Building Safe, Supportive Communities for Children and Families

The Research Update presents a selection of research papers relating to key areas prioritised in the Queensland Family and Child Commission’s Research Agenda. The Agenda aims to provide the evidence to inform policy and practice across the sector, with a particular focus on gaps identified by the sector.

Building safe, supportive communities for children and families

Title:Policy Roundtable. Emerging patterns in place-based approaches: International perspectives

Author:Centre for Community Child Health

PurposeThis report summarises research and discussions from the Emerging patterns in place-based approaches: International perspectives policy roundtable to highlight local place-based approaches that improve outcomes for children living in disadvantaged locations.

Key messages:More than one in five children in Australia are developmentally vulnerable and at risk of current and future problems. In some communities every second child is developmentally vulnerable. By the time developmentally vulnerable children enter school they are already affected by adverse environments and non-optimal experiences. Place-based approaches that provide local solutions to community problems are making positive impacts across Australia and internationally. The report provides a series of recommendations to help strengthen place-based initiatives that tackle disadvantage, which it argues will improve the cost effectiveness of community spending, andsupport children, families and communities to improve outcomes.

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Title:Do children born to teenage parents have lower adult intelligence? A prospective birth cohort study

Authors:Khatun, M., Al Mamun, A., Scott, J. et al.

Purpose:This research used data from theMater University Study of Pregnancy, a prospective birth cohort study of Brisbane mothers, to investigate the association between teenage motherhood and their children’s cognitive development at 21 years of age.

Key messages: Children of teenage mothers had lower IQ scores and increased risk of cognitive impairment which persisted into young adulthood. In contrast, there was no significant relationship between teenage fatherhood and offspring IQ. This small but significant lower IQ level is often combined with other challenges faced by children of teenage mothers. The paper identifies that cumulative risks may contribute to an increased risk of poor educational performance and the intergenerational transfer of psychosocial and health disadvantage.

Consequently, the authors suggest public policy initiatives are needed to target delaying childbearing in the population, and where children are born to teenage mothers initiatives are needed to support their children. The authors argue that support is particularly important in the children’s early years to minimise the risk ofpoorer outcomes for these children and intergenerational transmission of disadvantage.

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Title: Reality bites: Australia's youth unemployment in a millennial era

Author: Brotherhood of St. Laurence

Purpose:This report examines trends in long-term youth unemployment and the barriers faced by young people when seeking work.

Key messages:The 2008 global financial crisis (GFC) is the defining event in the trajectory of Australia’s youth unemployment, with long-term unemployment trending upwards since the GFC. In September 2017 one in five of all young unemployed 15–24 year olds had been out of work for a year or more. This is more than three times the number before the GFC. The tendency to blame young people for their inability to find employment is not supported by the evidence.

The Household Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) survey shows unemployed youth have consistently undertaken just as wide a range of job search activities as older people. The survey shows that rather than not wanting to work, young people face particular barriers to finding jobs. These include a sharp decline in entry-level jobs, and the high risk of automation of many current jobs.

This report argues that investment is clearly needed to create job opportunities for young people at the local, state and federal level.

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Title: Youth survey report 2017

Author:Mission Australia

Purpose:This report presents the results of Mission Australia’s latest Youth Survey of 24,055 young people aged 15 to 19 years. Participants were questioned on a range of key issues including their plans for the future and confidence in achieving these goals; values and personal concerns; family relationships and support; happiness and views on the future.

Key messages:Young people expressed high levels of concern about mental health across the survey. The top personal concerns for young people were their own mental health; including coping with stress, body image and depression.More females expressedsuch concerns than males. Furthermore, young people identified mental health(33.7%), alcohol and drugs(32.0%) and equity and discrimination (27.3%) as the most important issues in Australia today.

While the majority of young people were confident of their ability to achieve their post-school goals, the proportion of young people doubting their capacity has almost doubled over the past two years (from 10.4% in 2015 to 19.1% in 2017). More than half (52%) the respondentsfelt that there would be barriers to achieving their post-school goals.The most common barriers cited related to academic ability (22.0%), financial difficulty (14.2%) and mental health (13.2%). A greater proportion of females than males expectedbarriers to achieving their goals.Although most respondents reported positive relationships with their families, almost one in five indicated problematicfamily experiences.

In light of the high levels of concern around mental health expressed by survey respondents, Mission Australia suggested a range of interventions to assist young people. These included evidence-based universal mental health prevention and intervention programs; supportsfor family and friends to assist young people’s dealing with mental health issues; the use of technological responses and community based recovery-orientated programs; and psychosocial supports that include links to employment. More generally it is important to provide accessible wraparound services that support young people across all life domains and to engage young people in the co-design of youth-friendly services.

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Title: Gatekeeping and restrictive practices with students with disability: Results of an Australian survey

Authors:Poed, S., Cologon, K., & Jackson, R.

Purpose: This paper presents the results of an Australia–wide survey of families of 745 students and 166 school staff on the treatment of students with a disability in mainstream education settings.

Key messages:The study found significant levels of gatekeeping and restrictive practices in schools, with more than seventy percent of families reporting these experiences. Gatekeeping occurred through such incidents as minimising enrolment by advising parents that their child would do better if segregated and suggesting their child would be unable to keep up with their peers. This was reported to occur in all Australian states regardless of whether the school was government or private; primary or high school; or in regional, remote or metropolitan areas.

However, there were also positive responses from some families indicating some schools operated an inclusive model that support and value students with disabilities as part of their school community. The report argued that major reform of education is required to build an inclusive culture in all schools where students with a disability are valued, provided with necessary supports, are protected from bullying and exclusion by other students, and to meet Australia’s commitments under national and international law.

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Reducing the over-representation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children in the child protection system

Title: Family Matters Report 2017: Measuring trends to turn the tide on the over-representation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children in out-of-home care in Australia

Authors:Lewis, N., Burton, J., Lewis, P., Lau, J., Stacey, C. et al.

Purpose: This report provides detailed information on the trends in the over-representation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children in out-of-home care across jurisdictions and makes recommendations for implementing evidence-based solutions to address this problem.

Key messages: Across all measures, the over-representation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children in the child protection system is growing, rather than declining. The proportion of Aboriginal and Torres Strait children in out-of-home care has increased from 20% in 1997 to 36% in 2016. Similarly, the report identified that despite placement with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander carers being the best option for children, the proportion of these placements has declined from 65% in 2006 to 50% in 2016.

The report argued that there is ongoing under-investment in addressing over-representation and that investments are disproportionately focused on tertiary child protection services rather than on the prevention and early intervention services. The report suggests that a focus on prevention and early intervention services is most likely to address the over-representation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children.

The report says that solutions require commitment to a comprehensive national strategy with clearly defined targets that invests in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander organisations and communities to ensure that children and families have equitable access to the quality supports and services that all children require to thrive.

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Improving out of home care

Title: Assessing the different dimensions and degrees of risk of child sexual abuse in institutions

Authors:Parkinson, P. & Cashmore, J.

Purpose: The purpose of this research was to establish ways of differentiating between institutions to identify institutions and activities that may constitute more risky environments for child sexual abuse.

Key messages: The report considers four types of risk that may be present in institutions; situational, vulnerability and propensity risks, and risks associated with the characteristics of an institution.

Situational risk arises from the opportunities for abuse offered by the environment; for example, opportunities to be alone with a child. In contrast, vulnerability risk occurs because individual characteristics make a childmore susceptible to victimisation; for example, the age of the child, with younger children being more vulnerable to abuse. Propensity risk arises when institutions attract a greater-than-average clustering of people with a propensity to abuse children. Lastly, institutional risk is based on characteristics of an institution that either make sexual abuse more,or less likely to occur, or less likely to be effectively dealt with if disclosed.

The report concludes by proposing a typology to assess differential levels of risk in a range of institutions and activities from low-risk through to high-risk.

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Title:Educational engagement of children and young people in out of home care in New South Wales: Preliminary findings

Author:Association of Child Welfare Agencies

Purpose: This research analysed information on educational engagement for 2,581 children and young people in out-of-home care in New South Wales.

Key messages:Children and young people in out-of-home care had higher absenteeism and lower participation rates than their peers who were not in care. A significant proportion of those in care had chronic disengagement from education due to school or performance anxiety.

Almost one third of students in out-of-home care did not have individual education plans, even though such plans were required to be prepared within 30 days of their entry into care. The report argued that these failings are particularly concerning given that access to, and participation in, education is crucial for children’s future welfare, economic success, health and wellbeing.

The report concluded with a number of recommendations including ensuring that all children have a high quality, well-supported education plan which includes extra-curricular school activities, educational engagement and academic progress. It also recommended the establishment of an oversight mechanism to ensure that education plans are completed, regularly reviewed, and meet children’s educational needs; and called for more systematic and detailed monitoring of educational outcomes for children in care.

To achieve this, the report recommended that government instigate a systemic collection of data on school attendance and educational outcomes for children and young people in out-of-home care that is made available to relevant stakeholders through regular annual reporting.

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The workforce is developed and supported to meet the needs of children and families into the future

Title: Caring for our frontline child protection workforce

Authors:Lewig,K., & McLean, S.

Purpose: The aim of this paper is to use occupational health research to provide guidance on the development of organisational strategies which enhance the wellbeing of the frontline child protection workforce.

Key messages:There is a growing recognition of the necessity of developing organisational strategies to foster the wellbeing of the frontline child protection workforce to address both the personal impact of this demanding and highly stressful work, as well as the high staff turnover and frequent staff shortages.

Recent research has focused on a strengths-based approach of building personal and organisational attributes in place of the previous emphasis on a deficit model which contributes to a culture of blaming individuals for impaired workplace wellbeing. This paper argues that a new approach has shown the significant role that work engagement, psychological capabilities, such as hope, optimism and efficacy, and a climate of psychosocial safety play in contributing to workers’ wellbeing.

Organisational strategies that focus on enhancing these three key factors represent a promising approach to supporting frontline workers and enhancing their wellbeing.

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Title: Child protection workers and occupational violence

Author: Smart, J.

Purpose: This paper examines research on violence experienced by the child protection workforce and the impact this may have on the workers, and the children they aim to protect.

Key messages: While there is only limited research, existing evidence from Australian and international studies shows that child protection workers are often subject to high levels of violence. This violence may include physical and sexual assault, threats and intimidation, including death threats to themselves and their family members, emotional abuse, and other strategies of coercion and control.

In extreme cases, child protection workers have received permanent injuries or died at the hands of service users. For example, an Australian study found that 91% of participants had experienced intimidating behaviour and 72% had been threatened with violence.

Responses from organisations to workers’ reports of violence often result in bullying or blaming the worker, or accepting and normalising the violence as just an expected part of the job. Also violence is under-reported.

The report argues that violence against child protection workers has negative effects on their health and wellbeing and has been found to deter workers from fully investigating allegations of child abuse and neglect. The report proposes that occupational violence experienced by child protection workers requires further exploration to understand the frequency and severity of violence and its impact on child protection workers and the children and families coming into contact with the child protection system.

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The QFCC is responsible for a number of functions relating to child deaths in Queensland, including maintaining a register of all child deaths in Queensland, researching the risk factors associated with child deaths and making recommendations to prevent such deaths occurring. The register provides a valuable evidence base to monitor trends and analyse contributing and protecting factors, informing legislation, policy and practice aimed at preventing future child deaths. This update provides a summary of recent information relevant to the prevention of child deaths.

A father was found guilty of manslaughter for shaking his 6-week-old baby son to death. Injuries found on the infant indicated that the father had abused his son twice by squeezing him, before the fatal assault in 2011. The father was sentenced to nine years imprisonment, and will not be eligible for parole until he has served at least half of his sentence.

Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) Product Safety Standard: Baby Bath Aids

The Consumer Goods (Baby Bath Aids) Safety Standard 2017 was recently introduced into The Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (Cth). The purpose of the safety standard is to improve the permanency and visibility of bath aid warning labels to reduce the number of infants who drown, or acquire permanent brain injuries, when using bath aids. The standard introduces a permanency test and colour contrast requirement for warning notices.

The new requirements are as follows:

1. A baby bath aid must have a warning statement,
2. The warning label must state:

Children have DROWNED while using bath aids

This is NOT a safety device

ALWAYS keep baby within arm’s reach

NEVER leave baby in care of children

The QFCC provided a submission to the ACCC during its consultation process. The QFCC’s submission supported the implementation of a mandatory safety standard, and increasing the permanency and legibility of warning labels, particularly around the need for infants to be continuously supervised while a bath aid is in use. While there has only been one death of an infant in Queensland who drowned while using a bath aid, between January 2004 and September 2016, 15 infants and children under the age of 4 drowned while they were known to be in a bathtub. All of these drownings occurred while there was a lapse in adult supervision.

The NSW Child Death Review Team Annual Report2016-17was recently tabled in the New South Wales Parliament (NSW).The Child Death Review Team is responsible for registering, reviewing and reporting to the NSW Parliament on all the deaths of children aged less than 18 years in NSW.