Child Protection and Family Law: Policy, Practice and Protection

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Child Protection and Family Law Policy,
Practice and Protection
Clive Price and Megan Solomon
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Protecting Children Lack of Cross Sector Policy
and Protocols

• How can we impact
• at the level of Policy?

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• Tens of thousands of neglected children living
  in squalor
• Twin toddlers dead in a cot for up to nine days
  before being discovered
• Children removed from a house which animal
  welfare workers deem unfit for a dog
• Scenes from a third-world country? No, they are
  sorry snapshots of suburban Australia
• Figures reveal 58,000 cases of child abuse or
  neglect in Australia last year

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• In the past week, a Brisbane mother and father
  have been charged with murder and torture
  following the deaths of their 18-month-old twins

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• A pregnant mother has been charged with criminal
  neglect after five of her seven children were
  among 21 kids found living in filth at two
  northern Adelaide houses. Animal welfare
  officers deemed one of the houses unfit for a dog
  and removed it

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• A 35 year old mother has appeared in Canberra
  court charged with neglecting her four children
  by leaving them home alone in squalid conditions

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(No Transcript)
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• Statistics
• Substantiated notifications of child
  abuse/neglect have increased from 29,833 (1997)
  to 58,563 (2007) (i.e. doubled in the past 10
  years)
• NSW increase in total yearly notifications from
  28,930 (95/96) to 189,928 (06/07).
• The number of occasions where authorities found a
  child was or was likely to be harmed, abused or
  neglected increased by 45, from 40,416 (02/03)
  to 58,563 (06/07)

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• 9,340 homeless school
• students in Australia
• (census figures). Hot-bedding between
  friends/relatives houses
• 156 children died as a result of neglect last
  year (know to be at risk.)
• More than 150 cases of suspected child abuse and
  neglect reported daily

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• Rate of substantiated report is 5 times higher
  amongst Indigenous children, and 8 times more
  likely to be in out of home care than non
  indigenous children.
• 65 of children in the care system are under 10
  years of age.
• Increasing numbers of children in Out of Home
  Care 28,441 (2007) double the number of 10
  years ago

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Better Collaboration or time to Change?

• Why isnt there
• one jurisdiction
• for families?

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Government Strategies

• National Child Protection Framework (Dec 08)
  Discussion Paper May 08 Australias Children
  Safe and Well.
• Whole of Government Domestic Violence and
  Family Violence Strategy. (Qld)
• New Quality Framework for Childhood Education
  and Child Care (2.4 billion)
• Protocol between Centrelink/Child Protection
  agencies to be established for Improved
  Information sharing.
• Magellan Protocols between the FCoA and Child
  Protection services.

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Practice Parallels

• Family Law
• Contact to a parent ceases or limited
• Supervised visits at Contact Centres
• Relationship between one or more of the children
  and a parent is in peril
• Parents assessed by Psychologists/ etc..
• Court involvement

• Child Protection
• Children may be
• removed after reports of abuse/ neglect
• Supervised visits by DOCS
• Relationship between child and a parent is in
  peril
• Parents assessed by psychologists etc
• Court involvement

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FRSP Services as Inter-system Brokers

• What can Family Relationship Services do to
  broker the gap between these two systems given
  the current legislative constraints?

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Genogram

Joanne
Julie
Lenny
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30
38
3
11
Tim
Andy

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Case Study

• 11 year old boy Andy
• Family Court Orders Andy to live
• with his father
• Child Protection concerns,
• Assessment of emotional abuse,
• Concerns about physical abuse, suicidal ideation.
• FRSP service intervention with School, family,
  Police, DOCS and Family Law system.

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The Space in between

• Children become unsafe due to
• parental absence, repartnering,
• substance use, mental health issues,
• violence, parental depression,
• loss of employment, lack of
• family supports,
• We have the practice knowledge re the need to
  build resilience, of attachment problems, in
  rebuilding relationships, of the impact of
  trauma, and the vulnerability of children in some
  families
• In particular we have a role in the space in
  between the Child Protection and Family Law
  systems

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Emotional and Relational Implications for
Children

• A relational deficit a lack of
• ability to attach to others, where they
• have no capacity to trust, and they learn to
  connect to
• others using a pseudo self which is
  playful/charming or self destructive. They
  learn to give up their own needs to please
  others, either their warring parents, or to
  placate an abusive parent.
• The long term implications on
  relationships for the future are relevant
  for both the care and protection system
  and the high conflict end of the Family Law
  system

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A web of connection between systems

• FRSP services create a web of protective
  connections

Intersystem web Unique Vantage point outside
family law and child protection
systems Assessment of whole family and
understanding of relationship dynamics Advocacy
when children are at risk of harm after
separation, more vulnerable, without a
psychological parent attuned to their
needs Building a secure base of adult support...
Creating interconnected systems
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FRSP, Child Protection and Family Law

• We, in particular, family therapists,
• mediators, child consultants, group
• workers, contact centre workers.
• can build strong interventions in
• the space between CP/FL for
• Children.
• We can ensure that a
• secure base is formed in the
• systems around them, where their safety needs are
  being addressed
• and the resilience they need for the management
  of their emotional
• and relational world is not damaged for their
  future relationships.