1 / 20

Identity not just compliance: keeping the child at the heart of the care record

Identity not just compliance: keeping the child at the heart of the care record Professor Cathy Humphreys Dr Margaret Kertesz and the ‘Who Am I? team University of Melbourne. The ‘Who am I? project’.

maleah
Download Presentation

Identity not just compliance: keeping the child at the heart of the care record

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Identity not just compliance: keeping the child at the heart of the care record Professor Cathy Humphreys Dr Margaret Kertesz and the ‘Who Am I? team University of Melbourne

  2. The ‘Who am I? project’ • ARC Linkage Grant – Uni of Melbourne, ACU, Department of Human Services, Centre for Excellence in Child and Family Welfare, VACCA, 12 community service organisations, consumer organisations • Responding to recommendations from Lost Innocents (1997), Bringing them home (2001), Forgotten Australians (2004)

  3. The Knowledge Diamond • Service User/ Consumer Experience • Research Evidence • Policy Perspectives • Practitioner Wisdom

  4. Working with the Record Continuum • Making the Record (current practice) • Storing the Record (archiving) • Accessing the Record (retrieving – counselling/support)

  5. Who Am I? Workshops 2009 • Who does ‘the system’ think I am? Current practices and issues in making and keeping the child’s ‘care’ record/s • Co-constructing Who Am I? Ensuring the voice of the child or young person is at the heart of ‘the record’ (Life Story Work and Looked After Children records (LAC) • Who Am I in my Cultural Tradition and Community Context • The next steps forward: moving towards child-focussed identity construction – training and devt issues

  6. Responding to Forgotten Australians: the challenges for historians “Where am I in this history?”

  7. ‘Pathways’ www.pathwaysvictoria.info

  8. Current Challenges • Record making for compliance and the demands of Court (investigative interviews, visits to family, court reports, critical incidents, telephone contacts etc.) • Record making for identity (life story work, narrative of coming into care, memorabilia, photos)

  9. Record fragmentation • Linking printed and electronic records • Constant movement between home and a new placement • New placements = new community sector organisation = new records • School records and health records are dispersed ‘Too little or too much information’

  10. No ‘case file’ • A mass of records from different sources • Challenges in keeping records updated e.g. the cultural plan • Challenges in co-producing the record – no surprises and children and young people have good knowledge of their records

  11. 100+ points of identity • Workers in 11 organisations currently working with children and young people to ‘find their records’ prior to leaving care. • Document Accessibility Exercise ‘The Daesy’ Recording ‘type of information’, where is it kept, what form it is in, does the young person know where it is?

  12. Gathering the record • Personal records – lifestory books, photos, memorabilia, certificates/achievements, letters/cards • LAC essential information record – birth certificate, placement history, medicare number, immunisation history, parents names and contact details, siblings names and contact details, extended family, information about cultural background

  13. Other Information • Reasons for being in care and for placement changes, cultural support plan, Best Interests Plan, Health Records, School Reports, Individual Education Plan, Leaving Care Plan

  14. Preliminary Results • 26 returned questionnaires so far (46%) • Age Range: 10-19 years 54% aged 15-16 • Type of Care: Foster Care - 18 (69%) Resi Care - 8 (31%)

  15. Preliminary Results – Care history

  16. Preliminary Results – Birth Certificate • 20 – birth certificate located by worker • Does Young Person know where it is? • Yes - 11 • No - 7 • Unknown - 2 • 2 with birth family & not accessible • 4 not located

  17. Preliminary Results - Lifebooks • 18 young people have lifebooks ( 69%) • 17 young people know where lifebook is located • Location of lifebooks: • Foster Carer - 4 • Resi Unit - 5 • Case manager - 4 • Young person & CSO - 3 • Young person only - 1 • 2 lifebooks located with previous not current carers • Many lifebooks are collections of photos

  18. Preliminary Results – Cultural Info • Australian - 11 (42%) • Aboriginal - 6 (23%) • 3 Cultural Support Plans located • 5 located (limited) cultural information on the file • Other - 7 (27%) • (Maori, Cambodian, Chinese, Maltese, Italian, Sudanese) • 4 located (mostly limited) cultural information on the file • Unknown - 2 ( 8%)

  19. Some ways forward • A common ‘identifier’ code • Storing/scanning more information to the electronic record • Co-production of the record • Training workers at entry to understand ‘the archive as central to current practice’ • Documenting where records can be found and leaving with records as part of the ‘leaving care plan’ • Finding a ‘keeper of the record’ to support the leaving care plan

  20. Margaret Kertesz mkertesz@unimelb.edu.au Cathy Humphreys cathy.humphreys@unimelb.edu.au http://research.cwav.asn.au/AFRP/OOHC/WAMI/default.aspx

More Related