Out of Home Care in Australia: Looking Back and Looking Ahead

Abstract

Dr Howard Bath was most recently the Northern Territory Children's Commissioner, first appointed in 2008 and re-appointed in 2012. Trained as a Clinical Psychologist, Howard has studied and worked in both Australia and the USA. He has worked as a youth worker, manager, Agency Director and clinician and was the inaugural Chair of the Child and Family Welfare Association of Australia, the peak body for service providers representing all states and territories. Howard has presented widely at conferences and training seminars and has authored numerous research reports and articles on topics including family preservation services, out-of-home care, behaviour management and child protection. Howard joined the Anglicare NT Board in April 2015 and now provides consultancy services through Allambi Care in NSW. He has been a longstanding supporter of the Children Australia journal and his generosity over the years in helping with a range of journal-related tasks, including being a former Editorial Consultant is very much appreciated.

Safe and Sound: Exploring the safety of young people in residential care

“…Defined by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare as care 'where placement is in a residential building whose purpose is to provide placements for children and where there are paid staff ' (2016, p. 48), residential care has been a longstanding option for protecting children in Australia. They became a significant care option following the de-institutionalisation movement of the 1980s (Bath, 2015a;Swain, 2014). Structurally, they do not resemble the large-scale institutional or congregate care facilities of the past (Ainsworth & Thoburn, 2014); rather, they are situated in local community settings and aim to be home-like.…”

“…Young people whose behaviour shows signs of complex trauma are most often referred to residential care in order to avoid them harming themselves or others (Bath, 2009;van der Kolk, 2005). The majority of children and young people in residential care have experienced severe 'early adversity' (Bath, 2015a) and have diverse previous experiences of sexual or physical abuse and neglect, or complex histories of trauma (AIFS, 2011;Bath, 2008a). Therefore, residential care provides care for some of the most disadvantaged, vulnerable and challenging young people in the OOHC system (Bath, 2008a).…”

“…Residential care models vary across jurisdictions to meet the needs of the children in OOHC, however, most units accommodate up to four children (Bath, 2015a). Bath (2015a) argues that the downsizing of residential care units has occurred to more effectively manage young people's behaviour, rather than in an attempt to better respond to young people's emotional, behavioural and developmental needs.…”

“…Most Australian residential care models are not 'therapeutic' or treatment focused (AIFS, 2011), in that it does not typically involve intervention goals or a formal intervention plan that addresses the needs of children and young people within a therapeutic environment (Bath, 2015a). Therapeutic residential care programs aim to provide more intensive care than standard residential care that is staffed by paid workers who may be rostered or live-in staff.…”

“…Therapeutic residential care programs aim to provide more intensive care than standard residential care that is staffed by paid workers who may be rostered or live-in staff. In Australia, most residential workers have vocational rather than professional qualifications (in contrast to European residential models that provide in-house education and treatment services to meet the needs of young people with complex needs) (Bath, 2015a;Berridge et al, 2011).…”