Excessive worry can negatively influence one’s developmental trajectories. In the past 70 years, there have been studies aimed towards documenting and analysing concerns or ‘worries’ of teen and preteen individuals. There have been many quantitative and qualitative approaches established, suggesting different themes of contextual adolescent worry. With the hopes of future clinical utility, it is important to parse through these studies and gather what is currently known about what teens and preteens worry about and what is the state of methods used to gather that knowledge. Studies were searched for using Web of Science, PubMed, PsycINFO, Scopus and ScienceDirect databases and selected on systematic criteria. Data regarding the country in which the study took place, participants, methods of collection, worry themes and conclusions and limitations were extracted. Data were synthesised in a narrative fashion. It was concluded that currently available methods of measuring themes of adolescent worry face certain problems. Themes of worry differ substantially between the studies, with the exception of school performance seeing stable high endorsement across cultures and ages. Issues with ordering worry themes and implications for future understanding of adolescent and preadolescent worry are discussed.

Following a review of the literature on siblings in out-of-home care in the US and the UK, this article discusses the importance of placing siblings together, the challenges faced by agencies when caring for sibling groups, and the need to rethink sibling care in Australia and create a new service structure.

The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Child Placement Principle has been the policy guiding the placement of indigenous children in most Australian child protection jurisdictions for around fifteen years. The Principle requires the involvement of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community representatives in decision making concerning indigenous children, and ensuring that alternative care placements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children are with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander careproviders.

Most Jurisdictions still have a significant number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children placed with non-indigenous careproviders, and community based Aboriginal and Islander child care agencies continue to express dissatisfaction about the nature and level of consultation which occurs when welfare departments are taking action to protect indigenous children.

This paper, which was presented at the IFCO conference in Melbourne in July 1999, examines why there has been such limited improvement in Child Placement Principle outcomes. Work undertaken in Queensland to address the over representation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children in the child protection system will be outlined from both a departmental and community perspective. The paper argues that if strategies for addressing these issues are not located within a framework of self determination for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, then they will not work.

Australian child protection services have been slower than some of their overseas counterparts, such as the United Kingdom, to recognise the need for specific services for young people leaving care. The last 10 years, however, have seen a body of research into the needs of young people leaving care in various Australian States, with the resulting establishment of specific services in some States. As each State is governed by different Acts that regulate the services provided to young people in care, the development of new services has, of necessity, been on a state by state basis, with little or no coordination or consistency of service provision across Australia.

This research was undertaken on the lands of the Wurundjeri people of the Kulin nation. We pay our respects to Elders of the past, present and emerging, and also acknowledge the generous contribution to this research made by women and their families and Victorian Aboriginal Child Care Agency (VACCA) staff. Aboriginal Cradle to Kinder (AC2K) is a home-visiting and advocacy programme focussed on promoting Aboriginal maternal and child health during both pre- and postnatal stages of parenthood which was delivered by VACCA, an Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisation. While there have been some feasibility assessments conducted on AC2K, no study to date has evaluated the impact of this programme from the perspective of neither the women nor the staff who deliver the programme. The aim of this study, therefore, was to evaluate how both the women and the staff evaluated the AC2K programme, namely the strengths, limitations and recommendations of the programme. Through consultation with VACCA, this study used a qualitative approach using interpretative phenomenological analysis to explore the processes underpinning the programme coupled with participants’ experiences of the programme. A co-design process was used in the development of interview questions, and a total of seven women and six workers participated in semi-structured interviews. The results revealed three superordinate themes across both participant groups: cultural connection (i.e. how well the programme facilitates cultural connection), system complexities (i.e. caseloads, staff turnover and child protection [CP] difficulties) and programme features (i.e. parenting enhancement and unique programme benefits). The processes, and the programme more broadly, were evaluated positively by both the women and staff who supported its delivery. Specifically, a greater connection to culture, increased parenting skills and unique programme benefits were reported. However, there were recommendations on how the programme could be further strengthened, including negotiable caseloads with the Department and improved partnership with CP. These changes can help to further improve the experiences of both the women and their workers when engaging in Aboriginal specific maternal health and well-being supports.

The selection of foster parents with qualities necessary to undertake care of other people's children is a difficult task. Little research has been done in identifying what the associated qualities are. This paper reports the first stage of a research study examining these qualities from the perspective of foster parents themselves and experienced family care workers. From a qualitative exercise involving 10 foster parents and 2 family care workers over 50 nominated qualities were elicited covering motivation; personal attributes; knowledge and skills with children and competencies emanating from experience. Arising from this exercise a model was constructed which identifies stages in foster parenting. This could enable differential educational strategies based on a competency approach to be developed in order to achieve a better level of quality control.

This paper describes the development by Parkerville Children's Home, WA, of a therapeutic residential programme, based on current research and clinical experience, relating to the impact of traumatic experience. It describes the theoretical framework, its incorporation into an intervention plan and the process of implementation. A case study is used to illustrate the process of assessment and implementation.

Integrated service delivery in the early childhood education and care sector is burgeoning as a direct result of government agendas in Australia that privilege services for young children and families, especially those considered most vulnerable and at risk. In many cases this means reviewing and revising current practice to work more collaboratively with other professionals. This paper reports the findings of one aspect of a larger Australian study entitled: ‘Developing and sustaining pedagogical leadership in early childhood education and care professionals’. The focus of this paper is the understandings and practices of professionals in both Queensland and Victoria working in integrated Children's Services across the education, care, community and health sectors. The notion of transdisciplinary practice is also explored as a way to sustain practice. Qualitative data collection methods, including the ‘Circles of Change’ process, the ‘Significant Change’ method and semi-structured interviews were used. The findings indicate concerns around professional identity, feeling valued, role confusion and the boundaries imposed by funding regulations. Working in a transdisciplinary way was generally considered a useful way to move practice forward in these settings, although the ramifications for leadership that this approach brings requires further consideration.

This paper is based on a presentation I gave to the Childhood Trauma Conference in Melbourne, Australia, August 2014.

Children traumatised within their biological families are described as children who have experienced complex trauma, also called developmental trauma because of the profound impact it has on their development. These children present a range of challenging behaviours within their foster or adoptive families. They respond less well to traditional behavioural management and benefit more from regulatory and relationship-based parenting. This is parenting that focuses on helping the children to regulate their emotional experience through the emotional connection between parent and child before attention is given to the behaviour. Developmentally traumatised children have a foundation of mistrust of parents and thus experience management of behaviour as signs that they are going to be hurt or rejected again. These children need parents who can connect with the child's experience before, or when appropriate instead of, discipline. This is described here as ‘connection before correction’. Correction in this context means helping children to develop pro-social behaviours and to find safe ways to express intense emotional experience. This paper explores the difficulties that the children can experience living in families; how this is expressed through behaviours, and how parents can connect in ways that promote the building of trust and allows successful management of their behaviour.

Family decision making through Family Group Conferences has been trialled in a pilot project by the Mission of St James and St John, Victoria, for the past 16 months (as of February 1994) in a two year Project. This article, the first of a series of two, intends to briefly explain the technique and how the project was established in Victoria. The theoretical basis, or project assumptions, will be outlined, together with the obstacles which currently prevent the wider implementation of the practice. The project was independently evaluated from October 1992 up to 31 August 1993 (Swain, 1993a; 1993b). Key findings of that evaluation will be discussed in the second article in this series along with practice issues that need further exploration.

This is the second of a two-part discussion about the development of residential care services in Australia. It contains a review of some of the recent literature on residential care from Australia, the UK, Canada and the USA. It concludes with a look at the major themes and issues that emerge from this literature as well as the service trends and developments canvassed in Part I.

Thousands of hours of evidence of trauma, pain and culpability presented to the current Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse have left no doubt that organisations have always been and continue to be responsible for enacting a culture that ensures that their own staff and volunteers do not harm, abuse or exploit children who are involved directly or indirectly with the activities or services provided by the organisation. In the past 6 years, through its Safeguarding Children Accreditation Program, the Australian Childhood Foundation has worked with more than 100 organisations nationally and internationally to strengthen their capacity to protect children and young people. Our experience has highlighted that substantial confusion exists about how to construct a child protection policy that frames the expectations and responsibilities of individuals who work, volunteer or use the services/activities of an organisation. In this paper, the authors offer a blueprint for considering the critical elements of a child protection policy that organisations can use to evaluate and possibly reconfigure or formulate their own. The paper outlines the function of the child protection policy in an organisation; the principles for constructing the policy; and an example of content for a child protection policy. The authors conclude that, if constructed with heart and sensitivity, a child protection policy can shape and define the very narrative about what the organisation stands for in relation to the safety of children and the responsibilities of adults to fulfilling the rights of children and young people more broadly.

Although the new family law legislation, the Family Law (Shared Parental Responsibility) Amendment Act of 2006, seeks to implement the notion of ongoing and collaborative parenting of children following parental partnership breakdown, separation and divorce, institutional obstacles still prevent the realisation of this policy. The question then arises: can such a model of separation and divorce be achieved? This question is examined through a discussion of a series of studies undertaken by a Monash University research team investigating parents' involvement in their children's schooling following parental separation and divorce. The research, building on a number of small studies carried out in Western Australia, looked at parents' and teachers' views of schools' ability to relate to separated and divorced parents and the wider difficulty of schools managing this family form.

In 2006, legislative changes were made to the Australian Family Law Act 1975. These changes included a revision of the matters that must be considered when determining children's best interests following parental separation, at Section 60CC. This section lists two ‘primary considerations’, which relate to the child's having a ‘meaningful relationship’ with both parents and ensuring that children are safe in their interactions with their parents and others in their lives. The first of the ‘Additional considerations’ under Section 60CC concerns ‘any views expressed by the child and any factors (such as the child's maturity or level of understanding) that the court thinks are relevant to the weight it should give to the child's views’. This consideration differs from that in the pre-2006 Act, which referred to a child's ‘wishes’ rather than her/his ‘views’. There is evidence, however, that those working in the family law system may not yet have made the shift towards understanding what these changes may entail.

In this article I explore the differences between the concepts of ‘wishes’ and ‘views’ as they relate to children in family law matters. I argue that these concepts are qualitatively different, and that children's ‘views’ are far more encompassing than their ‘wishes’. Moving to a far broader understanding of children and their ability to understand issues that directly affect their lives may lead to the development of more comprehensive decisions about their futures.

The paper reflects on developments in leaving care policy and practice in Western Australia (WA) and nationally from the mid-1990s. The review of national and some international literature suggests that current Australian policy and practice shows a ‘systems stuckness’ that requires a more potent form of annual auditing and reporting of jurisdictional leaving care outcomes. The review of mostly Australian publications focusing on leaving care and the risk of homelessness includes reflections on recent developments in leaving care services in England, which recognise and restore relationship-based services for care leavers. Finally, the history, vision and initial impact of the Living Independently for the First Time (LIFT) Project, a case study of learning by doing, is outlined. The authors and their colleagues from the Department for Child Protection and Family Support (Midland District), Swan Emergency Accommodation (now known as Indigo Junction) and the Housing Authority of WA have collaborated to design and develop the LIFT Project. This initially unfunded action-research strategy involves inter-agency policy and practice designed to prevent homelessness of vulnerable care leavers.

In recent years significant focus has been placed on the first few years of a child’s life and how their experiences during this time can shape their future development (McCain & Mustard, 1999). Social policy and programs that enhance the capacity of children and their families so that positive outcomes for children are ensured are being developed and implemented throughout Australia. This paper takes up the topic, initially introduced in Children Australia (Vicary et al. 2005), but turns the focus to Aboriginal children. Despite the advances in early years policy and programs development, marginalised children, particularly those from Aboriginal backgrounds, continue to be overlooked in terms of consultation (Vicary 2002).

The ramifications of this lack of consultation are profound in terms of cultural appropriateness and sensitivity. The Western Australian Office for Children and Youth has refined a model for the engagement of Aboriginal children in social policy consultation. The model is inclusive of diversity and targets the children who normally would not have their voices heard in the development of social policy. The following paper will describe the Aboriginal Child Engagement Model developed by the Office for Children and Youth in consultation with children, young people and adults from Aboriginal backgrounds. The model consists of six steps, and takes the non-Aboriginal worker from the initial engagement phase through to evaluation and relationship consolidation. The proposed model is further delineated by a case study.

This is the second of two articles examining the establishment of Family Decision Making in Victoria. The first ‘Family Group Conferences – Part One: Australia's first Project in Child Protection’ was presented in the previous edition of Children Australia. This article builds upon the first by presenting an overview of the evaluation of the Victorian Family Decision Making Project, and pointing to practice and other implications of the development of this Project for child welfare services generally.

It is well recognised that the maltreatment of children results from a range of factors; some residing within the person, their family history and background, and others, clearly attributable to social stress and difficulties originating external to the family. In the last few decades, child welfare efforts have centred on the improvement of Child Protection Services and raising the prevention of child abuse as a community concern. More recently, attention has been focussed on strengthening the capacity of families to nurture and protect their own as the best means of meeting the developmental needs of children. However, our best efforts to assist families may still necessitate removal to protect the child.

Research has identified that children removed for their own protection may be at even greater risk in out-of-home care. (Ryan 1987, Dawson 1984) Whether the incidence of abuse of children in out-of-home care is currently equivalent or higher than for the general population, is at this point a secondary concern. Out-of-home care is an essential and complex service. It is imperative to acknowledge that abuse can occur within the very system entrusted with the responsibility of protecting and caring for vulnerable children and young people.

Involving children and young people in planning, decision making and the evaluation of services and programs inevitably raises the eyebrows of adults working in the areas of service delivery, program development and policy formulation. Some adults may question young people’s ability to see the ‘big picture’ and to make decisions, and even their right to be engaged in the first place. In challenging these ideas, the Western Australian Office for Children and Youth established a Children’s Advisory Group (CAG) in 2004 – the first of its kind to be created within the Western Australia Government, and one of the first such groups to be set up in Australia.

The current Children’s Advisory Group (CAG) is a diverse group often primary school children aged 9-12 years from the Perth metropolitan area. They are actively involved in all aspects of the Office’s operation. The CAG has been evaluated throughout its inaugural year of operation, both in terms of process and impact, and has been found to have a significant impact upon government policy and practice. This paper will outline the process for the establishment and implementation of a CAG and the evaluation of a CAG on government policy. It will highlight evaluation findings and discuss future directions.

Previous research suggests a link between experiences of state out-of-home care – particularly residential care – and involvement in prostitution. This study explored the nature of this relationship via semi-structured interviews with nine Victorian health and welfare professionals who had worked with young people living in residential care. The findings suggest a complex interaction between precare and in-care factors. Environmental and systemic factors within residential care that may contribute to prostitution involvement include peer influence, older males, drug use, staffing factors, poor provision of sex and relationship education, placement decisions, and social isolation. Some significant implications for policy and service delivery are identified.