Perspectives of Statutory Child Protection Practitioners

Abstract The responsibilities of statutory child protection practitioners (SCPPs) include supporting the care and protection needs of young people in out-of-home care. SCPPs face challenges in responding to young people’s preferences and rights to self-determination within child protection systems that are often risk averse. This article considers SCPPs’ approaches to working with young people who leave approved placements to stay in other, unapproved locations. This phenomenon is referred to as ‘self-placing’ in Queensland (Australia), where this study was conducted. These young people are often disconnected from support, at increased risk of homelessness and exploitation, have increased contact with the justice system, disengage from education, face barriers to mental and physical health care and experience ongoing trauma and crisis. We draw on data from seven focus groups conducted with twenty-six practitioners from Queensland’s child protection authority to explore how they work with this cohort. Our findings highlight the discomfort that SCPPs experience, due to concerns about risk and a lack of formal practice guidelines. Despite sharing concerns for the safety of young people, SCPPs adopt different approaches to manage the complexities of this work. Understanding these practices can assist in developing more responsive policies and practices for supporting this cohort.

Working Individually and Collectively: Assisting Young People with Cognitive Disability Transitioning from Statutory Systems

AbstractYoung people with cognitive disability exiting statutory child protection and/or youth justice systems are a particularly vulnerable group. They have varied, complex and dynamic needs. These are often poorly responded to, due in part to a lack of formal and informal supports. There remains a lack of specialised supports and a dearth of evidence regarding best practice in supporting this group. This paper explores social work practices which respond to the social isolation of this cohort and the gap in support as young people transition to adulthood. The paper focuses on a group program in Queensland (Australia) which was specifically designed to support young people with a cognitive disability leaving child protection and/or youth justice systems. It reports on a subset of data from a mixed-methods study. It presents the perspectives of the young people and their practitioners regarding the practices that supported the engagement of young people and created opportunities for connection and skill development within the group program. The findings highlight the importance of relationship-driven practices that are supported and resourced by the organisation, and the need for parallel individual and group work processes for achieving positive outcomes with young people with cognitive disability transitioning from statutory systems.

Supporting High-Risk Families Through a Pregnancy Family Conferencing Model: Experiences of Professionals

ABSTRACT Effective child protection responses in the perinatal period can reduce the need for long-term service intervention. A Pregnancy Family Conferencing (PFC) initiative was established in one Local Health District in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, by child protection and health services to facilitate strengths-focused planning with families identified as high risk. This qualitative study explores the experiences of professionals engaged with PFC. Findings highlight the importance of hope, building trust in difficult circumstances, and ensuring transparency, with benefits for interagency partnerships and finding meaning in the work. Findings have implications for services seeking to support families engaged with statutory child protection services during the perinatal period. IMPLICATIONS PFC provides an alternative model for child protection and health systems, promoting collaborative decision making through a strengths-based framework to benefit families and children. The findings show that PFC participation also can benefit professionals through the formation of trusting interagency and interdisciplinary collegial relationships, and working effectively with families to reduce risks.

Learning from casework in child protection: the view from within

ABSTRACT Child protection is a complex and sensitive practice. The core responsibility is the care and protection of children and young people who have been subject to, or who are at risk from abuse and neglect. The work involves investigating allegations of harm, preparing for, and making representations to the legal system, and case planning and management across a continuum of complicated care interventions. Caseworkers’ learning for child protection services is evident in a range of literature investigating multiple learning processes such as university preparation, student placements, professional supervision, training, and other post-qualifying professional development experiences at work. Much of this literature reflects an orthodox conception of learning as mentalistic and individualized. This study offers an alternative view of learning grounded in the work experiences of caseworkers themselves. It uses practice theory as a lens through which the phenomenon of learning in statutory child protection casework is explored. The findings foreground the embodied and experiential dimensions of learning in casework, transpiring through deep familiarity with the social and material situatedness of casework activity, as a form of doing and being-in-the-world.

Children dually involved with statutory child protection and juvenile justice in Australia: A developmental cascade framework

Children who experience dual involvement by child protection and juvenile justice statutory systems have poorer life outcomes attributable to higher levels of disadvantage and more complex needs compared to single system involved children. Literature regarding dual involved children in high income, western, and democratic nations are largely based on US studies. Whilst child protection and juvenile justice systems across the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, New Zealand, and Australia have somewhat similar legislative systems, cohort outcomes and relationships between risk factors and offending trajectories for dual involved children are influenced by differing legislative, geographic, and demographic contexts. Compared to international literature, significant gaps exist regarding the Australian context. Further, within Australia, there are no evaluated specific responses and/or strategies directed towards supporting this highly vulnerable cohort towards increased long-term positive outcomes. This is the first comprehensive review of Australian studies that examines the characteristics of children who have had dual involvement with juvenile justice and child protection agencies within Australia. Using a thematic analysis twenty-five studies with dual involved samples were analysed, examining the individual, familial, environmental, and systemic factors that contribute to the likelihood of children becoming involved in both child protection and juvenile justice systems within Australia. Six thematic factors emerged that characterised the trajectories of dual involved children: cumulative and destabilising adversity; maltreatment timing and type; offending onset and context; educational disadvantage and disengagement; co-occurring challenges; and First Nations overrepresentation. Our findings are applied to Developmental Systems Theory, extending on previous literature to depict an Australian first developmental cascade framework illustrating the context specific pathways of dual involved children and opportunities for intervention in Australia. The discussion highlights and compares differences between Australian and international contexts with the intention of emphasising key areas for future research, and policy and practice reform. This is important because of the nuanced differences between dual involved characteristics across different legislative and geographic contexts, with particular relevance to the experiences of First Nations children and families. Future research, policy and practice would benefit from continued reforms that focus resources on co-ordinated system responses and cohort specific services; namely, culturally appropriate diversion strategies that promote behavioural de-escalation and educational engagement.

Impacts on paediatricians testifying in cases of child maltreatment: protocol for a systematic review

IntroductionPaediatricians perform medical assessments for children in cases of suspected child maltreatment. Due to their role with statutory child protection agencies and police, paediatricians may be asked to testify in...

A naturalistic evaluation of parent-child interaction therapy (PCIT) and PCIT with trauma-directed interaction (PCIT with TDI) in Australian children exposed to abuse and neglect

BackgroundTo optimize PCIT treatment with children exposed to abuse and neglect, PCIT with Trauma-Directed Interaction (PCIT with TDI) was created. ObjectiveThe current study was a quasi-experimental cohort study (PCIT and PCIT with TDI treatment groups) with pre/post-treatment comparisons. The study was conducted in a statutory child protection agency and was a naturalistic evaluation of the outcomes achieved by this service. The outcomes under investigation included caregiver and child posttraumatic stress symptoms, child behavior problems, parenting stress, caregiver mental health, child protection notifications, and placement permanency goals. Participants and settingChildren were included in the study if they were aged between 2 and 7 years, had behavioral difficulties or trauma symptoms and/or their caregivers were experiencing parenting stress. MethodsFamilies were allocated to treatment group by clinician availability/preference (i.e., preference allocation). Caregivers were asked to report on child posttraumatic symptoms and behavioral issues; and to self-report on posttraumatic stress, general stress, parenting stress, and depression and anxiety at prescribed points in treatment. FindingsSixty-eight children and their caregivers were treated with either PCIT (n = 22) or PCIT with TDI (n = 46). Statistically significant changes were observed for both treatment conditions for some of the outcomes of interest for both children (i.e., child behavioral problems, posttraumatic stress) and their caregivers (i.e., general stress, posttraumatic stress). There was no significant main effect of treatment on any of the outcomes of interest. ConclusionFuture research should include a randomized controlled trial to adequately determine the efficacy of PCIT versus PCIT with TDI with this population.

The heuristic divergence between community reporters and child protection agencies: Negotiating risk amidst shifting sands

BackgroundChildren enter the statutory part of ‘notify-investigate’ child protection systems via the reports of others, combined with acceptance by the statutory agency. This key nexus determines entry or deflection from statutory child protection services. ObjectiveTo examine the decision reasoning and processes of community (non-governmental organisation) workers that underpin reports to statutory services. Participants and settingParticipants are non-governmental organisation (NGO) workers in Aotearoa New Zealand. MethodsThe methods are focus groups, interviews and a ‘think – aloud’ vignette-based protocol, used to elicit reporting decision rationales and experiences. Theoretical concepts of heuristics, institutional co-responsibility, and policy change are used to explore the study findings. ResultsMost cases are reported only after NGO workers ‘build a picture’ in the context of relationships with families and efforts to address risks. Reporting is a last resort option and occurs after ‘tipping point’ changes in the balance of protective and risk factors. Participants note a rising threshold and changes to the criteria for report acceptance by Oranga Tamariki (the statutory agency) in recent years, due to changing policy aims, abuse definitions, an ‘add value’ principle, and workload pressures. This heuristic change results in many reports not accepted or acted on, leading to frustration, anxiety, and ethical ambivalence for NGO workers. ConclusionsThe rising threshold and ‘adding value’ principle while aimed at collective responsibility to family issues, is perceived by NGO workers as a deflection heuristic by Oranga Tamariki. In their view, it is applied too broadly, acts as a blunt tool that does not account for differences in role and power, and is used to deflect risk responsibility. Implications for children and whānau, (extended families) the possibilities for ‘co-responsibility’, ethical reasoning, and the data generated by reports are discussed.

Parental decision making about safer sleep practices: A qualitative study of the perspectives of families with additional health and social care needs.

Despite a decline in Sudden Unexpected Death in Infancy in the UK since 2004, inequalities have widened with higher rates among families from deprived backgrounds and those known to child protection services. Almost all cases involve parents who had engaged in unsafe sleeping practices despite awareness of safer sleeping advice. To understand the perspectives surrounding safer sleep of families supported by statutory child protection agencies, and use behavior change theory to inform how approaches to providing safer sleep advice to these families may be modified. We interviewed 14 mothers, 2 fathers and one grandmother, who had recent contact with child protection services in northeast England. In-depth, semi-structured interviews, with purposive sampling. The COM-B model (Capability, Opportunity, and Motivation) structured our analysis. Parents described how anxiety, sleep deprivation, settling infants, illness, and a desire to bond with infants influence their decision making about sleep. Parents valued credible, trusted sources and understanding how safer sleep practices protect infants. Responses to questions about 'out of routine' situations suggested social pressures surrounding routines and 'good parenting' may preclude parents from acknowledging risks and planning for these situations. Open conversations tailored to the needs of families, focused upon understanding why and when parent(s) do or do not follow safer sleep guidance seem a promising way of promoting safer sleep practices. Safer sleep discussions with these families are likely to be best delivered as part of wider infant care by professionals who have an established and continuing trusting relationship with parents. While advice and information should be provided by any professional in contact with the family with the necessary expertise, sensitive conversations around sleeping practices, particularly co-sleeping, may be more easily facilitated by professionals where the statutory responsibility for safeguarding is less apparent.

Demanding Change of Colonial Child Protection Systems Through Good Trouble: A Community‑Based Commentary of Resistance and Advocacy

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities, led particularly by Grandmothers and Aunties, have persistently challenged statutory child protection systems and the harms they inflict on our children, families, and communities. Reflecting on our own experiences advocating for Aboriginal families and communities at the practice and systems level, this paper explores a reflective commentary approach concerning opportunities and challenges of community-based advocacy toward substantive sustained change. We note how the voices, experiences, and expertise of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people continue to be marginalised or ignored by non-Indigenous authorities, colonial systems, and practice. Despite the apologies and promises of successive governments, contemporary systems continue to reflect “past” approaches. In this context, we honour the strong women who have, and continue, to stand up for their children, families, and communities, further rallying for ongoing resistance and reform.

Current approaches addressing oral health practitioners' responsiveness to child abuse and neglect: A scoping review protocol.

Child abuse and neglect (CAN) poses significant risks, causing severe and long-lasting effects on a child's well-being, including physical and mental health and learning and socializing capabilities. Oral health practitioners (OHPs) uniquely position themselves to identify signs of maltreatment in the orofacial area, offer appropriate support, and collaborate with a multidisciplinary team. The literature has shown that OHPs under-report child protection concerns to a statutory child protection agency. Responding to CAN is often hindered by various factors, such as the fear of making false accusations and insufficient knowledge to detect and report potential cases. However, the literature lacks a comprehensive understanding of the strategies and interventions that can address the responsiveness of OHPs and other professionals to child protection issues. This scoping review aims to provide a broad overview and map the literature on the existing approaches to enhance the responsiveness of OHPs in child protection. The proposed scoping review will be conducted following the JBI methodology for scoping reviews guideline and reported using the PRISMA-ScR guideline. The first exploratory search is conducted to refine the search strategy and inclusion and exclusion criteria. The second search will include MEDLINE (EBSCO), CINAHL (EBSCO), Dentistry & Oral Science Source (EBSCO), Cochrane Library, and Scopus, with a date range from January 2000 to March 2023. The third search will involve reference list searching and gray literature searching in Google and Google Scholar. Government and international health organizations' websites will be searched for policies and guidelines. The review will consider studies that report the current approaches to address OHPs' responsiveness to CAN in any setting. Two reviewers will independently select sources and extract data. Any disagreements will be resolved by consensus of the research team. The extracted data will be presented in a tabulated chart with a narrative summary.

Responding to child sexual exploitation in Australia: Challenges and opportunities from the perspectives of case workers in a statutory care environment

There is a growing interest in understanding and responding to child sexual exploitation (CSE) in Australia, but limited empirical research from Australian contexts. The research reported here contributes to the evidence base by considering challenges and best practices for responding to CSE from the perspectives of 15 caseworkers in a statutory child protection and out of home care environment in one Australian region. In so doing, the paper also offers insight into CSE along with consideration of the emerging practice directions and systems surrounding these in the Australian context. Findings point to potential problems arising from existing frameworks for understanding and responding to CSE. Participants held concerns about a narrow focus on young people’s sexualised behaviours in the wider multi-agency care context. This was understood to obscure a more complex understanding of CSE and its broader context of vulnerability and connection to unmet needs – some of which can arise from the care context itself – making identification and intervention difficult. Findings align with research that emphasises outreach and intensive support for young people centring on strengthening connections, identifying and addressing unmet needs and sustaining safety through consideration of placements and living circumstances. Consideration of practice challenges and opportunities signals the importance of child-centred, wellbeing-oriented directions allowing for multiple models of CSE victimisation, underpinned by a shared language in the multi-agency context and enhanced provision in existing systems.

Correction to “Parental substance misuse and statutory child protection in England: Risk factors and outcomes”

Correction to “Parental substance misuse and statutory child protection in England: Risk factors and outcomes”

Whiteness in our understanding of culture: A critical discourse analysis of the cultural responsivity practice frameworks in child protection

This article explores the conceptualization of cultural responsivity in Australian child protection through the critical Whiteness theory lens. Critical discourse analysis was deployed to examine the cultural responsivity concept in two statutory child protection documents from New South Wales (NSW), Australia. Interrogating the underlying assumptions present in the texts, the study demonstrated a narrow categorization of who is deemed ‘culturally diverse’ and a problematic conceptualization of cultural responsivity. We argue that these texts maintain Whiteness as the unexamined cultural norm and can reinforce the ‘Othering’ effect and racial disproportionality in the child protection system. We conclude with a call to practitioners to remain critical of the widely accepted concepts that inform their practice, such as cultural responsivity to avoid reinforcing racial inequality through their practice.

Child protection inequalities for Pasifika children in Aotearoa New Zealand: diverse realities

ABSTRACT Child protection inequalities are population group differences in contact rates, experiences and outcomes of child protection systems. This article reports rates of Pasifika children’s contact with the statutory child protection system at three outcomes: substantiation, having a family group conference, (FGC) or entering care (placement), and describes intersections between these outcomes and socio-economic deprivation. Including all children resident in Aotearoa New Zealand in 2019–2020 aged 0–17 years, this study compared rates between sole Pasifika, Pasifika plus other ethnicities (Pasifika+), and Non-Māori, Non-Pasifika (NMNP) children. Substantiation was twice as likely for Pasifika, even after controlling for sociodemographic factors, and Pasifika children were 25% more likely to enter care than NMNP children. As socio-economic deprivation increased, rates of substantiation increased for all groups, but most sharply for Pasifika+ children. Sole Pasifika children had the highest rate of substantiation and FGCs in the least deprived quintile of socio-economic deprivation, but the lowest FGC and placement rates in areas of highest deprivation. Pasifika+ children had double the rate of sole Pasifika children for placement in high-deprivation areas, but this was equal to the NMNP rate. Findings are analysed via theories of inequalities. Aggregated ethnic categories obscure considerable variation in within-group experiences.

From “intimate-insider” to “relative-outsider”: an autoethnographic account of undertaking social work research in one’s own “backyard”

PurposeThis study aims to explore the challenges of being simultaneously “intimate insider” and “relative outsider” whilst undertaking an ethnography into a statutory child protection team. As a novice researcher seeking to explore a world of which he was already part, ethnography was considered the most suitable means for exploring child protection social workers’ discretion. However, by subscribing to binary notions of “insider” and “outsider” at the commencement of the study, the author underplayed the dilemma of reconciling friendships with his researcher role, as well as the barriers that his more junior organisational status could create.Design/methodology/approachThis study provides an autoethnographic account of these challenges, and the author’s evolving status and movement between “insider” and “outsider” relative to different groups within the children’s services department.FindingsThe implications include the potential for being simultaneously “insider” and “outsider” when undertaking research within one’s employing organisation; the need to reconcile challenging social work tasks with researcher responsibilities; and the difficulty of maintaining pre-existing relationships, whilst also cultivating an objective research profile.Originality/valueThis paper offers an important contribution to the limited accounts of conducting research from “inside” a statutory children’s services department and will be of benefit to early career researchers considering a research project within their own “backyard”.

The social support systems of mothers with problematic substance use in their infant's first year

AbstractThe infants of women with histories of problematic alcohol and other drug use are among the most vulnerable children known to statutory child protection services, which they enter at a younger age, and in which they remain longer. The net results include overwhelmed child protection systems and the birth of subsequent children conceived to ease women's grief at the loss their infants. Without adequate and appropriate support to the mother and her family, the pattern repeats. Obstetric services have an important role to play in the assessment of risk and protective factors in the perinatal period and in determining pathways to service provision. A comprehensive assessment considers the availability and quality of informal support prior to activation of formal systems of support, both statutory, where engagement is mandated, and non‐statutory, where support is offered on a voluntary basis. This paper uses quantitative methods to explore the social networks of women with problematic substance use in the transition to motherhood and the relationship between formal and informal support systems and infant outcomes. Surveys were held with two counsellors from the Women's Alcohol and Drug Service (WADS), a specialist obstetric clinic in Melbourne, Australia, and with 18 child protection workers. In addition, the Norbeck Social Support Questionnaire (Norbeck, 1984; Norbeck et al., 1983) was administered with 20 participating mothers to measure levels of formal and informal support, as well as the type and quality of support available to mothers over a 12‐month period, and to consider the provision of social support against known outcomes for infants. The findings demonstrate that WADS counsellors made several referrals for most women but that there was little in the way of long‐term follow‐up by non‐statutory service providers, with most women experiencing a dramatic drop in support over the 12‐month period. Women whose main informal support was from a domestically violent partner, and those who had been in out‐of‐home care in their own childhood, were particularly vulnerable to losing the care of their infant. The role of child protection varied markedly across the 12‐month period, particularly in relation to the extent that a relationship between formal and informal systems of support for mothers and their infants could be established. Overall, the study findings demonstrate that mothers experienced diminishing formal and informal support over time and that the quality of social support available to the mother was more important in terms of outcomes for women and their infants than the quantity.

Navigating the grey zone in the response to child abuse and neglect in primary healthcare settings

BackgroundChild abuse and neglect (child abuse) is a common issue that leads to significant health issues. Given the association between child abuse and health, mandatory reporting laws for doctors and nurses were introduced in jurisdictions such as the US, Canada and Australia. However, this legislation is not globally or nationally consistent. Thus, there is confusion surrounding the definition of abuse that should be reported and how to respond when suspicion does not meet the threshold of Child Protection. It is unclear as to how health professionals navigate the response to child abuse in light of this confusion. PurposeTo explore how Australian GPs and nurses navigate their response to child abuse and neglect in primary healthcare settings. MethodsTwenty-two Australian GPs and eight nurses were sampled from: private general practice and community health clinics; and Doctors in Secondary Schools, an initiative in the Australian state of Victoria that places GPs and nurses in high schools. We conducted 26 in-depth individual and group interviews. The interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed verbatim and analyzed thematically. Principal ResultsWe generated three themes: negotiating the threshold; mismatching expectations; and practising in the grey area. Participants engaged in a process of negotiating between their immediate colleagues, with families, and with statutory Child Protection authorities. When participants decided to make a report, they were met with a response from Child Protection that did not match their expectations. This led to feelings of distrust directed towards Child Protection authorities which left participants to manage patients within a ‘Grey Zone’. While practising in the Grey Zone, participants attempted to create an emotionally safe space for patients and engage in practical strategies that responded to patient vulnerabilities. Major ConclusionsWe recommend that training interventions be aimed at supporting practice within the Grey Zone and that threshold be made clearer in legal and occupational policy.

Ka mua, ka muri—Walking backwards into the future

INTRODUCTION: Spurred by critical reviews of Oranga Tamariki–Ministry for Children, Aotearoa New Zealand’s statutory child protection agency, and growing calls for services delivered “by Māori, for Māori, with Māori”, the New Zealand government is taking significant steps toward devolving responsibility for supporting the wellbeing of tamariki, rangatahi, and whanau Māori from the Crown to Iwi and Māori social service providers. Frequently overlooked in discussions of Crown–Māori partnerships are community-based Māta Waka (pan-tribal) organisations, which provide a range of much-needed services to tamariki, rangatahi and whānau Māori who are not mana whenua. The purpose of this Kaupapa Māori research was to examine the expectations that kaimahi working for a Māta Waka Kaupapa Māori service provider have of other organisations that: 1) partner with tamariki, rangatahi and whānau Māori; and, 2) partner with Māta Waka. APPROACH: Drawing on findings from wānanga with kaimahi, this article illuminates the principles and values that guide their practice, using these as a foundation for exploring the complexities, challenges, and opportunities inherent in building effective partnerships with statutory child protection services on behalf of tamariki, rangatahi and whānau Māori across differences in mandate, power, world views, and guiding frameworks or tikanga Māori. IMPLICATIONS: The study findings have implications for current Crown–Māori partnership efforts and, by extension, for the wellbeing of tamariki, rangatahi, and whānau Māori.

Providing patient-centred care as Medical Radiation Practitioners to children and young persons in out of home care.

Modern healthcare focuses on patient-centred care where patients' needs, beliefs, choices and preferences are valued and lead to better health outcomes. Children and young persons in out of home care (OOHC) require more health care services compared with children from similar social and economic backgrounds. Each state and territory government are responsible for statutory child protection in Australia. If a child is unsafe in their current environment, they may be removed and placed into OOHC where they have ongoing case management with either a government or non-government agency. Complex trauma is the prolonged and uncontrolled exposure to traumatic events, like those experienced by maltreated children. Complex trauma can create a toxic stress response that produces biological alteration to the developing brain and affects the lives of the child, other family members and their descendants. Children with complex trauma often do not have the ability to regulate their responses to stimuli, reacting to minor triggers with disproportionate reactions. Many of these children will present with challenging behaviours. Trauma-informed care is a method of service delivery that seeks to actively minimise re-traumatisation. Creating a safe space is an essential element of trauma-informed care. Children with a history of complex trauma have life experiences that may be re-lived in a healthcare setting. There are ethical and legal considerations like privacy, consent and mandatory reporting when dealing with children in OOHC. By practising trauma-informed care Medical Radiation Practitioners can minimise further trauma to one of the most vulnerable population groups in Australia.