Social Work - Research Publications
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ItemIn Loco Parentis: Informal Kinship Care in Australia—Social Benefit and Material Poverty(MDPI AG, 2023)Informal kinship care families in Australia are a large, hidden population. This article provides an overview of international research and policy developments regarding informal kinship care and considers their relevance to Australia. The benefit to children is identified along with the severe economic burden of care falling on caregiving families. Australian Federal and State policy settings are described in relation to the recognition and support of informal kinship care families, and an overwhelming need for better financial and social support is identified. Ways forward to improve the circumstances of these families are considered, together with areas for future research.
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ItemNonfamilial kinship carers-Who are they and what support do they need to nurture children?(WILEY, 2019-11)Abstract There is a growing body of literature about kinship care in the Western world; however, much of it focuses on grandparent care. A lesser known aspect of kinship care is the care of children by nonrelatives known to the child or their family. What little research exists about this group suggests that such placements are less stable than familial kinship care. This article reports a research study in Victoria, Australia, that explored nonfamilial kinship care through analysis of administrative data, interviews with young people and carers, and focus groups with kinship care support workers. It emerged that current administrative databases are not yet able to reliably identify the carer relationship, and thus the extent of such care arrangements cannot accurately be determined. Interviews and focus groups revealed that nonfamilial kinship care is diverse and qualitatively different from familial kinship care, bearing some similarities to foster care yet managed very differently. It is suggested that policymakers need to pay more attention to conceptualizing nonfamilial kinship care within kinship care policy frameworks and that greater attention is needed to the individual support needs of children in such placements and their carers.
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Item'It's good because my sister is young, and she knows what's going on': Children's views about their young kinship carers(WILEY, 2021-11)Abstract Much literature about kinship care has focused on the issues facing grandparent carers. An Australian research project explored the experience and support needs of young kinship carers and children in their care through analysis of census data and in‐depth interviews with young kinship carers and children/young people. This article describes the views of 16 young people. These young people expressed satisfaction with their home life and spoke of improvement over time in their wellbeing, mental health, and schooling. While they appreciated their carers' attunement to the world of young people, they articulated many challenges for themselves and their carers, including the burden on their carers, the challenge of adjusting to their carers' parental role, and financial pressures. They wanted greater access to counselling and casework services in order to deal with the impacts of family trauma.
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ItemUnrecognized: Kinship care by young aunts, siblings and other young people(WILEY, 2021-08)Abstract Much literature about kinship care has focused on grandparents, with limited attention to other kinship carers. This article describes results from the second part of an Australian research project that explored the prevalence, experiences and support needs of kinship carers aged 18–30 years through interviews with 41 kinship carers. Most were sisters or aunts. Findings included deep commitment of the carers to children in their care and the children's positive development over time. Young kinship carers described personal costs of caring, including sudden adjustment to the task of parenting distressed children, suspension of studies, jobs and career development, pressures of intrafamilial conflict, a lack of recognition of their existence and support needs, and above all, financial stress. The need for multifaceted support to be available to this group of kinship carers is identified.
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ItemThe nature and prevalence of kinship care: Focus on young kinship carers(WILEY, 2021-02)Abstract Young kinship carers tend to be overlooked in kinship care policy and practice. This Australian research project explored the prevalence of kinship care households in Australia, with a particular focus on households headed by young kinship carers. Census data were utilized to explore the number of kinship care households across the carer age spectrum and some of their characteristics, including households with Indigenous carers and carers with a culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) identity. Characteristics of households headed by carers aged 16–30 years were explored in some detail, and comparisons made with young parents. The data pointed to particular challenges for young kinship carers in relation to post‐secondary education, employment and income security. Implications for policy and practice are discussed.
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ItemEditorial: Australian Children in Kinship Care–Hidden in Plain Sight?(Association of Childrens Welfare Agencies and NSW Family Services Inc., 2018)This is the Editorial to the first of two Special Issues of Developing Practice devoted to kinship care. It describes the 2018 ACWA project Kinship Care: Making it a National Issue and its various elements. It also outlines some things that are known and not known about kinship care, myths about kinship care that have sprung up in place of knowledge, and the depth of unmet support needs of kin children and their carers.
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ItemEditorial: Beyond Poverty and Disadvantage–Achieving Wellbeing for all Australian Children in Kinship Care(Association of Childrens Welfare Agencies and NSW Family Services Inc., 2019)This is the second of two Special Issues on kinship care. Here I explore ways forward to address kin children’s wellbeing from a human rights perspective.
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ItemFamily Contact for Children in Kinship Care: A Literature Review(ROUTLEDGE JOURNALS, TAYLOR & FRANCIS LTD, 2013-09-01)