Groupwork for Parents whose Children are in Care: Challenges and Opportunities

Abstract

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.

Building relational trust and hope: The experiences of counsellors in a service for birth relatives whose children have been adopted or taken into care

“…This hope was often rewarded with them experiencing a sense of achievement in their work. This aligns with birth relatives reporting positive outcomes from therapeutic work (e.g., Battle, Bendit and Gray, 2014;Cox et al, 2017;Morgan et al, 2019), including, for instance, feeling empowered and more able to manage their emotions, having more positive relationships and developing new understandings and insights. Broadhurst and Mason (2014) reported further changes relating to the ability to parent children in their care, increased coping mechanisms and a shift in relationships with professionals.…”

“…A trauma-informed approach to counselling, emphasising relational safety, trust, collaboration and choice as well as the empowerment of the individual, has been considered useful when working with birth relatives (Battle, Bendit and Gray, 2014; Enlander, Simonds and Hanna, 2021). Such an approach attends to birth relatives’ often complex histories of trauma, as well as to ongoing contextual exclusion and marginalisation (Carolan et al., 2010).…”

“…Establishing a therapeutic relationship is an essential first requirement of any effective therapeutic work, but the counsellors reported that this presents unique challenges when working with birth relatives. This is a familiar theme in the literature (e.g., Battle, Bendit and Gray, 2014;Harris, 2005;Morgan et al, 2019;Neil et al, 2010;Syrstad and Slettebø, 2019). There is often a need to shift the perception birth relatives may hold of professionals where they have experienced a negative relationship with agencies in the past and where trust has been broken (see also Cox et al, 2017;Morgan et al, 2019;Neil et al, 2010).…”

“…The significant and lifelong impact of involuntarily losing a child to compulsory adoption or foster care has been repeatedly shown and includes sadness and experiences of complicated and disenfranchised grief (Battle, Bendit and Grey, 2014; Robinson, 2002), feelings of anger, guilt and shame (Memarnia et al., 2015; Neil et al., 2010), loss of dignity (Kielty, 2008; Morgan et al., 2019; Sykes, 2011), ongoing psychological distress (Broadhurst and Mason, 2013; Neil et al., 2010) and physical health problems (Robinson, 2002). Sykes (2011), Kielty (2008) and others have also highlighted the implications for the sense of self as a ‘good parent’ for birth parents following the removal of their child, with potentially highly destructive implications for psychological and social adjustment and integration, potentially leading to coping strategies that can invite further professional and societal judgement.…”

“…Further reasons that have been highlighted for supporting birth relatives following compulsory loss of their children include the prevalence of repeated care proceedings (Broadhurst and Mason, 2013; 2014; 2017; Broadhurst et al., 2015a; Broadhurst et al., 2015b; Cox et al., 2017) and the fact that most often nowadays children will have contact with birth parents (Cossar and Neil, 2010) and birth parents will have further children or have contact with other children (Battle, Bendit and Gray, 2014). This means that it is also in the interests of children removed from a parent’s care and any other children in contact with the parent that the parent’s emotional and psychological needs are addressed.…”