Until recently, the focus for child protection in NSW has been on risk assessment, supportive measures for parents, and 'the best interests of the child'. The needs of the birth families, once their children have been removed have not received the same attention. An emerging body of research indicates a growing awareness of the importance of the link between good outcomes for children in care and positive ongoing links with their birth parents. Biological parents of children who have been removed invariably continue to have parenting relationships, if not with the removed child, then with subsequent birth children, step children and children in their extended family. Service provision for this group of parents is critical given the complexity and scale of their emotional needs, and the implications for the children they will care for. In this paper, we describe one such intervention: Kids in Care, a group program offered at Relationships Australia NSW, and consider the arising issues and dilemmas for both parents and group workers. Developed to address the particular needs of parents whose children have been taken into care, the group creates an environment of acceptance and support. This opens up possibilities for parents to consider issues of grief, stigma and trauma, as well as to develop skills in communication, assertiveness and emotional regulation.

[What’s Happening?] I’m feeling emotionallooks to how animated GIFS, used as emotional aides in online conversation, might be changing the ways that we relate. While the reliance on GIFs as stand-ins for emotional expressions may be a way to build the social back into online communication and a reaffirmation of the role of emotion in society as an important and even critical requirement; the essay considers how the over representation of fictional characters, animals, and cultural stereotypes selected by algorithms may be shifting culture in ways we haven’t yet realized.

[What’s Happening?] I’m feeling emotionallooks to how animated GIFS, used as emotional aides in online conversation, might be changing the ways that we relate. While the reliance on GIFs as stand-ins for emotional expressions may be a way to build the social back into online communication and a reaffirmation of the role of emotion in society as an important and even critical requirement; the essay considers how the over representation of fictional characters, animals, and cultural stereotypes selected by algorithms may be shifting culture in ways we haven’t yet realized.

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