Walking alongside Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children in out-of-home care
About the course
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children are currently entering out-of-home care at unprecedented levels. Numbers continue to grow despite the Closing the Gap target (7B. Table B: Outcome 12), which aims to reduce the over-representation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children in out-of-home care by 45% (by 2031), suggesting this target will not be met.1
There are complex reasons for the over-representation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children in out-of-home care, such as systemic racism, the legacy of prior forced removal, and the generational effects of being separated from family and culture. The effects of child removal are devastating and include:
- the disconnection of children from their cultural ties
- the loss of culture and community
- the loss of identity and sense of belonging.1
Increasingly high levels of unmet physical health, social and emotional wellbeing, and mental health and developmental needs are all impacts of this loss.1
Better quality, comprehensive health care with culturally responsive referrals, long-term follow-up and coordination of care, have been recommended to address these needs.1 However, providing and coordinating high quality care for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and young people is only possible when practitioners are aware of:
- their own cultural world view, as well as the colonising influence and biases they can bring to engagements
- the importance of connection to culture – experienced through relationships with family, kin, Country and spirituality – for promoting and strengthening Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children’s positive health and wellbeing outcomes.
Through the lens of storytelling, this course will support your practice, while providing ideas and examples of how you can include cultural understandings in your everyday practice based on the domains of social and emotional wellbeing (SEWB). It aims to provide non-Indigenous practitioners with simple, practical and culturally responsive strategies for supporting a strong sense of identity in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children in out-of-home care.
This course provides non-Indigenous practitioners with tangible examples of how SEWB can be applied to equip Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children in out-of-home care with opportunities for:
- telling their own truth story
- exploring solution-driven opportunities to enhance self-determination and empower children
- identifying allies who will support and mentor them
- connecting with practitioners through shared understandings and building deeper connection through relationships.
We recommend that before you undertake this course you complete:
- Working with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families and children: A framework for understanding to gain a deeper understanding of what social and emotional wellbeing means in practice; and
- Healing the Past by Nurturing the Future: Working with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families to build your understanding of trauma informed approaches for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families.
Content warning
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples please be mindful that this course may contain images, video, audio or names of people who have passed away.
Who is this course for?
This course is designed for non-Indigenous practitioners working in child protection and foster care services to support Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and young people on long-term protection orders. It will focus on the types of cultural support that can be applied in everyday practice to enhance cultural identity and the SEWB needs of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and young people in care.
Learning aims
- Develop an understanding of the critical importance of cultural identity to the social and emotional wellbeing and mental health of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children in out-of-home care.
- Apply decolonising trauma-informed practice when supporting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children in out-of-home care.
- Implement culturally responsive strategies that support children’s social and emotional wellbeing and mental health outcomes.
- Enhance and build your communication strategies to align with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander ways of knowing, being and doing.
Duration
It is estimated that this course will take you approximately 1.5 hours to complete, including reading material and watching videos.
You can undertake the course across multiple sessions at your own pace. The last screen you visit before logging off will be bookmarked and you will have the option of returning to that screen when you next log in.
Self-care
As you work through the course, it is important to be aware of your own emotional responses. Please use the following self-care tips and seek help if needed.
- We do not recommend undertaking the entire course in one sitting. Give yourself some breaks and do it in a quiet space where you have time to reflect.
- Make sure you ground yourself when you need a break. Take your shoes off to venture outdoors and walk through some beautiful green grass or dip your toes into the ocean. Even if you do not feel that you need a break, it is a good idea to take a few moments to reflect upon what you may be reading, listening to and hearing for the first time. Another idea may be to make yourself a cup of tea and yarn with a loved one about your new learnings.
- Be mindful of your emotions as you progress through the course. It’s important to take the time to stop and think deeply about why you may be experiencing differing emotions. Write it down, sit with it and ask yourself why you are feeling a certain way. It’s absolutely fine if you do not have the answer right now, but it is important to come back to it later to reflect and unpack.
- Consider taking a break and doing something for yourself that you enjoy, or connect with a friend or loved one.
If at any point you find you are struggling, please talk with your supervisor, seek help, or call 13Yarn on 13 92 76, Lifeline on 13 11 14, Beyond Blue on 1300 224 636, or SANE Australia on 1800 187 263.
Definitions
For the purposes of this course, the term parent encompasses the biological and adoptive parents of a child, as well as individuals who have chosen to take up a primary or shared responsibility in raising that child.
Social and emotional wellbeing (SEWB) refers to the way a person thinks and feels about themselves and others. It incorporates behavioural and emotional strengths and is a facet of child development.2
In broad terms, social and emotional wellbeing is the foundation for physical and mental health for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. It is a holistic concept which results from a network of relationships between individuals, family, kin and community. It also recognises the importance of connection to Land, culture, spirituality and ancestry, and how these affect the individual.3
Social and emotional development involves the development of skills required to:
- identify and understand one’s feelings
- read and understand the emotional states of other people
- manage strong emotions and how they are expressed
- regulate behaviour
- develop empathy
- establish and maintain relationships.4
Acknowledgements
Co-author: Dana Shen, Director, DS Consultancy
This course was developed with the support of a select reference group including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander organisations, practitioners and lived experience advocates under the guidance and approval of our National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Consultancy Group. We would like to recognise all the dedicated people who inform our work for the wellbeing of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and families, and who played an integral role in shaping this course by generously offering their time, wisdom and stories.
References
- SNAICC – National Voice for our Children. Family matters report 2023. SNAICC.
- Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. (2012). Social and emotional wellbeing: Development of a Children’s Headline Indicator (Cat. no. PHE 158). AIHW.
- Commonwealth of Australia. (2017). National strategic framework for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples’ mental health and social and emotional wellbeing, p.6. Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet.
- Everymind. (2020). Understanding mental health, ill-health and suicide. Everymind.