Intensifying our social work effort with children in care
What's Important To Us
Our children in care are one of the most vulnerable groups we work with - they are reliant on us to make the best possible decisions for them, to advocate for them, and to carry out any tasks and plans to the best of our ability.
Whenever a child enters care, this is a 'critical' event. It is a serious situation which needs to be managed in a responsible and measured way. We need to immediately develop a sound and robust plan which will give the child a home for life. We then need to actively work this plan until it has been achieved.
Securing safe whānau care
International literature tells us that children placed with whānau generally have much better outcomes than those placed with non-whānau caregivers. Specifically, whānau placements have been found to:
- better preserve children's links to their parents, siblings, extended whānau and community
- offer greater placement stability (less caregiver changes)
- reinforce children's sense of identity and self-esteem
- reduce the trauma of separation (by providing familiar caregivers)
- reduce the stigma of being ‘a child in care'
(Aldgate, Rubin, Downes, O'Reilly, 2008 in Worrall, 2009).
In spite of these outcomes, finding safe and appropriate whānau to care for children can be a time-consuming and difficult task. Over the years some families will have lost contact or become disconnected, while other families simply don't have the resources or capacity to be safe caregivers.
In the first instance, look through the family's case history on CYRAS and in client paper files. Take note of whānau that may have attended past meetings in respect of the child or other family members. If family are having trouble identifying potential caregivers within their whānau group, talk to your site colleagues about what they may know about the whānau - they can be a very useful source of information, particularly if the family have had previous involvement with Child, Youth and Family. Other sources of information about family include iwi organisations, community groups, and Work and Income.
Even with all the effort in the world, there will be times when it is just not possible to locate safe family caregivers. In these circumstances, the next best step is to locate non-whānau caregivers for the child. ‘Matching' the child to the caregiver will be an important part of this process.
Supporting the child's placement
The level of support given to the caregivers and the child in their care will influence the success of the placement.
The role of the social worker in supporting a child's placement should never be underestimated. Social workers can do more to support a placement than just making sure caregivers are receiving board payments and visiting every two months. Research shows that caregivers really appreciate it when social workers display an interest in how they are managing, pay attention to the caregiver's own family needs and circumstances, are easily contactable and responsive, and listen and encourage (Sellick, 1999; Fisher, 2000). This doesn't necessarily have to involve a lot of work on the part of the social worker, and could be achieved with a 15 minute ‘catch up' phone call to the caregiver each week or every couple of weeks.
In the early days of a placement, maintaining contact with caregivers is extremely important and should be built into the plan of support around them. The contact may happen more frequently initially to help things settle and check that everyone is doing okay and has the support they need.
Ensure that children's care plans are accurate and comprehensive, even when placements are made with whānau - we cannot assume caregivers will know everything they need to need to know about a child by virtue of the fact that they are related. Although the caregiver may be familiar with the child, they still may not be completely prepared to manage the physical, social and emotional effects that often accompany abuse and neglect.
Think about some of the other supports you can provide caregivers:
- Do they require support with accommodation to reduce pressure on other household members?
- What arrangements can be made to give the caregiver and child a break from each other - i.e. school holiday camps, after school programmes, respite?
- Does the child display specific behavioural issues for which the caregiver will require support?
- Do they need someone to help them link in with a caregiver support group like Grandparents Raising Grandchildren or the New Zealand Family and Foster Care Federation?
Also think about ways in which you could support caregivers to be more involved in the decision-making about the child - i.e. holding meetings outside of traditional working hours, or holding meetings at their home or another location of their choice.
Managing children's contact with their parents is an area that can be fraught with difficulty for many caregivers, particularly for whānau caregivers. Often times they will have existing relationships and allegiances to the parents which can make it hard for them to put the child's needs first, or there might be ‘bad blood' which creates lots of adult conflict. Think about what is best for the child, and work out contact arrangements that meet their needs.
We also need to be mindful that our caregivers might find it difficult to ask for help when they need it. They may feel that they should be able to manage or they may be fearful of asking for help because this could be misconstrued as them not coping. Too often we are made aware that caregivers are having difficulties only when things have reached ‘crisis' point. Regular contact with them to ask what we can do to support them and strengthen the placement will help prevent these crises from happening.
Keeping the child's plan on track
Children, particularly babies and infants, have a different concept of time from adults and are therefore less able to tolerate uncertainty and delay (Lowe & Murch, 2002). This means that decisions about children's futures need to be made within well-defined timeframes. Six months is a long time in the life of a one year old. Children's lives cannot be put on hold while adults argue about what to do or while they focus on the needs of other adults. Every task in the child's plan needs to have its own clear timeframe which is both realistic and achievable. There is little point, for example, in setting a timeframe for the completion of counselling by October when you know that the counsellor is actually unavailable until September.
It is also important to ensure that all children undergo health and educational assessments when they enter care so that we can better understand their needs at the earliest point possible. Studies from the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia have found that children in care have very high rates of behavioural and emotional problems (between 60-96%), developmental problems (60%), hearing impairment (28%), dental caries (27%) and skin conditions (24%). Many children will often have multiple health and/or education problems. Ensure that the child's health and education needs, and any other identified needs, are being met by their plan. Also, does the plan clearly state what the needs are, how they will be addressed and who will be addressing these?
If the plan is for the child to return home, it is important that we stay in touch with the parents. We want to give them every opportunity to achieve their tasks so maintaining contact, assisting them (where possible) and keeping them on track is crucial.
Read Key Information: Planning and reviewing for guidance on planning.
Considerations when visiting children in care
Before visiting a child in care, think about the things that you would like to discuss with them during your visit. Perhaps things have happened since your last visit that you want to talk about with them, or there may be things happening in the future that you both need to plan for.
Give some thought as to the best location for the visit. Ask the child beforehand where they would prefer. Some children are okay about being visited at school but others may find it embarrassing or disruptive. If you see the child at their home, consider where on the property you could talk - the child may have a favourite place in the back yard or a favourite room in the house. Perhaps a walk through their local park might be more preferable. The majority of visits with the child should take place at their home. As well as giving you an insight into their living conditions, you can also take the opportunity to have a chat with their caregiver afterwards.
Think about what you might take along with you on your visit. A pad and some crayons might be a useful engagement tool with a child while the three houses diagram may also guide your discussions.
Spend time with the child on their own, away from their caregivers and other people (including siblings) in the house. Using open-ended questions, ask the child about their school, friends, caregivers, family, and recent family contact. Ask them what has been going well and not so well for them since your last visit. Ask them if they have any questions for you, and if you don't have an answer tell them you will find out and let them know. Be mindful of their body language and tone of voice.
Read the following for more information about visiting children:
Key Information: Social work visits
References and further reading
Aldgate, J. & McIntosh, M. (2006). Looking After The Family: A Study of Children Looked After in Kinship Care in Scotland. Edinburgh: Social Work Inspection Agency.
Aldgate, J. (2009). Living in kinship care: A child-centred view. Adoption and Fostering, 33.
Fisher, T., Gibbs, I., Sinclair, I. & Wilson, K. (2000). Sharing the care: Qualities sought of social workers by foster carers. Child and Family Social Work, 5, pp. 225-233.
Lorkovich, T.W., Piccola, T., Groza, V., Brinds, M.E. & Marks, J. (2004). Kinship care and permanence: Guiding principles for policy and practice. Families in Society: The Journal of Contemporary Social Services, 85, 2, 159-164.
Lowe, N. & Murch, M. (2002). The Plan for the Child: Adoption or Long-term Fostering. British Association for Adoption and Fostering.
Messing, J.T. (2006). From the Child's Perspective: A Quality Analysis of Kinship Care Placements. Children and Youth Services Review, 28, 1415-1434.
