Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-t8hqh Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-23T02:26:29.707Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

‘Permanent’ Care: Is the Story in the Data?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 May 2012

Cathy Humphreys
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Planning for ‘permanency’ or a ‘family for life’ has been an aspiration for many children in the out-of-home care system who are unable to return to live with their parents. It is a concept derived from research, which indicates that children who ‘drift in care’ have generally poorer outcomes than those who find at least a more stable, if not ‘permanent’, home. This article examines the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare [AIHW] data that reports publicly on child protection and children in out-of-home care to find evidence about how Australian children in out-of-home care are faring against this dimension of the care experience. Little can be said on the basis of this data. The article is written as a ‘think piece’ to raise questions about why, if such a dimension of the care experience is considered important for a significant group of children, the data is so opaque.

Keywords

permanent careadoptionguardianshipfoster care
Type
Research Article
Information
Children Australia , Volume 37 , Issue 1 , March 2012 , pp. 4 - 9
Copyright
Copyright © The Authors 2012

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Absler, D., O'Neill, C. and Humphreys, C. (2008). Report on the compilation of the permanent care questionnaire. University of Melbourne. Melbourne.Google Scholar
Australian Institute for Health and Welfare [AIHW]. (2010). Adoption report Australia. Child Welfare Series No. 50. Cat. No. CWS 38. Canberra, Australia: Author.Google Scholar
Australian Institute for Health and Welfare [AIHW]. (2011). Child protection Australia 2009–01. Child Welfare Series No. 51. Cat. No. CWS 39. Canberra, Australia: Author.Google Scholar
Barber, J., & Delfabbro, P. (2005). Children's adjustment to long-term foster care. Children and Youth Services Review, 27, 329–340.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Baidawi, S., & Mendes, P. (2010). Young people transitioning from out of home care and problematic substance use: The views of young people and workers in Victoria. Children Australia, 35, 14–21.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cashmore, J., & Paxman, M. (2007). Longitudinal study of wards leaving care: Four to five years on. Social Policy Research Centre, Sydney, Australia.Google Scholar
Conrick, J., & Brown, T. (2010). Adopted women become parents: A pilot study. Children Australia, 35, 31–36.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cunneen, C., & Libesman, T. (2000). Postcolonial trauma: The contemporary removal of Indigenous children and young people from their families in Australia. Australian Journal of Social Issues, 35, 99–116.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Department of Human Services (DHS). (2003). Public parenting — a review of home-based care in Victoria. Melbourne, Australia: Author.Google Scholar
Farmer, E. (2010). What factors relate to good placement outcomes in kinship care? British Journal of Social Work, 40, 426–444.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fernandez, E. (2008). Unravelling emotional, behavioural and educational outcomes in a longitudinal study of children in foster care. British Journal of Social Work, 38, 1283–1301.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Frederico, M., Jackson, A., & Black, C. (2010). More than words: the language of relationships, Take Two Third Evaluation Report. Melbourne, Australia: La Trobe University.Google Scholar
Hannon, C., Wood, C., & Bazalgette, L. (2010). In loco parentis. London, England: DEMOS.Google Scholar
Hartley, E. (1984). Government leadership to prevent foster care ‘drift’. Child Abuse & Neglect, 8, 337–342.Google Scholar
Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission (HREOC). (1997). Bringing them home. Report of the National Inquiry into the separation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children from their families, Sydney, Australia: Author.Google Scholar
Howarth, K. (2010). 10 Hail Marys: A memoir. Brisbane, Australia: University of Queensland Press.Google Scholar
Jackson, S. (2006). Care past and present. In Chase, E., Simon, A. & Jackson, S. (Eds.), In care and after: A positive perspective. London, England: Routledge.Google Scholar
Jain, S. (2007). Lifetime marriage and divorce trends. Catalogue 4102.0 Australian Bureau of Statistics: Canberra, Australia.Google Scholar
McDowall, J. (2009). Report Card 2009 — Transitioning from care: Tracking progress. Sydney, Australia: CREATE Foundation.Google Scholar
Moffatt, P., & Thoburn, J. (2001). Outcomes of permanent family placement for children for children of minority ethnic origin, Child & Family Social Work, 6, 13–21.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Osborn, A., & Delfabbro, P. (2006). An analysis of the social background and placement history of children with multiple and complex needs in Australian out of home care. Communities, Children and Families Australia, 1, 33–42.Google Scholar
Osborn, A., Delfabbro, P., & Barber, J. (2008). The psychosocial functioning and family background of children experiencing significant placement instability in Australian out-of-home care. Children and Youth Services Review, 30, 447–460.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pecora, P., Kessler, R., Williams, J., Downs, C., English, D., White, J., & O'Brien, K. (2009). What works in foster care? Key components of success from the Northwest Foster Care Alumni Study. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sinclair, I., Baker, C., Lee, J., & Gibbs, I. (2007). The pursuit of permanence. London, England: Jessica Kingsley.Google Scholar
Stanley, F. (2011). Child health. In Sykes, H. (Ed.), Health. Melbourne, Australia: Future Leaders. Retrieved from http://www.questions.com.au/book_chapters/pdf/Health/Fiona_Stanley.pdfGoogle ScholarPubMed
Stanley, N., Riordan, D., & Alaszewski, H. (2005). The mental health of looked after children: matching response to need. Health and Social Care in the Community, 13, 239–248.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Stein, M. (2006). Research review: Young people leaving care. Child and Family Social Work, 11, 273–279.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Swain, S., & Howe, R. (1995). Single mothers and their children: disposal, punishment and survival in Australia. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Tilbury, C., & Osmond, J. (2006). Permanency planning in foster care: a research review and guidelines for practitioners. Australian Social Work, 59, 265–280.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tweddle, A. (2007). Youth leaving care: How do they fare? New Directions for Youth Development, 113, 15–31.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, Administration on Children, Youth and Families, Children's Bureau. (2010). The Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System (AFCARS) Report. Retrieved from www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/cb/stats_research/afcars/tar/report18.htmGoogle Scholar
Wise, S., Pollock, S., Mitchell, G., Argus, C., & Farquhar, P. (2010). CIAO: Care-system impacts on academic outcomes, Research Report. Anglicare Victoria and Wesley Mission, Australia.Google Scholar