13 th Australasian Conference on Child Abuse and Neglect, November 2013, Melbourne, Victoria

Transcription

1 13 th Australasian Conference on Child Abuse and Neglect, November 2013, Melbourne, Victoria Presented By Ms Jatinder Kaur, MSocWk, M. Soc. Admin, B.A. (Psy) Director of JK Diversity Consultants

2 This Cultural Competence in Child Protection Workshop will cover the following topics: What is Cultural Sensitive Practice? Working with CALD and refugee in child welfare setting Cross cultural communication skills Cultural support needs of CALD & refugee children/ young people in out-of-home care.

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4 There are three components for practitioner s to become Culturally Competent : Cultural Awareness and Cultural Self Reflection Cultural Knowledge and Understanding Cultural Practice Skills Practitioner s would need to develop an understanding and awareness of the different worldviews clients from diverse cultural, ethnic, religious and language backgrounds. Practitioners need to be aware of human rights obligations.

5 Australian Bureau of Statistics 2011: Australia (22 million) population of which 5.3 million are born overseas. 82% of overseas born population live in Sydney, Melbourne and Perth with highest proportion. Australia s Migration program for is set for 190,000 places (includes skilled stream & family stream). Australia is a signatory to UN Refugee Convention and accepts an annual intake of refugees for resettlement, for currently set at 13,750 and is to increase to 20,000 places. There are between 20,000 30,000 Asylum seekers currently waiting for the refugee status to be assessed by DIBP (either on bridging visa s, detention network). In , there were 3,488 UHMs aged between years arrived to Australia, this would have increased in recent years, now placed in immigration detention network.

6 Culture is fluid, flexible and dynamic. The Cultural Iceberg (see below) is useful diagram to understand how we can perceive culture (e.g. food, language, music, arts, greeting rituals, religious beliefs) which is the tip of the Ice berg or surface culture. The Cultural Iceberg illustrates how a person s culture can be influenced by multiple factors: religion, the media, history, family, financial situation and the education system

7 The first step to cultural sensitive practice is self reflection, which requires a critical examination of one s own cultural background and understanding sociocultural influences. Trimble (2003) stated that Cultural self reflection activities bring the unconscious to the forefront of our consciousness which can provide enlightenment and deep-cultural self-empathy. Activity: Reflect on a situation where you worked with a child/young person from a CALD/Refugee background? What are the things you think you did well and what would you do differently?

8 When working within cross cultural context, practitioners needs to be aware of the clients: Culture, Ethnicity, Religion Language and English proficiency Migration journey to Australia (visa status, migrants, refugee, asylum seeker) Settlement issues Impact of racism & discrimination by host country Eligibility to access services (health, social welfare, education, employment) Ability to navigate the service system Access and equity issues (social exclusion and disadvantage)

9 Diverse child rearing practices Acculturation process of families, children and young people Impact of Torture and trauma for Refugee and Asylum seekers who settle in Australia Traditional values and belief system (views on marriage, gender roles, sexuality) Inter-generational conflict & Parenting styles Religious beliefs, practices and ideology Child s rights versus parents rights

10 Adapted from Lisa Fontes (2005) Child Abuse & Culture: Working with Diverse Families, Figure 1.1 Ecosystems framework for considering child maltreatment (p3-4). Lisa Fontes(2005) proposed that a third circle be included for Ethnic culture in the Ecological model. She highlights that by including Ethnic Culture it allows the practitioner to consider the different ways of working with the: child (individually), child s family (kinship), religious & cultural/community leaders, child s school & other services.

11 You have just received a notification from ESL Teacher about Zina a 13 year old Liberian girl, who has just found out that she is 8 weeks pregnant. She arrived in Australia in 2009, with her Aunt and 8 siblings and cousins. She has missed a lot of school due to her caring responsibilities to her younger siblings while her aunt goes to work and has limited English skills. She is confused on how she became pregnant. Task Activity: You are child protection worker assigned this case, your task is to: Identify the critical issues facing Zina? Identify the risk and protective factors for Zina? How would you conduct a Cross Cultural Assessment? What would be your intervention with Zina?

12 A Non-Random purposive sample was chosen to pilot the CCCPS (2007). Data collection occurred in November & December A total sample of (N=66) child protection officers & team leaders who worked in the investigation & assessment team within Qld child protection system in selection in South East Qld. This was first Australian research to explore cultural competency of caseworkers employed in the child protection system. Key Findings: Frontline child protection workers did not receive adequate training, resources to work with CALD families. CP workers lacked CALD specific knowledge on how to deal with cross-cultural issues when working with CALD families. Identified Key concerns in the provision of child protection practice, policy & service delivery when working with CALD families in Australian Child Protection System. Highlighted need for further research into cross cultural competence in child protection practice across Australia, role & use of interpreters.

13 Kaur, J (2009) published the qualitative responses on Developing culturally Sensitive Practice. CP workers highlighted the need for CP workers to engage, to be respectful and build responsive relationships when working with CALD families. These Cross-cultural skills included: Respectful engagement with CALD families Use of Interpreter Ascertaining cultural supports within community Linking with Cultural Liaison officers Referral for appropriate support services Kinship or Culturally matched placements

14 In , across Australia there were more than 39,621 children living in out-of-home care (AIHW,2013). The number of children and young people from CALD & Refugee backgrounds coming to the attention of child protection authorities is STILL unknown. Essentially, it is unknown, whether there is an underreporting or over-reporting of CALD/Refugee families to child protection system. For more information: Kaur, J (2012) Cultural Diversity & Child Protection: A review of the Australian research on the needs of culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) and refugee children and families rsity_&_child_protection_kaur2012_a4.pdf

15 There has been No Australian research examining practices and policies that address the needs of other ethnic minority groups in out-of-home care (Bromfield & Osborn, 2007) this was identified again in the recent National Research Audit (2011). Burke & Paxman (2008) exploratory study for NSW DHS on Arabic & Vietnamese children/yp in OOHC, found that general process of OOHC placement for CALD children/yp: 1. Kinship 2. Finding a culturally matched carer 3. Ensuring culturally appropriate strategies for placement when there is culturally matched placement.

16 In Victoria there were approximately 6,735 children and young people in OOHC in Data was collected over 3 month period from Victorian funded out of home care agencies (foster/kinship/residential and UHM). 19 Agencies responded identified a total number of 2,053 children and young people across these services (approx 20%).The data showed that: Anglo-Australia (n=1515); Aboriginal/Torres Strait Islander (n=258); Culturally & linguistically diverse (n=250) Refugee/UHM (n=30).

17 Cultural Demographics of Victorian Children/Young people in OOHC Series1 Series Anglo Australian ATSI CALD Refugee

18 Case Activity to develop cultural support plan (Zina ) Where to obtain this type of information: Child/Young person, Child s caseworker, Birth parents and/or relatives, Teachers, Bi-cultural workers, Religious Organisation/Migrant welfare service. Some Tips on asking Questions: How did the child participate in the culture and religion of their birth families? What was their experience of it? e.g. did they participate in cultural and religious events and how? Do they have any memories of this? What language(s) did the child speak when they were living with their birth parents? Favourite foods, dress, customs or traditions

19 Emerging Framework in understanding Child Maltreatment amongst Migrant & Refugee families Pre-migration to Australia: -Refugee Camp -Transit Country -Third World Developing Country Child Maltreatment: Physical, Emotional, Sexual Abuse or Neglect Domestic & Family Violence Resettlement in Australia: Access to Services Language Barriers Food & Accommodation Treatment by Host country

20 Contact info: Jatinder Kaur B.A. (Psy), M. Soc. Admin Director of JK Diversity Consultants M: E: W: PO Box 729 Cleveland Qld Like us on Facebook: Diversity-Consultants/