The Oration was delivered by the newly appointed National Children’s Commissioner, Megan Mitchell.
Keynote speakers included: Professor Fiona Arney; Professor Muriel Bamblett AM; Professor Marie Connolly; Professor Alan Hayes AM; Ms Maree Walk; and Adjunct Associate Professor Geoff Woolcock.
Professor Fiona Arney is the Chair of Child Protection and Director of the Australian Centre for Child Protection at the University of South Australia. Her career has been motivated by the desire to see children’s lives transformed through enhancing the responsiveness of families, communities, service providers and systems to the needs of vulnerable children. She has led concentrations of multidisciplinary research teams in South Australia and the Northern Territory, and has now returned to South Australia to take up the leadership of the national Centre.
Muriel Bamblett is a Yorta Yorta and Dja Dja Wurrung woman who has been employed as the Chief Executive Officer of the Victorian Aboriginal Child Care Agency since 1999. Muriel is active on many boards and committees concerning children, families and the Indigenous community, including the Secretariat of National Aboriginal and Islander Child Care (the peak agency representing Indigenous Child and Family Services nationally); the Victorian Children’s Council; the Australian Institute of Family Studies Advisory Council; the Aboriginal Child and Family Services Network; the First Peoples Education Advisory Group and the Aboriginal Community Elders Service. From 2009-2010 Muriel was a Board Member on the NT Board of Inquiry into the Child Protection System.
Muriel has been the recipient of a number of awards, including the Centenary of Federation Medal; the 2003 Robin Clark Memorial Award for Inspirational Leadership in the Field of Child and Family Welfare; the Women’s Electoral Lobby Inaugural Vida Goldstein Award; and an AM in the 2004 Australia Day Honours for her services to the community, particularly through leadership in the provision of services for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and families. In 2009 Muriel was appointed an Adjunct Professor at LaTrobe University’s School of Social Work and Social Policy.
Muriel was inducted into the Victorian Honour Roll of Women in 2011 and was a finalist for a Human Rights Medal with the Australian Human Rights Commission.
Professor Marie Connolly is Chair and Head of Social Work at the University of Melbourne. She has been at Melbourne for two years following a five year senior executive appointment within the New Zealand government as Chief Social Worker. Prior to this, she was Associate Professor and Head of Department at the University of Canterbury and founding Director of the Te Awatea Violence Research Centre.
Professor Connolly has been engaged as a consultant to governments across international jurisdictions. She is currently providing advice to the NSW government and non-government sector in the development of a plan for transitioning children in government care to non-government supported services. She also sits on ministerial and government committees relating to her area of expertise, and on the Berry Street Board of Directors.
Her child welfare practice, academic and consulting careers span over 30 years in the USA, UK, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. She has held honorary professorships at the University of Auckland and the Skondal Institute in Stockholm. She has published extensively, including 10 books in her areas of scholarship. Her research interests include: the research-practice-interface in child protection; children in statutory care; family group conferencing and family engagement strategies in child welfare; reforming child protection systems; and rights-based practice in child and family welfare.
Professor Alan Hayes is the Director of the Australian Institute of Family Studies, taking up this appointment in September 2004. He also holds a professorial appointment within the Institute of Early Childhood, at Macquarie University.
He has research and policy interests in the pathways children and their families take through life, and the role of families in supporting and sustaining development across life, from infancy and early childhood. Much of his work has focused on disadvantage, with a longstanding interest in prevention and early intervention. The impact of relationship breakdown on children is a particular interest, as is the influence of the social sciences on public policy.
He has been the chair, deputy chair or a member of four Australian Government Ministerial Advisory Councils. For the NSW Government, he chaired the committee that successfully established the Institute of Teachers in 2004 and was a member for several years of the NSW Child Protection Council.
Currently, he is a member of the Australian Government’s Longitudinal Studies Advisory Group (LSAG), the Civil Justice Evidence Base Working Group, and an inaugural member of the APS200 Leadership Forum. Beyond these, he sits on the Chief Justice’s Family Law Forum, the National Advisory Board of the Family Law Section, of the Law Council of Australia, the Advisory Committee for the Macquarie University Children and Families Research Centre (which he chairs), and the Advisory Board of the Southern Cross University Centre for Children and Young People.
An Alexander von Humboldt Fellow, he has held visiting professorships at the Free University of Berlin and the Pennsylvania State University.
Professor Hayes was appointed as a Member of the Order of Australia in 2012 for service to the social sciences through the Australian Institute of Family Studies, as a contributor to policy research, and as an academic and author.
It is all too easy to think of child wellbeing and safety as things that someone else should have fixed, is fixing or will fix. It is equally too easy to sheet home the blame for negative child outcomes to irresponsible parents, dysfunctional communities, or over-stretched schools, community services and child protection systems. Such attitudes may reflect a growing tendency to regard children and their care as a private rather than a public, shared responsibility. Despite the rhetoric of “it takes a village”, the reality is that there is hesitancy among some community members to intrude into the private space of parenting, reflecting shifts in societal views of the nature of childhood. Some of these attitudinal shifts might actually be unanticipated by-products of our success in raising awareness of child protection as an issue of community concern. Demographic, social and economic changes also shape attitudes and values. The address explores the intersection of these wider changes and child-specific attitudinal shifts. The discussion is framed by consideration of some of the historical changes in concepts of childhood, and contemporary ideas about wellbeing, safety and the place of children in Australian society.
Maree Walk commenced as the Chief Executive of Community Services in January 2012. She is focussing closely on reform and work between her agency and the Non Government Organisations (NGOs) sector. With a background in social work and a passion for innovation, Maree has more than 25 years of experience working across state governments and the non-government sector.
Before joining FACS Community Services Maree spent the past 11 years as a senior executive with The Benevolent Society, Australia’s oldest charity. As General Manager, Operations she had responsibility for all ageing, community development, mental health, carer respite and child and family programs. In that role, she successfully expanded the agency’s move into a range of different service streams and geographic areas, including Queensland.
Maree was Chair of Association of Children’s Welfare Agencies (ACWA), NSW’s peak body for child and family services, for five years. She has significant experience in working with NGOs, the corporate sector and all tiers of government.
Download PDF: Child Awareness – The NSW Experience: working to improve children’s lives everyday
Geoff Woolcock is a Senior Research Fellow at Wesley Mission Brisbane and an Adjunct Associate Professor in Griffith University’s School of Human Services and Social Work. He is particularly interested in applying indicators of community strengths in socio-economically disadvantaged communities and the factors that contribute to building child- and youth-friendly communities. His work with large-scale public and private sector organisations concentrates on developing measures of communities’ strengths, closely collaborating with local communities.
Geoff is an experienced social researcher with considerable expertise in social and community service planning and evaluation, including social impact assessment and project evaluation. He has 20 years community-based research experience nationally and internationally, in housing, youth and health sectors, particularly HIV/AIDS prevention and education, culminating in his PhD thesis on AIDS activism completed in 2000.
He is the current chair of the Australian Community Indicators Network (ACIN), is on the executive steering committee for the Australian National Development Index (ANDI) and Community Indicators Queensland (CIQ), advisory committee member of Partners for Livable Communities (PLC) Australia and is a board director of both the Logan Child-Friendly Community Charitable Trust and the Brisbane Housing Company. He is also the current Australian member on the executive committee for the Asia-Pacific Child-Friendly Cities Network and a partner investigator in the Kids in Community Study (KICS), an offshoot of the Australian Early Development Index (AEDI) where qualitative assessments of critical factors determining the success of several “outlier” school communities in low income neighbourhoods are being undertaken. Geoff speaks frequently to diverse audiences about bettering children and young people’s built and natural environments using a whole-of-community approach.
Paper presentations were presented under the following themes.
Amarylise Bessey is a Senior Research manager for ARACY with nearly 20 years experience as a researcher in both commercial and social arenas. She has worked extensively on the development of CAARS and is now working on the implementation of CAARS In local areas.
The Australian Research Alliance for Children and Youth CAARS enables first contact practitioners better engage with children and families showing the first signs of needing help, and to link families with the supports they need. This session will detail how CAARS supports practitioners, and what is required for effective implementation. It is suitable for professionals working with families.
Hayley has been a Research Officer/Analyst with the AIC since 2010. During her time with the Institute she has been involved in a number of projects, including the Evaluation of the alternative dispute resolution initiatives in the NSW Children’s Court, and the Evaluation of the Special Circumstances Court Diversion Program.
This paper will present the findings from the AIC’s recent evaluation of the NSW Family Group Conferencing pilot program. In addition to describing findings from an assessment of the implementation and short-term outcomes from the pilot, this paper highlights a number of important lessons for effective family-led decision making processes.
Carolyn Cousins has worked for 20 years in the fields of child protection, fostering, family support, domestic violence and mental health, both in Australia and the UK. She holds Masters degrees in social work and adult education, and has published in the areas of child protection, supervision and management.
Those working with vulnerable families are at risk, overtime, of having their baseline of ‘normal’ child development distorted. Based on research undertaken at the Tavistock Clinic, London, this paper will encourage participants to integrate principles of infant observation into their work to ensure they are ‘hearing’ infants and young children.
Marilyn Casley is an Associate Lecturer and consultant in the School of Human Services and Social Work, Griffith University. Marilyn has over 30 years experience in community and children services. Marilyn is a designer and facilitator of conversational processes and experiential learning programs. Marilyn research interests focus around using conversational processes to develop resilience and leadership skills in young children and the development of pedagogical leadership and integrated practice in children and human services.
Preparing professionals to work in child and family services requires curriculum and pedagogy that embrace new ways of thinking about adult-child relationships. Embedded in this way of thinking are principals that value the upbringing of children as a shared responsibility and consideration of children’s perspectives.
Download PDF: What Happens when Adults and Children Converse?
Kelsey Jones – Senior Manager, Metro Region YWCA NSW Kelsey has been Senior Manager at YWCA NSW for 2 years, managing 16 child, youth and family programs for the Metro Region. This has also included managing the NSW Child Protection Staff training project for 110 workers. Kelsey comes to the YWCA NSW with 12 years experience in the not-for-profit sector in international and state based NGOs based in Sydney and Perth. Kelsey’s background in sociology and developmental psychology has led her to focus on working with disadvantaged communities, particularly children and families.
YWCA NSW knows that ‘it takes a village to raise a child’ and that child protection should be everyone’s business! With this philosophy, YWCA NSW has trained 110 community staff in child protection and mandatory reporting, in a 6 month period. During this process we have identified some important lessons about how best to promote child protection and the key elements to successfully embed child wellbeing and safety across organisations and the community.
Download PDF: Engaging the Village: Child Protection Training in Practice
Lee-Anne Smith is the founder of a unique community based organisation working with Aboriginal young people determined to have a positive impact on their community and a better world for others. Erika Jacobson is the Founder of Act Out a theatre company for community and personal development offering transformative workshops, programs and performances that engender empowerment, creativity, equity and well being in communities and organisations.
This interactive workshop features a short performance of Just Another Day – a forum play about violence against women in which participants can change the outcome of the play. Experience first hand the techniques used during this HALO / ACT OUT community development project created and performed by young Aboriginal men.
Dr Amanda Shea Hart is a highly experienced senior clinician, family consultant, and skills trainer who specialises in cases of violence and abuse and in separated families in dispute. She introduced child inclusive dispute resolution to Australia and her PhD was on children’s best interests in family law in DV cases.
This presentation will provide opportunities for family mediators, collaborative practitioners and child and family consultants to receive input about the importance of child inclusive practice in family disputes where domestic violence is an issue. Thought provoking input on some inherent challenges, case examples and discussions are included.
Jenny Terry is Clinical Manager for Wanslea in Western Australia. She has twenty-three years’ experience working with children and families in mental health and child protection. Jenny’s passion is working with children having completed her MA on Resilience in vulnerable children exploring the impact of vicarious traumatisation on practitioners
This presentation is relevant to practitioners working directly with children and their families as well as supervisors, managers and policy makers. It aims to provide delegates with a context for a child-centred, family-inclusive approach. It addresses some of the challenges and benefits that arise from using such a framework.
Download PDF: The Child In Sight, In Mind and Right in the Centre
Judy Graham is co-author of the Traffic Lights resource for professionals ‘Sexual behaviours in children and young people: A guide to identify, understand and respond’ and the book for parents ‘Is this normal? Understanding your child’s sexual behaviours’. Judy is passionate about supporting people to develop the skills and confidence to respond positively to child sexual behaviours.
The way adults interpret child sexual behaviours impacts on the ways they respond. Family Planning Queensland uses the Traffic Lights framework to assist professionals, parents and carers to support healthy sexual development and to protect children from harm or abuse. Participants will use Traffic Lights to explore scenarios and practice implications.
Rhys Price-Robertson has worked at the Australian Institute of Family Studies since 2009. His areas of interest include family relationships, fatherhood and child protection. He has also worked as a nurse in the aged care and mental health sectors, and as an intern at the World Health Organization in Geneva.
Child Aware Approaches are primarily aimed at identifying families in which children are in need, and providing them with supports to enhance their wellbeing and prevent their involvement with child protection services. This paper explores the tensions that may exist between mandatory reporting obligations and child aware approaches.
Brad Morgan, Workforce Development Officer for the COPMI national initiative, develops education resources for the mental health sector to promote positive mental health for children and families where a parent has mental illness. Brad previously worked rural communities as an occupational therapist in mental health and early childhood development.
Are you or your staff working with clients who are parents? Don’t miss this opportunity to explore a new training resource designed to assist supervisors of staff working with clients who are parents. The resource provides practical supervision strategies to encourage and motivate workers to apply child aware approaches that can improve outcomes for clients and their children.
Kajsa Wevel has many years of social work experience, working with children and families in both Australia and Sweden. This work included: statutory child protection, Family Court, adoptions, reunifications, family preservation and, over the past four years, with the Wanslea COPMI program. She has studied in both Australia and Sweden.
The presenters, who developed and implemented a program for 3-6 year-old COPMI children in a group setting, discuss the strategies involved and provide insight as to the challenges faced when working with children in this age group, supported (in a short video) by the children who participated.
Download PDF: Wanslea COPMI Group Work/Peer Support with 3-6 year old children
Michelle Henderson graduated with a Bachelor of Psychology in 2010, and shortly after began working at Ruah as a Community Mental Health Worker. In 2012, Michelle joined the Perspectives team as a Project Worker to assist with the development of the Child Aware project with a focus on training development.
Incorporating Child Aware training and Family Inclusive practices across Ruah Community Services supports workers to recognise and respond to the impact of adversity on children and families. The presentation is targeted to Managers and Workers interested in providing services which identify and support the needs of the whole family
Download PDF: Child Aware and Family Inclusive Policy and Practice: An Organisational Journey
Alana Laundy, Manager North Gold Coast Early Years Centre, The Benevolent Society
Dr Angela Carr, Acting Senior Manager Research and Evaluation, The Benevolent Society
This paper will explore the conundrum of “hard to reach” families and children, through a detailed account of how the Benevolent Society’s North Coast Gold Coast Early Years Centre uses place based responses to reach vulnerable families and provide early intervention and prevention services.
For over 30 years’ experience, Sue Kingwill has worked in isolated communities, evolving child and family programs. She is the CEO of Contact Inc; established the National Association of Mobile Services (NAMS), then was the inaugural Chairperson and continues in an involvement with NAMS and the NSW Mobile Association.
Contact Children’s Mobile has involved the Aboriginal community with the design, development and delivery of this holistic service resulting in positive engagement grounded in the local contexts, values and needs of the communities. Presentation of interest to those seeking to develop programs with Aboriginal children and families in remote locations.
Dr Dianne Jackson is the CEO of Connect Child and Family Services, a multidisciplinary, early years focused organisation in NSW. Dianne also holds an adjunct position at the University of Western Sydney and is the Australian Research Alliance for Children and Youth (ARACY) NSW State Convenor.
Integrated service delivery is complex and presents challenges to contemporary early childhood and family focused practice. This paper describes the theory based approach that Connect Child and Family Services has used to build a ‘competent system’ of professional support for all staff that enhances their work with vulnerable families.
Sophie Staughton has been living and working in the remote central desert region of Western Australia for the past six years. Sophie was recipient of the WA Social Worker of the Year Award (Rural and Remote Practitioner) 2012 in recognition of her creative and engaging ways of building child safety and wellbeing with Aboriginal families.
Remote child protection practice with Aboriginal families is, at heart, about simplicity in engaging across the cross-cultural divide. This presentation will draw out lessons that Sophie Staughton has learned from six years living in the Ngaanyatjarra Lands of WA. For child protection practitioners and policy makers working with Aboriginal families.
Dr Shelley Mallett is the General Manager Research and Service Development at Hanover Welfare Services and Visiting Fellow at the Centre for Women’s Health, Gender and Society at the University of Melbourne. Shelley has worked extensively in academia and the Community sector. She has expertise in homelessness, housing and health inequities research.
Across Australia, services for children experiencing homelessness and/or family violence are limited, unevenly distributed and poorly integrated with child protection programs and family support services. This paper reports key findings from a literature synthesis analyzing academic and community services literatures on effective programs, service models and practices with these children.
Jess Wilson has worked in the Human Services sector for fifteen years in a variety of government and non-government organisations. She is a social worker, a teacher, a volunteer. For the past 5 years, Jess has worked as a Project Manager for The Benevolent Society, developing and implementing new and innovative models of integrated service delivery that support communities across NSW and Queensland.
This presentation will explore the development of a unique partnership between The Benevolent Society and the Queensland Country Women’s Association (QCWA) which aims to provide integrated child and family programs to children and families in rural and regional areas of Queensland.
Shaun Lohoar (Senior Research Officer) works at the Australian Institute of Family Studies and conducts research on Australian children, families and communities. His focus on Indigenous communities include examinations of: safe and supportive families and communities for children; approaches to increase Indigenous employment rates, and; effective service delivery coordination practices.
The presentation will discuss the appropriateness of methods used to collect Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Promising Practice Profiles. The aim is to assist researchers, policy-makers and practitioners to consider how particular research approaches can improve service responses for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and their families.
Dr Marc Rerceretnam is a researcher with the Association of Children’s Welfare Agencies (NSW) and a freelance academic author. He also has a special interest in social and political trends and movements in Australia and the Southeast Asian region. Correspondence in connection with this paper should be addressed to: marc@acwa.asn.au
This presentation will provide an overview of the national and international research into foster care looking at the notion of ‘high quality’ foster carers and identifying the characteristics of this group. It will also consider how this potentially translates into support for foster care agencies.
Liz Little was Tasmania’s Inaugural Sex Discrimination Commissioner. She is the architect of the award winning Tasmanian Safe at Home family violence program. In 2009, Liz went to China to work with government officials on responses to eliminating family violence. In 2011 she spoke at the House of Lords on the same issue. Liz is currently the CEO of the Sexual Assault Support Service in Tasmania.
Research estimates that sexual abuse by children and young people could constitute 40-90% of sexual offending against children. There is a need to develop a consistent response across a range of service provision settings. The Pathways to Change project scoped the nature of the problem; identified a ‘community of care’ intervention model; and, produced information resources for carers and professionals.
Anthony is a Principal Research Analyst with the Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice Responses program at the Australian Institute of Criminology, where he has worked since 2006. He has undertaken a wide range of research projects, evaluating various crime prevention, criminal justice and child protection programs.
This presentation will outline the findings from the outcome evaluation of two alternative dispute resolution (ADR) initiatives recently implemented in the NSW Children’s Court. This research has important implications for using ADR in child protection disputes and is relevant to policy makers, judiciary, ADR practitioners and child protection agencies.
Shirley Peppler is a social worker with 17 years’ experience in youthwork, community work, sexual assault, women’s health and child protection. Shirley has worked for government, community and in private practice, in Australia and Ireland. She is the Coordinator at Young Parents Program and was the Young Women’s Health Worker (1996-2002).
Young Parents Program Young Parents Program’s (YPP) supports young women aged 19 and under through first time pregnancy and early parenting. YPP’s best practice service model, evidence from young women and community partners, and practice reflections around working with “resilience” and “attachment” with Young Mums and children will be discussed.
Download PDF: It Takes a Village to Raise a Child: Moving Away from the Crisis Approach
Jenny Wing is a Family Therapist who has worked with children, adolescents and families affected by sexual assault for the past 20 years. She has worked in Child Protection, sexual assault services, and out of home care programs. Jenny currently manages the Sexual Abuse Counselling and Prevention Program at the Children’s Protection Society.
Young people living in residential care who have engaged in sexually abusive behaviours have particular care needs that support their treatment and keep them and others safe while they address their harmful behaviours.
Associate Professor Meaghan O’Donnell is the Director of Research at The Australian Centre for Posttraumatic Mental Health. Meaghan is a clinical psychologist and has published widely in the area of posttraumatic mental health. She holds a number of large research grants and is a grant recipient of the Child Aware Approaches Initiative.
It is well recognised that children and young people within child and family service organisations are exposed to high levels of trauma in the form of abuse and neglect. The aims of this project were (i) to identify the evidence for approaches that target outcomes in children exposed to trauma in the form of abuse and neglect; (ii) to identify the use of evidence based approaches in this sector that target these outcomes , and (iii) to identify practical drivers and obstacles to the uptake of evidence-based trauma-informed approaches. The results will be presented and implications for practice in the field are discussed.
Jennifer Power is a research fellow whose research background is in the areas of family studies, sexuality, sexual health and gender. Henry von Doussa is a writer and academic who had worked extensively in the areas of sexual health, community networks and, more recently, trauma-informed practice.
This paper reports the findings from consultations with service providers across the adult health and human services sectors. The consultations explored the meaning of trauma-informed child and family sensitive practices and the barriers to their implementation within adult services.
Since joining the Research Team at the Commission for Children and Young People and Child Guardian in 2008 Brian has co-authored the Views of Children and Young People in Foster Care 2010 with Dr Lee Tennent, produced the 2011 edition of the Commission’s annual statistical review Snapshot 2011: Children and Young People in Queensland, and managed the Views of Young People in Residential Care 2012 survey. Before joining the Commission, Brian performed a number of roles at the former Department of Child Safety including systemic performance measurement and development of key components of the department’s performance measurement framework following the roll-out of the Integrated Client Management System (ICMS).
This presentation reports findings from the most recent Views of Children and Young People in Foster Care Survey, which attracted over 4000 responses. The survey explores a range of domains relevant to health and wellbeing including children’s and young people’s placement histories, perceptions of current placement, and relationships with carers, case workers and Community Visitors.
Download PDF: Being in care: What contributes to positive outcomes for children and young people?
Kim Ramsden is a social work practitioner and associate lecturer at James Cook University. She is a supporting member of the Family Inclusion Network in Townsville. Kim’s PhD research is critically examining ‘the best interests of the child’ with children and their families within child protection practice.
‘The best interests’ principle is paramount within child welfare practice however the construct is poorly defined and subjectively enacted by professionals. PhD research conducted with children and their families critically examines the concepts of safety and wellbeing and what is ‘in the best interests of the child’.
Lisa Hillan, Programs Director Lisa is a Social Worker with over 20 years’ experience working with vulnerable communities in program design and delivery. For over 10 years, Lisa worked in Queensland and the Northern Territory in partnership with many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander organisations to build their children and families sector. As Programs Director at the Healing Foundation, Lisa is responsible for the development of healing initiatives with a culturally strong program design creating positive change to the wellbeing of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.
The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Healing Foundation recognises that for the cycle of trauma and disadvantage to be interrupted it is imperative that we support our children and young people to heal. The Intergenerational Trauma Initiative is a new approach to working with young people and families to improve physical, emotional, social and spiritual wellbeing by strengthening cultural connectedness and identity. This presentation will explore the role healing programs can play in promoting the safety and wellbeing of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and young people by combining best-practice approaches to trauma recovery with Indigenous knowledge systems about how culture can assist healing and restore harmony and balance.
The Raising Children Network offers reliable and scientifically validated information and resources to support parents and carers. Originally targeting parents and carers of children aged 0-8 years, the RCN now includes information for parents of teenagers and children with special.
The Raising Children Network offers reliable and scientifically validated information and resources to support parents and carers. Originally targeting parents and carers of children aged 0-8 years, the RCN now includes information for parents of teenagers and children with special.
Anne-Marie is the current CEO of Playgroup Australia. She has over 20 years’ experience in the community sector, having been amongst other things, the inaugural CEO for both Carers Australia and Families Australia. She has also worked within Government as an advisor to a Federal Government and as bureaucrat (for a short time!)
Community Playgroups are a uniquely Australian legacy of the social movements of the 1970s. In relation to vulnerable families, rather than “rescuing” dysfunctional families, Community Playgroups act as a low-key, inexpensive “top of the cliff” approach, where mutual understanding and support of a key life-stage can generate powerful parent to parent support, as well as providing governments and professionals with a conduit to deliver information and key messages, relevant to all families regardless of socioeconomic status.
Download PDF: Community Playgroups: Empowering Vulnerable Families
Christine Ockenfels is the General Manager of Counselling, Children and Family at Anglicare WA. She has extensive experience in working with vulnerable families and individuals across the life span, with a focus on Family and Domestic Violence, Mental Health, child protection, drug and alcohol, couples counselling and early intervention strategies. Cristina Marcelino Aliivaa has worked in the community sector in the areas of drug and alcohol, employment, housing and young parents and working with at risk and vulnerable clients. She currently works on the Child Aware project developing and implementing a screening tool for at risk families transitioning into parenthood.
Developed by Drummond Street Services and adapted by Anglicare WA, The Parent Wellbeing Checklist is an early intervention tool designed to be used at a grass roots level to identify parents at risk. We will discuss the project, challenges/ successes, how to implement the tool and give recommendations for its use.
Download PDF: The Parent Wellbeing Checklist: it’s not about parenting, it’s about the parent.
Anna Huber and Sonia Costello are psychologists who have worked in the Marymead Centre for Early Life Matters over the last 6-7 years. Sonia is the current program manager and Anna is the former program manager who co-ordinated the research component of the Child Aware project.
Child Aware funding enabled aggregation of data collected over 6 years in a community based clinical program using Circle of Security 20 week psychotherapeutic group intervention to improve problematic parent-child relationships. This paper outlines preliminary evidence for effectiveness of COS in reducing risk to child wellbeing and safety.
Stefan Gruenert is a psychologist and CEO of Odyssey House Victoria with 13 years’ experience in the AOD sector. Currently a Board member of the state and national AOD peak bodies, Stefan has been actively involved in promoting change to better support parents with addictions and their children, including co-authoring a parenting support toolkit AOD workers.
This presentation will outline a new resource that explores the relationship between Alcohol and Other Drugs (AOD) and Family and Domestic Violence (FDV) services. The resource focuses on identifying how the AOD sector can better support its clients and address family violence, including minimising the harm to children.
Meredith Kiraly is a psychologist with over thirty years experience specialising in out of home care. She is a part-time Research Fellow (Child, Youth and Family Research Cluster) in the Social Work Department at the University of Melbourne and has a small consultancy in human services.
This paper will present the results of a large survey of kinship carers (430 responses), and focus groups with kinship carers and support staff, about children’s contact with their families Implications for policy and programs will be discussed. The presentation will be of interest to practitioners, policymakers and researchers.
Anita Morris is in her final year (2013) of a PhD at University of Melbourne. She is a Masters qualified Social Worker with many years experience working with children and families in health, community and educational settings. She is interested in the challenges of embedding child-focused services within adult-focused organisations.
This paper presents findings from the SARAH Project, a qualitative PhD study of children’s safety and resilience in the context of family violence. Mother’s and children’s own perspectives are revealed along with key findings of the factors which promote children’s safety and resilience. Policy and practice implications are discussed, with particular emphasis on primary care intervention.
Download PDF: Understanding Children’s Safety and Resilience in the Context of Family Violence
Social/market researcher, Margaret Lum , is passionate about action research and high needs audiences to develop flexible and responsive services for socio-cultural contexts and build capacity. Child welfare advocate, Madeleine Read, has consulted and researched widely on the potential for voluntary safe accommodation options for Indigenous primary school kids.
Could ‘general’ foster (safe) homes improve the wellbeing and literacy of Indigenous kids in remote areas? As an alternative to institutionally run hostels or child protection orders, safe houses where kids go voluntarily for food, a shower, and a good sleep might provide an answer – achievable without red tape?
Chairperson of SNAICC and CEO of Aboriginal Family Support Services Inc. (AFSS), Adelaide, Sharron Williams is a Narungga/Kaurna woman. Since 1997 Sharron has been the CEO of AFSS, the peak Aboriginal social welfare organisation in SA. Sharron��™s experience has included 15 years with Correctional Services in strategic and policy development positions, including as the first Indigenous Public Relations Officer within SA Correctional Services. Sharron has served on the SNAICC national executive since 1999 and was elected Chairperson in November 2011.
What strategies and approaches are being explored by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander organisations across Australia to respond holistically to the needs of children impacted by family violence? This session will explore key principles, practices and learning’s from these strategies and offer insights on directions and supports needed to better meet the needs of our children.
Melissa O’Halloran has a background in psychology and law and works as the Coordinator of the Hume Strengthening Risk Management Demonstration Project in Berry Streets Northern Family and Domestic Violence Service. Emma Toone is a psychoanalytically-trained child psychotherapist working in the Berry Street NFDVS Turtle program which provides a therapeutic response to the needs of infants, children and parents after family violence. Emma’s practice and research interests include offering accessible psychoanalytic interventions to children, parents and the systems of workers supporting them.
Children living with family violence can be difficult to reach. This presentation will review a demonstration project targeted at women and children experiencing high risk and complex family violence. This innovative multiagency approach engages women and their children to keep them safe, and intervene therapeutically to support their relationship.
Kylie Williams is a Social Worker with over 15 years experiencing working with children and families across a variety of settings including education, government and the non-government sector. Kylie’s current role is Team Leader of The Benevolent Society’s Family Wellbeing Service. Susan Cary manages The Benevolent Society’s Browns Plains, Acacia Ridge and Beaudesert Early Years Centres. These centres support children (pre-birth to eight years of age) and their families, carers and community. Susan has an MA in Early Childhood Studies and has worked in the early childhood field in Australia and the UK.
The Benevolent Society’s Family Wellbeing Service is a new initiative which identifies and addresses emerging mental health issues in children. This presentation showcases a model of working with children and families where early signs of anxiety, depression and behavioural issues are present, utilising a partnership approach within an integrated setting.
Paul Fitzgerald is the Manager of Wanslea’s metropolitan Children Of Parents with a Mental Illness (COPMI) program. As a Social Worker and Educator he values conversations amongst children and young people that raise, and also attempt to answer, their questions about the impact of mental illness on their family. Carol Clark is a Social Worker with 30 years’ experience. Carol manages Perspectives on children families and mental health, a small resource unit that supports workers and services to respond in ways which support the recovery journey for parents experiencing a mental Illness and meet the needs of their children.
Two agencies worked in collaboration with people with a lived experience of Mental Illness to develop and deliver a series of workshops for whole families. Over four years and a range of funding sources participants explored the best ways of engaging with families and their children to improve family communication, resilience, understanding of mental illness and reducing stigma.
Michelle Henderson graduated with a Bachelor of Psychology in 2010, and shortly after began working at Ruah as a Community Mental Health Worker. In 2012, Michelle joined the Perspectives team as a Project Worker to assist with the development of the Child Aware project with a focus on training development.
Incorporating Child Aware training and Family Inclusive practices across Ruah Community Services supports workers to recognise and respond to the impact of adversity on children and families. The presentation is targeted to Managers and Workers interested in providing services which identify and support the needs of the whole family.
Dr. Cathy Kezelman is a medical practitioner, mental health consumer, advocate, President Adults Surviving Child Abuse (ASCA) , director Mental Health Coordinating Council (MHCC) and foundation member of national Trauma Informed Care and Practice Advisory working Group. She is a prominent speaker, author and media commentator. She is co-author of the ASCA document – Practice Guidelines for Treatment of Complex trauma and Trauma Informed Care and Service Delivery.
Unresolved trauma underpins many of the mental health, substance abuse, domestic violence challenges, families face – risk factors for ongoing abuse and neglect. This presentation highlights the piloting of a trauma informed training package, its attendant benefits for families, children and young people, and plans for its national roll-out
Robyn Ramsden holds a doctorate in health and social sciences and is an honorary fellow at Deakin University. She has published in the areas of drug prevention, drug education, and refugee issues and been involved in research projects in drug education and mental health promotion. Bella St Clair holds Masters Degrees in healthcare quality improvement and business operations and is undertaking a doctorate at the University of New South Wales. She has run a number of projects for health care organisations and accreditation bodies particularly in the area of health service change management
Royal Far West took an action research approach to enhance screening processes for improved delivery of health services. The presentation outlines the research findings, and reflects on the key challenges and successes in developing screening tools and processes to improve health outcomes for children living in rural and remote NSW.
Joe Tucci is CEO of the Australian Childhood Foundation and a social worker with 25 years’ experience in working with traumatised children and their families. Janise Mitchell is Deputy CEO of the Australian Childhood Foundation and a social worker who has worked extensively in developing and implementing therapeutic out of home care programs for children.
Child abuse and neglect are likely to be experienced as pervasive. This paper draws from a study of 60 children who have experience chronic traumatisation to examine: – how specific clusters of parental risk factors combine to affect children and young people differently; – the modalities that work effectively with toxic experiences of trauma; – the best ways to organise networks around children to support their recovery.
Chris Dickson is a resisted psychologist with over 10 years therapeutic experience. A mindful based general practitioner Chris has had the privilege of working alongside individuals, families, community groups and organisations within a broad range of contexts. As Northern Kids Care Manager Chris has complied a family resilience program for families living with a mental illness. Tracey Lawson has worked across the mental health and disability sectors for 20 years. She has been a direct support worker and has also worked in all levels of coordination and management. Tracey has an undergraduate degree in Psychology, Grad Dip Counselling, Grad Dip Dispute Resolution, Grad Dip International Business and Law and currently undertaking Executive MBA. From a personal point of view Tracey has raised five children as a single parent and is passionate about the provision of adequate supports for parents.
Under the On Track Community Programs auspice the Northern Kids Care program has complied a family resilience program for families with a parent living with mental illness. The Be, Breathe, Believe, Family Resilience Program is a program which recognises the bi-directional influences of resilience and attempts to incorporate this awareness into every stage of intervention.
Download PDF: The Be, Breathe, Believe, Family Resilience Program
Elspeth Ferrari is a Senior Program Coordinator at Extra Edge Community Services who graduated with a Bachelor in Early Childhood Studies. After then completing a Diploma in Professional Counselling she sought a new challenge of working in the not for profit sector. Elspeth manages teams delivering programs at female and youth correctional facilities.
The Child Aware Prison Project, developed by Extra Edge Community Services, is designed to support staff and mothers in WA prisons. The purpose is to raise awareness of the impact of trauma, provide strategies and links to support the mother. The target audience is both government and nongovernment agencies working with vulnerable families.
Safe from the Start is an evidence-based project on the effects on children aged 0-6 exposed to family violence/abuse. A child is forever changed but not forever damaged’ informs the training program and therapeutic resource kit. The project was awarded the top Australian Violence & Crime Prevention Award.
Download PDF: Safe from the Start – Children aged 0-6 who have been exposed to family violence
Shannon Keebaugh, MSW/SocSc, has been the project manager & main writer for the Attune film project at the Northern Family & Domestic Violence Service (NFDVS) Berry Street. Shannon has worked for over twenty years in community services. She has written on family violence, poverty, single mothers, abuse disclosure, homeless young people. Emma Toone is a psychoanalytically-trained child psychotherapist working in the Berry Street NFDVS Turtle program which provides a therapeutic response to the needs of infants, children and parents after family violence. Emma’s practice & research interests include offering accessible psychoanalytic interventions to infants, children, parents and the systems of workers supporting them.
The Attune Project has drawn on the expertise of family violence and child therapy practitioners in mainstream & Aboriginal controlled services to create short training films demonstrating ways that workers can incorporate the child’s perspective in conversations with mothers after family violence. This workshop will include a screening of the films.