Child protection and intensive family support

Child protection services generally do not provide therapeutic services for parents and instead may refer families to other support including parenting groups, counselling services, intensive family support services, family violence services, mental health services, housing services, and alcohol and other drugs (AOD) services, among others (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, 2019). As such, it is important that practitioners are prepared to engage children and families from child-aware and parent-sensitive positions, by practicing curiosity, respect and collaboration, while acknowledging the child and their family’s context, strengths and hopes.

The Child protection and intensive family support learning pathway introduces both the factors that support positive mental health in children aged 0–12 years and those that can affect the child’s relationship with their parent(s) and/or caregivers(s), in the contexts of intergenerational disadvantage, trauma, and family and domestic violence.

Demonstrating the links between parental adversity and children's mental health, the courses in this pathway explain the central role of the parent-child relationship, and how the parent’s circumstances, parent behaviour, and the child’s inner emotional world are all interconnected.

Many families are affected by co-existing issues, including mental health conditions, drug and alcohol use, homelessness, poverty, child protection involvement, trauma, and family violence (Bromfield, Sutherland, & Parker, 2012). Despite the impact of external factors, the considerable economic and social disadvantages that many parents, children and families face (Bromfield, Sutherland, & Parker, 2012) may lead professionals to view individuals – rather than their situation – as ‘complex’. Subsequently, families may experience feelings of shame and isolation that increase their reluctance to engage with referred services. This learning pathway offers a range of strategies for engaging children and parents, including applying an intergenerational lens to consider each family’s experiences of adversity alongside their strengths and resilience with a focus on understanding how these may impact children’s mental health and ways of parenting.