Importance of Child Protection - Essay Example

? Child Protection Assessment Report By The of the The of the School The and where it is located The Date Child Protection Assessment Report The Sampson family comprises Chloe Sampson, a 27 year old indigenous lady and her children – 11 year old Tess, 7 year old Tom, 6 year old James and Anthony, the 4 month old baby. The only other immediate family member is Chloe’s older sister who lives two hours away. The non-indigenous father of Tom and James had been supporting Chloe with his children until a child abuse incident involving his brother and Tess came to light which resulted in the breakup of his relationship with Chloe. The father of baby Anthony is not known so far. Chloe Sampson has had a troubled history with relationships, the first one being with the father of Tess when she was only aged 15. When she became pregnant at that age she felt unable to take care of the baby and gave her up to her elder sister. Once she felt she was old enough she took up her mothering responsibility with Tess and made another attempt at proper motherhood especially when the relationship with the non-indigenous Darryl, the father of Tom and James. She took in Darryl’s brother Jacob, who however abused Tess and this resulted in conflict between Chloe and Darryl, ultimately ending up with the breakup of that relationship. The relationship did no end well, and involved physical and verbal abuse from Darryl. She did not handle the breakup well, and took up excessive alcohol consumption and neglected her parental duties for all the three children. When she became pregnant with Anthony she tried to be a better mother but the stress of the pregnancy, when she had high blood pressure and post-partum depression took its toll on her, resulting in her current situation, when she is unable to fully function as a responsible mother to her four children. Tess, at age 11, is hurtling towards teenage and has already had a rough childhood. She is in school but has been unable to concentrate fully on her education due to having to play mother to her siblings as a result of her mother’s circumstance. She has already even at her tender age, had issues with petty theft and alcohol abuse. She yearns for a return back to her aunt’s home where she was able to be a child and she needs to be given that opportunity as if she continues to live with her mother in the current situation her education could be permanently affected. As per theQueensland’s Child Protection Act 1999, a child should, where possible, be placed with a relative so her aunt would certainly qualify (Queensland Child Protection Commission of Inquiry 2012 p.12). Forcing Tess to remain with her mother in what is obviously a toxic environment would be akin to the policies that kept children in harmful situations because of “family preservation” (Sammut 2013, p.2). Tom and James, who have a non-indigenous father, are also at a crucial time in their childhood where the number one priority should be to ensure that they can go to school without absenteeism and they need some kind of stability in their life. As much as possible child welfare interventions are supposed to be child centred and family focussed (Child Wellbeing 2013). They have already had issues with submitting to authority and any further lack of stability in their home life will have disastrous consequences later on in their lives. Their father, who is at present absent form their lives, needs to be approached to step back in the picture and provide not only a father figure but also be part of the family support structure that the boys need at this stage in their lives. The boys need to be with their mother at their age and there is need for her to get the appropriate support in order to better mother to them but they also do need to make and maintain some connection with their father. It is important that children are placed as much as possible in a situation which respects their often complex culture (Bumblett & Lewisa 2007, p.46). 4 month old Anthony is at last beginning to thrive as a baby and requires a fully functional Chloe to be there as her mother, so as to make up for the few months when he was not properly cared for. According to the child protection services, the most important principle is ensuring that children are not placed in harm’s way and that their rights are protected (Best interests case practice 2013). There are several issues of concern. The first one that needs to be addressed immediately is the alcohol abuse and depression problems that Chloe suffers from. The Australian indigenous child protection services have always concentrated on what they considered the well-being of the child, usually to the exclusion of other members of society that are of at least as crucial importance as the children and who provide the necessary environment for the child protection to take place. The child welfare protection agencies have continued to view their main duty as to protect children from abuse suffered at the hands of malevolent family members (ARPA 2013). Chloe has proved that she is able to take care of her children given a stable environment as well as safe and secure relationship status. She is best placed to take care of her younger children and needs to be supported to be able to do this. The best support at the moment is a way of dealing with her alcohol, depression and self-esteem issues which if not taken care of will only get worse. If she is given an opportunity through counselling, substance abuse treatment and psychological treatment she can be able to take care of the children that require her attention. The type of alcohol abuse treatment she gets would have to be in line with Aboriginal cultural norms and not some transplanted Western programme (Indigenous Law Resources 2002). She also needs to be integrated into some kind of community that will support her in the long-term and form some kind of accountability support for her in her life with her children. She also needs to re-establish contact with Darryl so he can also step up and play his role as the father of his children, even if the relationship with Chloe does not continue. Chloe appeared to thrive when he was in their lives and his support would be useful in ensuring that the boys grow up and identify appropriately with him and her. The fact that she has expressed willingness and a desire to take care of her children and take up her parental responsibility is a good motivation for her to be able to succeed as a mother to her children. Tess has suffered from sex abuse and has also had issues with the police and incidences of theft. She has also been involved in alcohol abuse. The fact that the sexual abuse took place in the place where she is supposed to be safest – at her home –is a traumatizing and difficult experience to live with. Tess needs psychological counselling and treatment to be able to deal with the sex abuse as well as the domestic abuse issues in her life. She has expressed willingness to go back to living with her aunt – who also wants her to come back – and should be given the opportunity to do that. At her age she should be able to handle living away with her mother. Her continuing to stay with her mother in the current situation has the potential for placing her in danger of suffering permanent damage to her life and she does need to be given the opportunity to develop and grow. When placed with the right foster parents, many of the children have often expressed willingness to continue staying with them (Views of children and young people in foster care, Queensland 2010). The fact that her aunt is only two hours away also means that Tess would still have the opportunity to maintain the essential relationship with her mother and siblings (Quadrant Online 2013). Another area of concern is the possible developmental and growth problems of theyounger children, Tom, James and Anthony. They already have suffered neglect at the hands of their mother when she was unable to properly take care of them and this has obviously had some psychological and mentally traumatizing experiences. At their age it is important that do not continue to suffer from attachment deprivation (Sammut 2011, p.8). They, as well as their mother need the support and assistance of their community as well as professional assistance from social workers and other related services such as counselling and psychological treatments. References ARPA. 2013. Scandals and policy making: Failure and success in child protection reform. [Online] Available at: http://www.australianreview.net/digest/2011/08/healy.html. [Accessed 27 July 2013]. Best interests case practice. 2013. Child Protection Practice Manual - State Government of Victoria, Australia, Department of Human Services. [Online] Available at: http://www.dhs.vic.gov.au/cpmanual/best-interests-case-practice. [Accessed 27 July 2013]. Bumblett, M., & Lewisa, P. 2007. Detoxifying the Child and Family Welfare System for Australian Indigenous Peoples: Self-determination, Rights and Culture as the Critical Tools. First Peoples Child & Family Review, 3(3), pp. 43-56 [Online] (updated 2007). Available at: http://www.fncaringsociety.com/sites/default/files/online-journal/vol3num3/Bamblett_Lewis_pp43.pdf. [Accessed 27 July 2013]. Child Wellbeing. 2013. Child Wellbeing and Child Protection - NSW Interagency Guidelines. [Online] Available at: http://www.community.nsw.gov.au/kts/guidelines/engaging/principles.htm. [Accessed 27 July 2013]. Indigenous Law Resources. 2002. A Review of International Models for Indigenous Child Protection. [Online] Available at: http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/other/IndigLRes/2002/1/3.html#Heading1330 [Accessed 27 July 2013]. Quadrant Online. 2013. Quadrant Online - Aboriginal Child Abuse the Royal Commission Cannot Avoid. [Online] Available at: http://www.quadrant.org.au/magazine/issue/2013/5/aboriginal-child-abuse-the-royal-commission-cannot-avoid. [Accessed 27 July 2013]. Queensland Child Protection Commission of Inquiry. 2012. Queensland Child Protection Commission of Inquiry. Emerging issues, p.1-29. [Online] (updated Sep. 2012). Available at: http://www.childprotectioninquiry.qld.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0007/162844/QCPCI_Issues_paper.pdf. [Accessed 27 July 2013]. Sammut, J. 2011. Do Not Damage and Disturb: On Child Protection Failures and the Pressure on Out of Home Care in Australia. [Online] (updated Nov. 2011) Available at: http://www.cis.org.au/images/stories/policy-monographs/pm-122.pdf. [Accessed 27 July 2013]. Sammut, J. 2013. The Fraught Politics of Saying Sorry for Forced Adoption. Implications for Child Protection Policy in Australia, p.1-20. [Online] (updated 19 Mar. 2013) Available at: http://www.cis.org.au/images/stories/issue-analysis/ia138.pdf. [Accessed 27 July 2013]. Views of children and young people in foster care, Queensland. 2010. Views of children and young people in foster care, Queensland, 2010, Australian Policy Online. [Online] Available at: http://apo.org.au/research/views-children-and-young-people-foster-care-queensland-2010. [Accessed 27 July 2013]. Read More