Office of the Guardian for Children and Young People

Foetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder Submission

April 27, 2012 Comments off

In March 2012 the Australian Children’s Commissioners and Guardians (ACCG) made a joint submission to the Commonwealth Standing Committee on Social Policy and Legal Affairs’ Inquiry into Foetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder. Read a copy of the ACCG Submission to the Inquiry into FASD on our website.

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Submissions and reports Foetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder

Wellbeing of children and young people in care 2010-11

April 26, 2012 Comments off

The Guardian’s Office monitors the circumstances of children under the guardianship, or in the custody, of the Minister. The feedback and findings collected during monitoring activities are reported in detail to the agencies involved and to the relevant Minister.

In the 2010-11 report we focussed on children’s safety, security and stability of placement, contact with family, friends and cultural community and participation in decision-making.

Wellbeing of Children and Young People in Care 2010-11 summarises the collected information.

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Youth Advisors’ tips for saying a quality goodbye

March 19, 2012 Comments off

While undertaking the mental health project file audit, an Office staff member had cause to read a handwritten goodbye letter to a child from his social worker.

The social worker reflected on the child’s achievements, strengths and what she would remember about working with him.

Youth Advisors and staff began to talk about the inevitable separations between young people and their workers and how they should and could happen.

These are some of the Youth Advisors’ thoughts:

The nature of the goodbye children seek from their social worker depends on the relationship. The more connected the relationship, the greater need for a planned goodbye. If the relationship has only been in existence for a few weeks with minimal contact, the goodbye-needs may be quite different. Nevertheless, a goodbye that recognises the relationship and reflects the needs of the child should occur.

It is a challenge for social workers to manage the personal versus professional ending of a relationship with a child. Some young children may find it difficult to recognise the difference between professional and personal relationships if they have not experienced professional relationships before.

Some social workers didn’t say goodbye at all or just made a quick phone goodbye on the day they moved on. One advisor remembered calling the worker’s office only to be told their social worker was gone. They recalled that the unprepared departure did not provide enough time to process the ending of the relationship, and left them hurt, offended and untrusting.

A number of advisors recalled not knowing what happened to their social worker and never heard about them again. Sometimes young people do not realise the value of the social worker relationship to them until later in life so it is important that the social worker takes steps to acknowledge the relationship with each child.

Advisor tips for saying a quality good-bye

Let us know in advance, wherever possible, so we can prepare for it.
Talk to us about it each time we see you. This helps us plan and prepare for the time left.
Tell us why you are leaving.
If you have time, you could send us a card or letter.
It’s great if you know who our new social worker will be and introduce them to us. If you donÕt know who our social worker will be, tell us as much as you can.
Tell us face to face.
Take a photo of you and me and leave it for me.

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Children and young people in care in school

March 12, 2012 Comments off

According to children, the benefits of going to school go well beyond their school grades.

Children in care say they like school because they make friends, learn new things, there is stability in the same places and faces and they are doing the same as everyone else their age.

Children in care are very capable and are ambitious to do well. Often though, they start behind the 8-ball and struggle to keep up. The education results for them as a group reflect this.

In 2010 there were 1,338 children in care identified in government schools in South Australia. (This number is that of those identified as being in care. The actual number is likely to be higher.) Three out of four (75.5 per cent) school-age children in care go to public schools.

National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) testing, which is carried out for children in years three, five, seven and nine, shows that children in state care are less likely to be ‘at or above the National Minimum Standard’ than the general school population. Test results for children in care also tend to be in the lower proficiency bands.

One reason for this is that a significant number have learning difficulties. One in three children in care are assessed by the Education Department as having a disability. The biggest disability category is language and communication. In 2010, 22.2 per cent of children in care at state schools had a language and communication disability, compared to the state figure of 6.1 per cent. This is expected when you consider what is likely to have happened in their early years.

Some children will act up and be disruptive, particularly when they feel threatened, humiliated or anxious. In 2010, 10.1 per cent of children in care were suspended in Term 2 , compared to 3.0 per cent of the general school population., Only 12 students though were excluded.

Attendance at school is generally very good. There is historically little difference in the absence rates for children in care compared to the total school population and in 2010 the rates were the same. Children in care with a disability are less likely to be absent than their peers with disability. The same is true for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students.

South Australia’s Strategic Plan includes the target to ‘Increase yearly the proportion of 15-19 year olds who achieve the SACE or comparable senior secondary qualification.’ As yet, the data on SACE completion rates for young people in care or who have been in care is incomplete.

The joining of education and child protection in the newly created Department for Education and Child Development (ECD) is an exciting opportunity to do much better at supporting children and young people in care to engage with formal learning and narrow those gaps in test results.

Young people who have left care, having achieved well at school, say that small things made a big difference. Among other things, positive encouragement, a good relationship with their social worker, high expectations about attendance, support from their teachers and a special relationship with a mentor or role model really helped. Birth parents’ interest and belief in education, despite in some cases the absence of parents, also made a difference.

More statistics on children and young people in the state education system can be found on the Guardian’s website.

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The right to complain

March 5, 2012 Comments off

Relatively few children and young people make complaints but does that mean that they are happy with all aspects of their care or life? A lack of complaints does not mean there are no grievances – more likely, they find it difficult to negotiate the process of making a complaint.

The Office’s Youth Advisors and the Charter Implementation Committee contributed their experiences to this article to better understand the barriers to making a complaint and how they can be reduced.

Organisations that provide services should provide an internal complaints process for young people as well as supporting them if they need to access an external complaints service. Organisations have an obligation to protect each young personÕs safety and wellbeing from the start to the finish of their complaint. Young people who are having ongoing contact with professionals or services involved in their complaint may be particularly vulnerable during a complaints process.

Children and young people frequently will not understand that they can make a complaint, what they can complain about or who to speak to. A first priority when providing any service is to make sure that the young person knows that the right to complain is an integral part of receiving that service. They should know how, by letter, email, phone or face-to-face, and who to complain to.

Once the complaint has been made it is important to find out what the young person wants to result from it and how they would like it to proceed and to manage the complaints process accordingly.

Young people will gain confidence in the process when they see confident and accountable decision making. Once started, they should be told exactly how the complaints process will progress. It should move forward without unnecessary delay and the young person should be provided with regular updates along the way.

Young people will come to the complaints process with a wide range of cultural backgrounds, literacy levels and physical and intellectual competencies. It is up to the service provider to provide for their differing needs and abilities which might involve arranging access to an advocate or support people with special skills, arranging suitable times and places to meet and making the communications appropriate in form and content.

One of the greatest barriers to initiating and following through with a complaint are the feelings of disloyalty or guilt that the young person might feel in complaining about a worker or service provider. Help from support persons or professionals may allow them to understand the situation and the feelings they are experiencing and to negotiate the process more comfortably and with important relationships still intact.

The Charter of Rights for Children and Young People in Care states that children and young people should know who to go to if they have a problem or want to complain about something. Children and young people in the care or custody of the Minister will be involved with many services and professionals throughout their time in care and this high level of contact makes it likely that at some stage, they may wish to voice a concern or make a complaint.

If your organisation has a successful, innovative complaints process that is accessed by children and young people, please email Belinda. The Office would like to hear from you!

The latest children’s rights and Charter news is on our Twitter feed.

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Foetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder Submission

Wellbeing of children and young people in care 2010-11

Youth Advisors’ tips for saying a quality goodbye

Advisor tips for saying a quality good-bye

Children and young people in care in school

The right to complain

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