Conference Program

Carer/Parent Sessions

Evening Event AbstractsSpeakers

PROGRAM

Strengthening Connections: Contact & IdentityThe National Permanency Conference 2019 will focus on the importance of maintaining strong connections to family, origin and culture for children.

It will also focus on the critical role both permanency and contact with family of origin play in shaping a child’s identity.

Three years since the commitment of the Community Services Ministers to prioritising permanency for children in out-of-home care within their jurisdictions, state and territory governments will be providing an update on their progress. Local and international speakers will also discuss the latest in global best practice.

As members of the sector who have an opportunity to contribute to positive change for children across Australia, we encourage your participation during discussion and feedback sessions.

Welcome to the National Permanency Conference 2019 - Strengthening Connections: Contact & Identity. It is a privilege to participate in this critical national conversation with a room of people committed to bringing about significant improvements in outcomes for children and young people in care across Australia. This conference marks three years since the commitment made across all jurisdictions to prioritise permanency for children and young people in care. ‘Permanency’ in itself is not enough. It is about providing safety, nurture and stability with a sense of belonging to the children and young people who need it most. We have an immense responsibility as a community and sector to ensure as many children and young people as possible are given the best opportunity to remain with, or be restored to, their family of origin, when it is safe and appropriate. Significant resources must be committed to see this occur. When the reality is that these children are unable to live with family of origin, the responsibility moves to ensuring stability through alternative home arrangements. It is also of extreme importance to put all necessary supports in place to ensure the relationships between children and young people and their family of origin are maintained and nourished. And this is why we are here – to see better outcomes for children and young people through facilitating more timely permanency, and through supporting stronger connections with all involved. We would like to thank our sponsors for theirsignificant support, which has enabled a two-day program with speakers from across Australia and beyond, to provide critical insights on our focus topics, and to facilitate conversations with you about how we can all work together for brighter futures for our children and young people.

Renée Carter Chief Executive Officer Adopt Change

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SPONSORS

MAJOR SPONSOR

We would like to thank our Conference Sponsors for their support of this important event.

CONFERENCE SPONSORS

INTERNATIONAL GUEST SPEAKER SPONSOR

EVENING EVENT SPONSOR

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CONFERENCE VENUE

MCEC

SOUTHERN CROSS STATION

FLINDERSSTATION

NPC19

Crown Towers

Crown Plaza

Batman Park

Flinders St

White

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Power St

Normanby R

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St

Spen

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Kin

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William

St

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Elizabeth St

Claren

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Kings Way

City R

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Wurundjeri Way

Wurundjeri W

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Collins St

Flinders Ln

Little Collins StBourke StLittle

Bourke St

Bourke St

DFO South Wharf

Novotel

Thursday 07 - Friday 08 November, 2019

Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre 1 Convention Centre Place | South Wharf

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PROGRAMDay 1 | Thursday 7th November

8:30am Registration | Tea & Coffee Level 2 Foyer

8:50am Introduction | Helen Baker | MC and Board Director, Adopt Change Rooms 212 & 213

8:55am Welcome to Country | Aunty Dianne Kerr Rooms 212 & 213

9:00am CEO Address | Renée Carter | CEO, Adopt Change Rooms 212 & 213

9:05am Ministerial Address | Senator the Hon Anne Ruston | Minister for Families and Social Services, Australian Government

Rooms 212 & 213

9:15am

Stability of relationships and identity for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children: Sustaining connections to kin, community, culture and country. Richard Weston | CEO, SNAICC

Rooms 212 & 213

9:45am

Government Panel | Session 1 States, Territories & Commonwealth government discuss their commitment to prioritising permanency § The Hon Michelle Landry MP | Assistant Minister for Children and

Families, Australian Government

§ The Hon Rachel Sanderson MP | Minister for Child Protection | SA

§ Beth Allen | A/Director, Children and Families Policy Branch, Children and Families Division, Department of Health and Human Services | VIC

Facilitator: Lanai Scarr

Rooms 212 & 213

10:25am

Government Panel | Session 2 States & Territories governments discuss their commitment to prioritising permanency § Tracey de Simone | Official Solicitor, Office of the Child and Family and

Department of Child Safety, Youth and Women | QLD

§ Michael Coutts | Manager Adoption and Permanent Care Services | QLD

§ Craig Layton | Executive Director, Child and Family, NSW Department of Communities and Justice | NSW

Facilitator: Lanai Scarr

Rooms 212 & 213

11:05am Morning Tea

11:35amPerspectives from Young People | CREATE Young Consultants

Facilitator: Michelle StacpooleRooms 212 & 213

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12:15pm

Keynote Address Reference Points for Belonging: Connectedness for Lifelong Permanency Terry Cross | National Indian Child Welfare Association (NICWA) USA

Rooms 212 & 213

1:15pm Lunch

2:15pm

Stream 1 Workshop: Building trauma informed schools for children in out-of-home care Dr Stacy Blythe | Western Sydney University

Stream 2 The Permanency Amendments Longitudinal Study: Understanding the impact of legislative change to promote permanency for children entering care Sarah Wise | Melbourne University

Stream 3 Workshop: Best Practice in Facilitating Family Time (one hour session) Danielle Draper | Continuum Consulting

Rooms 212 & 213

Room 216

Room 217

2:45pm

Stream 1 Focusing on continuity of children’s care, connections with kin and culture, and identity: An alternative approach to permanency Penny Mackieson | Social Worker

Stream 2 Networks of relationships as permanency – thinking beyond placement and planning for life Janise Mitchell | Australian Childhood Foundation

Rooms 212 & 213

Room 216

3:15pm Afternoon tea

3:40pmA child’s right: Adults acting in their best interests Megan Mitchell | National Children’s Commissioner, Australian Human Rights Commission

Rooms 212 & 213

4:15pmLived Experience Panel Joel de Carteret, Shellie Morris, Kaisey Hayes

Facilitator: Kerry Chikarovski

Rooms 212 & 213

4:50pm Video Message | Margie Warrell | Author Rooms 212 & 213

4:55pm Closing Words | Helen Baker Rooms 212 & 213

5:00pm Day 1 sessions conclude

5:00pmEvening Event Featuring entertainment by singer and musician Shellie Morris Refreshments served

Level 2 Foyer

7:30pm Evening Concludes

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PROGRAMDay 2 | Friday 8th November

8:30am Registration | Tea & Coffee Level 2 Foyer

8:50am Introduction | Helen Baker | MC and Board Director, Adopt Change Rooms 212 & 213

8:55amImproving Timeliness in Permanency Decisions for Children in Care Andrea Lauchs, Mark Galvin, Dr Melissa Kaltner | EY Mohita Kapoor | CREATE Foundation

Rooms 212 & 213

9:35amContact for Fostering Family Connections and Identity: Challenges, Opportunities and Practice Development Dr Amy Conley Wright | University of Sydney

Rooms 212 & 213

10:15am

Spotlight on Victoria Beth Allen | Department of Health and Human Services Alannah Andrews | PCA Families Sarah Wise | University of Melbourne Sharon Howie | OzChild

Facilitator: Elisha Rose

Rooms 212 & 213

10:55am Morning Tea

11:15am

Keynote Address Achieving permanence for abused and neglected children in out of home care Harriet Ward CBE | Honorary Research Fellow, Rees Centre for Research in Fostering and Education, University of Oxford UK

Rooms 212 & 213

12:15pm Facilitated Yarn Session Rooms 212 & 213

12:45pm Lunch

1:45pm

Stream 1 A case file review of sibling relationships and contact for children adopted from out of home care Betty Luu | University of Sydney

Stream 2 Making Contact Meaningful in OOHC adoption Deborah Willick and Elizabeth Cox | Barnardos

Stream 3 Infant feeding in Foster Care: Experiences and education needs of Foster Carers Dr Karleen Gribble | Western Sydney University

Rooms 212 & 213

Room 216

Room 217

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2:20pm

Stream 1 Treatment Foster Care Oregon, an evidence-based approach to family reunification Oliver Hill and Robyn Jackson | OzChild

Stream 2 Meaningful cultural life story work. Connecting and celebrating cultural diversity with children from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds Kathy Karatasas and Ghassan Noujaim | Settlement Services International (SSI)

Stream 3 Strengthening family connections in preparing for open adoption for children in NSW OOHC Kim Nixon | Kim Nixon Consulting

Rooms 212 & 213

Room 216

Room 217

2:55pm Afternoon Tea

3:20pmLived Experience Panel Lanai Scarr, Brad Murphy, Elisha Rose

Facilitator: Helen Baker

Rooms 212 & 213

4:00pm Closing words | Helen Baker Rooms 212 & 213

4:05pm Conference Concludes

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CARER/PARENT SESSIONSDay 1 Thursday 7th November

JOIN THE Q&A AT SLI.DO

Do you have a question for a presenter or panellist? You’ll be able to submit questions from your device during the presentations using the app Sli.do.

1. Open your browser and go to slido.com or download the App on your mobile device.

2. Enter the #eventcode: #9057

Free WiFi To stay connected, use MCEC Free WiFi on your device. Open your internet browser and a login page will appear. You will be prompted to read and accept the terms and conditions before clicking ‘Connect Now’.

9:30am Register & Network Room 217

10:00am Welcome | Elisha Rose | MC Room 217

10:05am A Personal Experience | Brad Murphy | Adopt Change Ambassador Room 217

10:15amFamily visits: working towards positive family relationships in contact/access Danielle Draper | Continuum Consulting

Room 217

11:05am Morning Tea

11:25am Childhood trauma: the impact in the classroom Dr Stacy Blythe | Western Sydney University

Room 217

12:15pm Facilitated discussion time Room 217

12:25pm Closing words | Elisha Rose | MC Room 217

12:30pm Finish

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EVENING EVENT

The National Permanency Conference Evening Event is the primary social event on the conference calendar. The function gives delegates an opportunity to enjoy an evening of networking, entertainment, drinks and canapés. Entertainment is provided by 2014 NT Australian of the Year, singer and musician Shellie Morris.

Your two-day conference ticket includes entry to the Evening Event. Please head up to Level 2 Foyer at 5:00pm to join the festivities.

When: 5:00pm Thursday 7th November 2019

Where: Level 2 Foyer

Thank you to our Evening Event Sponsor

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SPEAKERS Complete speaker profiles available at nationalpermanencyconference.org.au

Terry CrossFounder and Senior Advisor of NICWA – National Indian Child Welfare Association

Terry L. Cross, (Ha-ne-ga-noh), MSW, ACSW, LCWS, an enrolled member of the Seneca Nation of Indians (Bear Clan), is the founder and, now Senior Advisory to the National Indian Child Welfare Association. He received an honorary Doctorate from Portland State University in 2015.

He has published more than 60 professional papers, curricula, articles, chapters, and books, including Positive Indian Parenting, Cross-Cultural Skills in Indian Child Welfare, Customary Adoption for American Indian and Alaskan Native Children, and “Toward a Culturally Competent System of Care.”

Harriet Ward CBEHonorary Research Fellow at the Department of Education (Rees Centre for Research on Fostering and Education), University of Oxford and Emeritus Professor of Child and Family Research at Loughborough University

Professor Harriet Ward has over thirty years’ experience as a social work practitioner, an academic researcher and as a policy analyst.

Since 2001, much of her empirical research has focussed on very young children at risk of significant harm and their parents. Recent studies include an eight-year prospective longitudinal study of infants identified as at risk of significant harm before their first birthdays; an empirical study exploring the development of a pre-birth assessment pathway (with Jane Barlow and Clare Lushey); and a study of outcomes for children adopted from care in New South Wales.

International speakers

Thank you to our International Guest Speaker Sponsor

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Senator the Hon. Anne Ruston Minister for Families and Social Services, Australian Government

Minister for Families and Social Services, Senator the Hon. Anne Ruston, has been a Senator since September 2012. Senator Ruston was appointed Assistant Minister of Agriculture and Water Resources in September 2015. She was subsequently appointed as Assistant Minister for International Development and the Pacific in August 2018. Senator Ruston is also the Manager of Government Business in the Senate.

The Hon Michelle Landry MPAssistant Minister for Children and Families, Australian Government

Michelle Landry grew up in Rockhampton, and was elected as the Federal Member for the central Queensland seat of Capricornia in 2013. Re-elected for a third consecutive term in May 2019, Michelle is well known as a tenacious advocate for her electorate. As the Assistant Minister for Children and Families in the Australian Government, she is committed to delivering permanency reform for the 45,800 children in out-of-home care, and strengthening early intervention support and child protection for our nation’s most vulnerable kids.

The Hon Rachel Sanderson MPMinister for Child Protection, South Australia

Rachel Sanderson was elected to the South Australian Parliament as the Member for Adelaide in 2010. She was appointed as the Minister for Child Protection in the Marshall Government, in March 2018. Over the years, Rachel served as a Shadow Minister in the portfolios of Families and Child Protection; Social Housing; Volunteers; Youth; and Higher Education, Science and the Information Economy.

Beth AllenA/Director Child and Families Policy, DHHS Victoria

Beth Allen (PSM) is the Director of Child and Families Policy for the Victorian Department of Health and Human Services. In this role Beth is responsible for the development of legislation, policy and program initiatives that support vulnerable children and those involved in the statutory child protection system including Family Services, Child Protection and Care Services.

Government

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Craig LaytonExecutive Director, Child and Family, NSW Department of Communities and Justice

Craig Layton is responsible for policy and programs to protect children and families and support them to thrive, including out-of-home care, child protection, and preservation.

Megan MitchellNational Children’s Commissioner

Megan Mitchell is Australia’s first National Children’s Commissioner at the Australian Human Rights Commission, appointed in 2013.

Megan has previous experience in both government and non-government roles in child protection, out-of-home care, youth justice, disability, and early childhood services. Megan also holds qualifications in social policy, psychology and education.

Michael CouttsManager, Adoption and Permanent Care Services QLD

Michael Coutts is the Manager of Queensland’s Adoption and Permanent Care Services. Adoption and Permanent Care Services is a state-wide unit and the only area able to arrange for the adoption of children in Queensland.

Michael has a background in social work and public sector management and has spent over 20 years working in child protection and adoption in a variety of roles.

Tracey de SimoneOfficial Solicitor, Department of Child Safety,

Youth and Women QLD

Tracey de Simone is the Official Solicitor in the Office of the Child and Family, and Official Solicitor in the Department of Child Safety, Youth and Women.

Tracey has been a solicitor for 22 years. She currently leads a team of 75 lawyers and paralegals across Queensland from Cairns to Roma and situated in child safety service centres.

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Alannah AndrewsPCA Families

Born and bred in NSW it was there Alannah studied and first worked as a Nursed in both general and psychiatric hospitals. A move to Western Australia saw further study and registration as a Social Worker.

Working in a hospital with pregnant Indigenous women, the call of community work was strong. A shift to a leading parenting organisation provided a strong foundation in Child Development and Community Engagement.

Andrea LauchsEY

Andrea recently joined EY as a Senior Manager. Andrea has over 15 years experience in Child Protection Services and was recently the Executive Director, Child and Family Operations, within Queensland Department of Child Safety, Youth and Women.

Andrea is a highly experienced leader in child protection practice with a well-developed framework in risk assessment, family contact, reunification and case planning.

Dr Amy Conley WrightUniversity of Sydney

Amy is Associate Professor of Social Work at the University of Sydney and Director of the Institute of Open Adoption Studies. There she leads a program of applied research focused primarily on building the evidence about children and their best interests in open adoption and other permanency pathways in out-of-home care.

Betty LuuResearcher, University of Sydney

Betty Luu is a Research Associate at the Institute of Open Adoption Studies, The University of Sydney. She is currently conducting applied research and practice development in the area of permanency for children and young people in out-of-home care in NSW, particularly in open adoption (but also restoration, kinship care, and guardianship).

Speakers and Panellists

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Brad MurphyEx-Pro AFL player & Adoptee, Adopt Change Ambassador

Brad Murphy is a former AFL player for the Western Bulldogs, 2002-2006, and now coaches and plays for semi-professional Aussie Rules club, Melton. Brad was born to drug addicted parents and grew up in foster care in Victoria from 16 months.

Young Brad was never going back to his birth parents — his mum moved to Western Australia, while his dad spent most of Brad’s childhood in Pentridge prison.

Brooke Cooper CREATE Young Consultant

Brooke is an insightful, compassionate and articulate Young Consultant with CREATE Foundation. She has spoken at Child Safety Officer training workshops, presented at the Department of Child Safety Permanency Conference, spoken to educators and professionals at the Trauma-aware Schooling Conference, shared at foster carer training, co-facilitated a Speak Up empowerment workshop and provided extensive feedback through CREATE Youth Advisory Groups.

Danielle DraperAccredited Mental Health Social Worker

Danielle is an Accredited Mental Health Social Worker; Psychotherapist; Court Clinician; Training Facilitator; and a lecturer at the University of Wollongong.

With a career that spans over two decades in the community services sector, Danielle has worked in many frontline and leadership roles across New South Wales in both city and regional/remote communities.

Deborah WillickProgram Manager Adoption OOHC Illawara Barnardos Australia

Deborah Willick is an experienced practitioner who has worked in early childhood services and a range of intensive family support services and out of home care programs with Barnardos Australia, the last four years in the Find-a-Family adoption program. Deb firmly believes casework in out of home care services should be strongly focused on the child’s best interests, considering their holistic developmental and psychological needs.

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Elisha RoseMC, Carer/Parent Sessions

Lawyer, mum and volunteer Elisha Rose is also known as The Other Mother.

Elisha came to foster care wanting to help children overcome trauma, given her own traumatic childhood never expecting to end up with guardianship of two indigenous boys.

Elizabeth CoxExecutive Manager, OOHC NSW/ACT Barnardos Australia

Elizabeth Cox has a Bachelor Social Science and an MBA and has over 32 years’ experience working with children and families in Out of Home Care. For the past 30 years, Elizabeth has been employed by Barnardos Australia; initially in case management and more extensively in management. Elizabeth current holds the position of Executive Manager OOHC NSW and ACT.

Emily PaulCREATE Young Consultant

Emily Paul is a valued member of the CREATE community. Emily has been shortlisted for the ACYP Youth Advisory Council twice and is an esteemed member of her local Youth Council. She has led our FACS Caseworker training and spoken at our Western NSW OOHC and Mental Health Interagency. Emily has been a guest speaker at CREATE’s National Survey Launch and at the Their Futures Matter 2019 conference.

Ghassan NoujaimSenior Operations Manager, Settlement Services International (SSI) Foster Care Service

Ghassan Noujaim has extensive experience in community development, training, education, child protection and out-of-home care, having worked with FACS and non-government organisations. His expertise in assessing and matching children to carers reflects his understanding and responsiveness to actively facilitating children and young people to maintain connection to their culture and heritage.

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Helen BakerMC, Main Conference, Adopt Change Board Director

Adopted from the Philippines, Helen is a passionate and determined advocate for adoption who believes all children have the right to grow up in a loving and permanent home. Helen brings her professional and personal adoption experience to the Board of Adopt Change. With a background in legal and professional services (currently in senior management at Deloitte), together with owning and operating a legal recruitment company for over ten years, she is a highly motivated and driven individual.

Janise Mitchell Deputy CEO | Australian Childhood Foundation

Janise Mitchell is the Deputy CEO of the Australian Childhood Foundation and Director of the Centre for Excellence in Therapeutic Care. She is also an Adjunct Associate Professor, School of Arts and Social Sciences with Southern Cross University.

Janise has 30 years’ experience in the field of child protection and child welfare, with a focus on therapeutic care.

Joel de CarteretFilmmaker & Adoptee, Adopt Change Ambassador

Joel is CEO & Chief Storyteller at Stories In Motion, where he makes beautifully crafted stories that touch the heart and fill the soul. As featured recently on Channel 9’s 60 minutes and GMA’s Kapuso Mo - Jessica Soho, Joel’s story has reached over 22 million people around the planet.

Kaisey Hayes Adoptive Mother and Panellist

Kaisey is mother to two gorgeous children, who came into her family through Adoption and Permanent Care.

Having navigated the ‘system’, Kaisey is passionate about improving the journey for children in care and adoptive parents alike, with a particular focus on providing additional support for adoptive families.

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Dr Karleen Gribble BRurSc, PhDResearcher, Western Sydney University

Dr Karleen Gribble (BRurSc, PhD) is an Adjunct Associate Professor in the School of Nursing and Midwifery at Western Sydney University. Her interests include infant feeding, children’s rights, child-caregiver and caregiver-child attachment, parenting of children with a history of trauma, and aspects of the treatment of infants and young children within the child protection, immigration detention and criminal justice systems.

Katherine Karatasas Director, Multicultural Child and Family Program, Settlement Services International (SSI)

Kathy is also a Director of the Association of Child Welfare Agencies (ACWA) and a member of a number of sector Advisory committees. Kathy has a strong commitment to driving services which influence positive wellbeing outcomes and is a strong advocate for sector practice improvements in working with and supporting children and families from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds.

Kerry ChikarovskiFacilitator, Adopt Change Board Director

One of the country’s most respected and admired former politicians, Kerry “Chika" Chikarovski began her career as a solicitor before making the decision to enter parliament. Encouraged by a brief but memorable meeting with a dashing young Robert Kennedy, Kerry knew from an early age that she wanted to be a politician and in 1991 she won pre-selection against the odds for the safe seat of Lane Cove on Sydney’s north shore – one that had been earmarked for a male colleague.

Kim NixonKim Nixon Consulting

Kim Nixon holds a Bachelor of Social Work (1st Class Hons) She has 34 years’ experience as a practitioner across the fields of sexual assault, child protection, out of home care, early intervention and workplace investigations, including twenty-eight years in management. She has designed, delivered, implemented and evaluated many major projects including the casework arm of the Adoption Taskforce and a Guardianship Project for Western Sydney DCJ.

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Lanai ScarrFacilitator & Panellist, Adopt Change Media Ambassador

Lanai is Federal Political Editor for the West Australian and an Adopt Change Media Ambassador. She has worked as a journalist for more than 11 years covering federal politics, business, women, families, mental health, immigration, tourism, social affairs, education, along with a range of other topics at the forefront of the Australian media landscape.

Mark GalvinEY

Mark is a Partner in EY’s Government and Public Sector practice and leads the firm’s Evaluation Practice Network. Mark is an economist and evaluator with over 15 years of experience as a professional advisory consultant. He is passionate about the use of traditional economic and evaluation methodologies to transform systems and achieve better outcomes for the most vulnerable people in our community.

Dr Melissa KaltnerEY

Melissa recently joined EY as an Associate Director where she leads program evaluation projects. Prior to joining EY, she worked within various Queensland and New South Wales Government Departments where she was responsible for the development and coordination of state-wide programmes of child protection and health research.

Mohita KapoorCREATE Foundation

Mohita Kapoor is the NSW state coordinator for CREATE foundation. CREATE is a the National consumer Peak body for the voices of children and young people with a care experience. Mohita has 15 years’ experience working within a therapeutic framework with vulnerable communities. She is passionate about client centred approaches when addressing and improving practices through evidence based models.

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Oliver HillOzChild Treatment Foster Care Oregon

With a strong background in child welfare and development, and extensive experience working with evidence-based programs in both government and non-government organisations, Oliver has been working with OzChild’s Treatment Foster Care Oregon (TFCO) team for more than three years, the last 12 months as National Practice Leader for the program working across Victoria, NSW and QLD.

Penny MackiesonSocial Worker

Penny Mackieson is a social worker with extensive experience in the Victorian child and family services sector, including the government’s child protection and intercountry adoption programs. Penny has Bachelor, Master and PhD degrees from the University of Melbourne. Penny was adopted as a newborn in the context of practices now recognised as forced adoption.

Richard WestonCEO, SNAICC

Richard is the recently appointed Chief Executive Officer for SNAICC, the national peak body for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children. As a descendant of the Meriam people of the Torres Strait, Richard has worked in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander affairs for more than 20 years.

Robyn JacksonOzChild Treatment Foster Care Oregon

Robyn is the parent of three teenagers and has more than 20 years’ experience in the community and welfare sectors. Starting her carer with OzChild in the kinship care team more than eight years ago, Robyn has also worked across foster care, disability and the Treatment Foster Care Oregon (TFCO) program, currently holding the position of TFCO Program Supervisor.

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Dr Sarah WiseUniversity of Melbourne

Dr Sarah Wise currently works as a research specialist within the Department of Social Work at the University of Melbourne. She has worked outside academia, in a leading Commonwealth government research centre and significant industry research roles. Her fields of research include child and family welfare, early childhood development and systems change.

Sharon HowieOzChild

Sharon began her carer with OzChild six years ago in the foster care program. Prior to that she worked with Family Life as a Children’s and Family Worker. Sharon has case managed many children and carers during her time with OzChild - some children she has seen returned home to family and others she has assisted with their transition into long term care with foster families.

Shellie MorrisMusician & Adoptee, Adopt Change Ambassador

Shellie is a singer, songwriter and musician, and the NT Australian of the Year in 2014. Adopted into a Sydney based family as a baby, Shellie remains very close to her adoptive family, who encouraged her to seek out her biological family more than two decades ago. Her journey took her, via Link Up, to the Northern Territory and on continuous learning of her Wardaman and Yanyuwa heritage and into more than 70 remote communities of this country.

Dr Stacy BlytheResearcher, Western Sydney University

Dr Stacy Blythe is a mother, foster carer, and senior lecturer in the School of Nursing and Midwifery at Western Sydney University. Her program of research is concerned with the health and well-being of children in out-of-home care, and their families. Stacy’s teaching focus is in infant mental health. She holds a PhD in relation to foster care and has post graduate qualifications in developmental trauma.

Tay Cole CREATE Young Consultant

Tay is 23 years old and lives in Melbourne where she has resided for most of her life. In her spare time, she enjoys taking walks along the beach with her dog or listening to the waves roll in, drawing and colouring in, following walking trails through nature, bowling, mini-golf and hanging out with her cat.

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ABSTRACTS

Stability of relationships and identity for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children: Sustaining connections to kin, community, culture and country. Richard Weston | CEO, SNAICC

For Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children, their wellbeing and development are intrinsically linked to the strength of their relationships with family, community, culture and country. Stability of these connections is vital for children, and underpins positive identity development and lifelong health and wellbeing. Permanent care measures that focus on legal orders and adoption risk severing these connections and doing more harm. They present echoes of the tragic experiences of the Stolen Generations, for whom so called “good intentioned policies” were the cause of immeasurable grief and trauma that continues for the people directly affected, their communities and their descendants today. We can offer our children stability and safety without repeating the mistakes of the past.

There is a better way. SNAICC as the national peak body for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children calls for an end to legal orders for permanent care and adoption, replaced by a focus on measures that keep children safely connected to their families, communities and cultures. We must invest far greater effort in prevention, supporting families, safely reunifying children with their parents or kin, and empowering Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities to lead decisions about providing safe care for their children.

Reference Points for Belonging: Connectedness and for Life-Long Permanency Terry Cross | NICWA

Terry L. Cross will present an American Indian perspective on permanency and discuss the mental health implications of separation, loss, and grief that is an inherent, yet unspoken part of all adoptions. He will summarise the negative history

of American Indians and Alaska Natives regarding foster care and adoption, the passage of the Indian Child Welfare Act, and the development of tribal services and the National Indian Child Welfare Association. Mr Cross will provide an overview of the Touchstones of Hope approach to child welfare for Indigenous populations, highlighting how many Indigenous communities in the United States are ensuring safety, permanency, and well-being through healing intergenerational trauma and by preserving the child’s reference points for belonging.

Building trauma informed schools for children in out-of-home care Dr Stacy Blythe | Western Sydney University

It is increasingly well known that early childhood trauma has both pervasive and persistent negative effects children’s development. These may include psychosocial inabilities, learning difficulties and emotional dysfunction. Despite these difficulties, the majority of children with early childhood trauma are educated in mainstream schools. For many of these children, the classroom environment can feel threatening and unsafe.

Where this is the case, the children are unable to learn and their consequential behaviours may inhibit the learning of other children. This creates a difficult milieu for both children and teachers to navigate. This presentation discusses these issues and identifies strategies for parents, carers and educators which may assist in creating a safer classroom that is conducive to learning for all children.

The Permanency Amendments Longitudinal Study: Understanding the impact of legislative change to promote permanency for children entering care Dr Sarah Wise | Melbourne University

Significant amendments to the Children, Youth and Families Act 2005 were passed in September 2014 and came into effect on 1 March 2016. The amendments aimed to promote the permanency of

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care arrangements for children subject to child protection intervention and unable to safely remain at home. Timelines for achieving family reunification were introduced along with the earlier commencement of case planning to achieve permanency objectives.

Also, case plans for all Aboriginal children in out-of-home care are now required to address their cultural support needs. Upon taking office in November 2014, the Minister for Families and Children, Jenny Mikakos, requested the Commission for Children and Young People undertake an inquiry into the impacts of the ‘permanency amendments’. The resulting “…safe and wanted…” report recommended the Victorian Government initiate a study to determine whether the permanency amendments are achieving their objectives. In response, the Victorian Government appointed a consortium led by the University of Melbourne and including the Universities of Sydney and of New South Wales, to undertake the study.

This paper provides a detailed overview of the permanency amendments and their intention. This will be followed by a presentation of the multi-method study approach developed by the academic researchers to determine whether the permanency amendments that have been implemented are having their intended impact on children, families, carers, professionals and the functioning of the whole child protection system. Other aspects of the study, including investigators, governance structure, timelines and communications will be described.

Best Practice in Facilitating Family TimeDanielle Draper | Continuum Consulting

A meaningful connection to family, kin and community helps a child or young person develop a sense of belonging and hope.

Creating and keeping relationships and emotional permanence for a child or young person, through informal and formal types of contact, plays an

important role in:

§ easing the pain of separation and loss for a child or young person, their family and significant others

§ reducing the child or young person’s sense of abandonment

§ reassuring the child or young person of their family’s wellbeing

§ promoting cultural and spiritual identity § supporting restoration by maintaining

relationships.

Whilst the focus is on the child in undertaking family visits, often competing attention is experienced by birth family and carers needs. How these needs are addressed are important to successful family visits being achieved is important. We will discuss these needs and identify practices that help shape best practice in facilitated family visits.

Focusing on continuity of children’s care, connections with kin and culture, and identity: An alternative approach to permanencyPenny Mackieson | Social Worker

Achieving permanency is a major focus for the care of children in English-speaking Western child protection and out-of-home care systems. Yet the concept of permanency is not embodied in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child 1989. Rather, the Convention embodies children’s rights to continuity – continuity of care; continuity of connections to natural parents and extended family; continuity of culture, including ethnicity, religion and language; and continuity of identity, including legal preservation of name, family relationships, and nationality. The Convention also emphasises that children’s rights to continuity of care, kin connections, culture, and identity are just as important as their rights to protection and safety, and to participate and be heard in all matters affecting them.

Permanency is a construct unique to Anglophone jurisdictions. Notwithstanding that there is no universally agreed definition, it is widely held

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that permanency involves a range of interrelated elements – including, for example, relational or social, cultural, physical, geographical, and legal. Research has found that relational permanency is most important to children and young people involved in child protection and out-of-home care systems, whereas legal permanency is most important to adults involved in decision-making and provision of children’s and young people’s care. In practice, an emphasis on the legal element of permanency conflates and subordinates several other elements universally recognised as integral to children’s short- and long-term well-being.

My recent PhD research addressed debates surrounding permanency. In particular, it investigated the introduction (in 1989) and implementation (from 1992) of Permanent Care Orders in the Victorian child protection and out-of-home care system. Permanent Care Orders were introduced specifically to avoid the harsh consequences of adoption for the identity, and kin and cultural connections, of children unable to be permanently reunited with their parents. I propose to present key findings from my PhD research and discuss the implications for permanency planning in relation to children and young people involved in child protection and out-of-home care systems.

Networks of relationships as permanency – thinking beyond placement and planning for life Janise Mitchell | Australian Childhood Foundation

This presentation will seek to extend notions of stability and permanency beyond the focus on placement to consider a broader conceptualisation of relationship permanence in the lives of children and young people In out of home care. As interdependent beings we each live within a growing and changing network of relationships that we collect throughout our lives, that have meaning and resonance and into which we reach for support, encouragement and reassurance at

different times For different reasons. Children and young people in care often grow up with an impoverished network of relationships that are to often characterized by impermanence and dominated by professionals.

This presentation will explore the need for more of a focus on building sustainable networks of relationships for children and young people in care, suggesting that placement stability is not enough and for many children and young people, not achievable.

Improving Timeliness in Permanency Decisions for Children in Care Andrea Lauchs, Mark Galvin, Dr Melissa Kaltner | EY Department of Social Services Mohita Kapoor | CREATE Foundation

Despite the efforts of all states and territories, an increasing number of children continue to enter out-of-home Care (OOHC) across Australia. Reflection on the body of evidence in child development suggests that delays in the achievement of permanency and stability are likely to be associated with poor outcomes for children in care. This evidence has underpinned the inclusion of timeliness in permanency planning policies in many Australian jurisdictions, with the introduction of requirements for timely decision making in the consideration of reunification and for the achievement of permanent orders in some jurisdictions.

In order to best understand the role of timeliness in permanency decision making, a consortium led by EY is currently supporting the actions associated with the Fourth Action Plan (2018 – 2020) for Protecting Australia’s Children. This project is being undertaken in partnership with the Department of Social Services (DSS), SNAICC and the CREATE Foundation, leading engagement across jurisdictions to support the development of a national approach towards timeliness in

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permanency planning to best meet children’s needs.This workshop session will present our findings to date in exploring the relevance of timeliness in permanency achievement to children’s lives. We will share insights gained from across Australian jurisdictions on the role of timeliness in achieving permanency, including hearing from the voices of children. A workshop activity will then be facilitated within the session to consider the role of timeliness in decision making, with the views provided by the audience to be integrated into our work to shape recommendations for a national approach to timeliness.

Contact for fostering family connections and identity: Challenges, opportunities and practice development Dr Amy Conley Wright | University of Sydney

Maintaining children’s connections with their birth relatives can promote understanding of their life story and identity development, including cultural heritage. Knowing that their families are safe and still care about them can help children come to terms with their loss and promote placement stability. Regular contact can also maintain positive relationships with siblings and grandparents. However, children may experience significant distress when visits do not go well. Parents of children who are in care often have their own complex trauma and can experience mental health issues and substance abuse disorders that affect their ability to connect with their children. There is limited evidence about what helps professionals make children’s experience of family time positive and enriching, what gets in the way and how to help children’s families overcome obstacles and find common purpose. This presentation will explore children’s contact experiences in care, drawing upon current research and practice issues. The presentation will highlight how legal and service systems can promote or impede positive family connections, and future directions for research and practice development.

Achieving permanence for abused and neglected children in out of home care Harriet Ward CBE | University of Oxford, UK

Adoption entails the transfer of legal rights and responsibilities for a child from birth parents to adoptive parents. Inevitably this can be controversial, and particularly so in Australia where the legacy of past injustices and scandals tends to colour the debate. However, there is some evidence that where adoption forms an integral part of a child protection system, it can offer a reliable route to permanence for abused and neglected children who cannot safely return home.

The paper takes Brodzinsky’s concepts of legal, residential and psychological permanence, and explores how far these are achieved when children are adopted from care. It focuses primarily on findings from a recently completed study of Outcomes of Open Adoption from Care in Australia, which followed up a cohort of children who had been adopted through the Barnardos Find-a-Family programme over the last 30 years. However, it also draws on a number of other studies from the UK and Australia which indicate how far the experiences of the adoptees differed both from those of their peers in the general population and also from those of children who remain in long-term foster care. The paper presents data showing that, although some placements disrupt or are unstable, adoption from care may well provide a greater degree of permanence than other provisions for abused and neglected children who cannot return home. It also presents data on adoptees’ experiences of continuing face-to-face contact with birth parents, mandated by the courts as part of the adoption plan, and explores how far this helped or hindered them from developing a strong sense of psychological permanence. It explores the process by which adoptive parents came to regard the adoptees as their own children and the extent to which this contributed to their sense of belonging. Finally, it asks how far open adoption can help children overcome the consequences of early childhood adversity and achieve satisfactory wellbeing in adulthood.

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While many of the outcomes of open adoption are positive, it poses a number of challenges for policy makers and practitioners, and the paper ends by setting these out and discussing their implications.

A case file review of sibling relationships and contact for children adopted from out-of-home care Betty Luu | University of Sydney

Aims: Relationships with siblings can be one of the most enduring and important connections children in out-of-home care can have. Despite limited research, there is recognition of the value of maintaining sibling relationships when it in the child’s best interests. This presentation describes the nature and complexity of the sibling networks of children adopted from out-of-home care in NSW and presents some case vignettes as examples.Methods: A case file analysis was conducted of 89 court files that contained the adoption applications of 117 children whose adoptions from care were finalised by the NSW Supreme Court in 2017. De-identified information about children and siblings’ characteristics, living situations, contact arrangements and relationships were extracted from court files.

Findings: The use of court files for analysis has been beneficial for providing a comprehensive picture of the sibling networks of children adopted from out-of-home care. Sibling group sizes are typically large and varied, consisting of a combination of full, maternal or paternal siblings. Analysis reveals that siblings of children adopted from out-of-home care tend to be older and have also been subject to child protection proceedings and placement into out-of-home care. The unique characteristics of these sibling networks and the challenges of maintaining sibling connections is considered.

Implications: Given the protective effect and beneficial outcomes that are known when children live with their siblings in out-of-home care, it is important that sibling co-placement is carried out wherever possible. Where co-placement is not

possible, however, frequency and regularity of contact is important for maintaining relationships between siblings separated as a result of being placed in foster care. The sibling networks of children in out-of-home care are distinct from the general population in their size, composition and family dynamics. Hence, it is critical that there are adequate resources available to support children (plus their parents and carers) to have contact and maintain connections.

Making Contact Meaningful in OOHC adoption Deborah Willick and Elizabeth Cox | Barnardos

Open Adoption is legislated practice in New South Wales. The purpose of this paper is to describe practice learning on how to achieve successful contact arrangements.Methods: This presentation is based on practice experience about casework within the pre-adoption phase of placements.

Information about case examples was taken from a file review of children where adoption orders were made within a 4 year period (1/1/2014 – 31/12/2017) across 6 adoption programs. We considered the perspectives of the child, the adoptive parent and the birth parent when closely examining a case study from each of the 6 programs. Using qualitative interviews with direct staff we examined some of the obstacles to navigate when arranging face to face contact and how these can be overcome in order to enhance the quality of visits for all parties.

The paper is based on casework practice within Barnardos Find-a-Family program. All children in the program have been permanently removed from their birth parents’ care due to directly experiencing neglect and abuse or being at significant risk of neglect and abuse. All children have long term Children’s Court orders allocating Parental Responsibility to the Minister until they attain 18 years of age upon entry to the program. Over recent years, Barnardos have specifically focussed

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on working with children under 5 years of age to secure an Adoption Order in a timely manner with time frames supporting the commencement of the adoption processes within 12 months of placement. The children are placed into a permanent foster care placement “with a view to adoption” as identified in their Care Plan. Our adoption program works with some of the most vulnerable parents in society, those who experience homelessness, domestic violence, drug and alcohol addiction, poor mental health, incarceration and often a history of being in care themselves.

Findings: Despite the obstacles, most children in the program have ongoing and regular contact with their birth family, including parents, siblings and other significant extended family members. This contact is usually face to face and it is rare that direct contact between a child and parent would not be supported by adoptive families. Face to face contact between a child and their birth parent occurs several times each year, usually between 2-6 occasions. Contact potentially has significant advantages for the child and the birth parent with benefits including: open knowledge and understanding of biological identity for the child, the birth parent’s opportunity for ongoing involvement in the child’s life and facilitates communicative openness outside of visits for adoptive parents.

Infant feeding in Foster Care: Experiences and education needs of Foster Carers Dr Karleen Gribble and Dr Stacy Blythe | Western Sydney University

National and international health recommendations are that infants be exclusively breastfed for the first six months and then continue breastfeeding into the second year of life. These recommendations are in recognition of the growth, immunological and developmental support provided by breastfeeding. In situations of maternal vulnerability, breastfeeding has increased importance because of the positive impact it has on maternal caregiving capacity. As a result, the newly released National Breastfeeding Strategy specifically calls for support for

breastfeeding within the child protection system. Where infants are not breastfed, Australian guidance is that caregivers should be provided with individual education on feeding infant formula via the health system.Each year about 2500 infants enter out-of-home care (OOHC). The feeding of these infants can prove difficult, whether they are breastfed or formula fed at the time they enter care because of issues associated with maternal separation, trauma, and the health conditions they commonly experience. An added challenge is that foster and kinship carers are not routinely linked into the health system. There have not previously been studies exploring the facilitation, or not, of ongoing breastfeeding in the context of foster/kinship care. Neither have there been investigations into whether foster/kinship carers are aware of the correct selection, preparation and administration of infant formula or expressed breast milk.

Our research with foster and kinship carers and professionals within the child protection system explored the challenges associated with infant feeding in foster care. This included carers’ previous experiences with infant care, management of contact where infants are breastfed, handling and use or discard of expressed breastmilk, decision making concerning formula feeding, bottle feed challenges, and perceived education needs. This presentation will discuss the results of this research.

Treatment Foster Care Oregon, an evidence-based approach to family reunification Oliver Hill and Robyn Jackson | OzChild

OzChild has been delivering Australia’s first evidence-based foster care model, Treatment Foster Care Oregon (TFCO) since April 2017, and now has five teams operating across VIC, NSW and QLD.TFCO is an intensive short-term foster care model with effectiveness in addressing behavioural difficulties in children and young people, transitioning them into less intense placements. OzChild delivers both the Child model (7-11) and

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the Adolescent model (12-17), with the primary aim of to reduce the number of children and young people in residential care and reunify them with family.

OzChild’s Oliver and Robyn will provide an overview of the treatment components, outline the importance of the Family Therapist role, and discuss the way in which OzChild has adapted the model for our cultural context. You will also hear of the life-changing outcomes for a child who has successfully completed the program and has been reunited with her birth family.

Meaningful cultural life story work. Connecting and celebrating cultural diversity with children from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds Kathy Karatasas and Ghassan Noujaim | Settlement Services International (SSI)

Practice guidance for parents, carers and others involved in a child’s care in influencing children’s permanency, identity and wellbeingAcross Australia, the numbers of children experiencing child abuse and trauma within their family and subsequently requiring alternate safe families such as foster care is increasing. While data on Aboriginal children is collected, data on children from multicultural or diverse ethnic backgrounds, at best, is inconsistently kept. Given the Australian demographics and the data available it would be accurate to assume that at least 20-30% of the children are from diverse backgrounds and that these numbers are on an upward trend.

The need for strategies that help children and young people to maintain ties to their family, culture and community is universally accepted. The national and state standards on permanency speak to a range of care domains, including:

§ safety and stability in placements, § promoting belonging and identity and § requirements for all children and young people

in care to be able to maintain connections to family, culture and community

Children and young people gain a sense of their identity when they understand their history and background, including events and details about their parents’ background and circumstances

Placement in out-of-home care alters children’s relationships with their kin, culture and community and at a minimum complicates a young person’s identity formation and sense of self. Children’s sense of permanency will be influenced by the information they have about their life, which includes information about their circumstances when they come into care and information about their family and culture. The skills, attitudes and capabilities of practitioners, carers and adoptive parents will guide how relationships are formed and conversations had, and in turn, impact the child’s or young person’s sense of identity, belonging and connection to family, culture and community

Settlement Services International (SSI) established in 2001, has a long history of working with CALD communities, children and families. Our evidence demonstrates that children and young people who are supported to learn about and maintain a connection to their culture – their family’s ethnicity, religions/s and language/s – will have better opportunities to stay connected with their other family and community. In time, this can contribute to positively shaping their self-identity and self-esteem.

Culturally responsive life story resources such as My Life and Me implementation model can assist practitioners, carers and adoptive parents acknowledge, affirm and improve how they consider culture, and engage in conversations with children in care from culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) backgrounds, which in turn affords children improved opportunities to heal, connect and celebrate who they are.

The paper provides an overview on a range of strategies to strengthen culturally responsive practices that can influence how children and young people especially those from CALD backgrounds can shape their sense of identity, belonging, permanency and wellbeing. This includes:

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§ an outline of recently developed SSI cultural life story resource My Life and Me aimed at strengthening connections between children and young people and their family of origin, history, culture and community

§ implementation guidance for practitioners and carers to build confidence and skills in improving conversations with birth parents and family members

§ practical advice on how to engage and culturally connect with children and young people of different ages and/or different developmental stages from diverse backgrounds

Strengthening family connections in preparing for open adoption for children in NSW OOHC Kim Nixon | Kim Nixon Consulting

Kim Nixon Consulting (KNC) has been engaged in a public/private partnership with NSW Department of Communities and Justice (DCJ), since May 2016 to address the backlog of adoption applications and more recently, to progress current adoption applications for children in Out-of-Home in NSW, in a timely and comprehensive manner. Since commencing this project KNC, in conjunction with DCJ legal, has achieved over 150 orders and is currently working on a further 120 matters.

For all these children and young people, extensive and persistent efforts are made prior to the adoption application being filed to identify and locate birth mothers where they have disengaged, birth fathers and maternal and paternal siblings, who often do not yet know child and adoptive family. These efforts often include widespread efforts using a range of tools such as perusal of all case files and

old records to find mention of family members, Facebook searches, criminal record checks, Centrelink checks, other agency checks (eg. Health and Corrections), searching telephone directories, and home visits. Intensive efforts are often required to reconnect birth mothers and children after the birth mothers have lost contact as a result of the shame, disappointment and despair they experienced following the removal of their children from their care.

Much of this work has involved careful education and negotiation with all parties to help them understand each other and to find a way to build healthy and enduring connections.

This presentation will discuss the outcomes of these efforts and share some of the inspiring stories of children and young people being able to know of and establish connections with their extended birth family members, sometimes for the first time.

The value of contact in casework Danielle Draper | Continuum Consulting

The importance of quality facilitated family time and the resultant reports that they generate are key to providing quality case planning for a child. Throughout the different phases of case planning, the needs for contact change, working with an agency who can provide services to meet those needs ensure that children, families and carers are receiving the support they need while contact proceeds. This session will look at contact service delivery to support casework.

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OUR VISION A world where all children grow, learn, play and thrive in a safe, nurturing and stable environment.

OUR MISSION To support and educate families and communities in caring for displaced children.

ABOUT USThe National Permanency Conference is an initiative of Adopt Change. Adopt Change has a vision for a world where all children can grow, learn, play and thrive in safe, nurturing and stable homes, schools and communities.

We recognise the impact of childhood trauma, and work to support families and communities caring for displaced children.

We also work with government and the sector to seek changes to legislation and policies to better provide for children and families.

#AHOMEFOREVERYCHILD Thank you for supporting the National Permanency Conference 2019 – Strengthening Connections: Contact & Identity.

Your continued support throughout our campaign month of November is welcomed.

Please head to our website www.adoptchange.org.au to find out how you can help.

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www.nationalpermanencyconference.org.au