AECA Draft Discussion paper
Thinking about Service Delivery for Vulnerable Children and their Families
Draft for discussion
This paper has been written as a starting point for discussion in the Australian Early Childhood Association(AECA) about this issue and will be used in AECA as a basis for feedback from its members. It on this understanding that it is provided to the Commonwealth's Child Care Advisory Council to support its deliberations on this issue.
There is growing concern that vulnerable children and their families are falling outside government's policy and program framework for children and families. At the same time there has also been considerable interest and discussion about the implications of the recent research findings that indicate very strongly the significance for brain development of the quality of care given to children in the first three years of their lives. For these reasons AECA, at its Annual Council meeting in Darwin in July this year, began work on the development of a set of principles which could underpin the development of policies, programs and models to meet the needs of these children and their families. This work is in its early stages and is part of a wider policy agenda for the AECA regarding
disadvantaged children and their families. What is true however is that many of the principles that apply to vulnerable families and children are equally true for services for all children and families.
AECA understands that the focus of the government's interest at this time is on vulnerable families and children who do not access existing services. These families are characterised by domestic violence and other abuse and/or are involved in substance abuse both alcohol and drugs. The issues raised in this paper focus therefore on the fundamentals of developed policies, programs and models to support better outcomes for these particular children and families.
The characteristics of resilience
It needs to be said that there is much research about the characteristics of resilience in children (1) This work should be central in the development policies, programs and models for these families since one of the primary objectives of any model must be support for the development of resilience in these children.
All families, including the vulnerable ones, are inherently complex and diverse
Vulnerable families, like all other families are complex and diverse and the reasons which led to their vulnerability although clearly able to be generalised at some levels are also specific to each family. Vulnerability itself also takes many forms. What this means is that policies, programs and models focused on these families must be recognise this by being flexible and responsive. They will need to be multi-service and so multi-disciplinary.
A one size fits all approach would be inappropriate
A one size fits all approach would be inappropriate and in the end unsuccessful. There will need be a range of services etc, multiple access points and programs, which allow for both individual and group participation in structured and non-structured environments.
Starting with where the families are really at will be essential
There is a truism in education, which says that teaching, and learning should progress from the known world to the unknown. In communication theory there is a similar truism which suggests that if you must listen to the learner first before they will listen to you. These ideas are among other things fundamentally about respect for and valuing of families, children's and parents' individual and collective histories and what they already know. In practice it means that those participating in any program need to have some control over what happens to them. Children and families will need to have time to tell their stories to each other and to outsiders.
Vulnerability is a complex long-term issue that crosses generations.
An important fundamental in the development of intervention models is the understanding that although vulnerability is an individual (family) experience at one level it is to a very real extent socially constructed. Evidence of this is in the intractability of vulnerability, that it crosses generations and is seen most often in particular groups within the community. Policies, programs and models must acknowledge this by committing to the long term and should have bipartisan political support so that this is guaranteed. It unfair and cruel to these families and their children to have a stop start approach to support. This does not mean that the model etc would be set in concrete. A critical part of any programs ongoing relevance and effectiveness is systematic ongoing scrutiny, review and modification within a high quality framework. This is also an essential part of accountability.
Strengthen the communities and the relationships within the community
Vulnerable families are a part of existing communities. These are the most likely frameworks within which ongoing support will be provided. Models for the delivery of programs and services to these families should both strengthen the links between these families and their communities and strengthen the communities themselves. Localised programs/services are essential.
Build on programs, services and infrastructure etc that are already in place.
Many organisations have understandings and expertise developed as a result of working with these families for a long time. This will be essential to the development of models which are real world in their design. There are also, within many of these communities, existing services used by other members of the community and for this reason may be entered more confidently. These could provide the infrastructure for any new programs.
This being the case existing mainstream children's services infrastructure should be considered as a possible basis for a separately and properly resourced outreach program for vulnerable families. Proper resourcing is essential. If this is not the case then the services for both vulnerable children and children generally will be jeopardised. An example of this is that because of the way they are used by children and families (eg increased part-time usage) many children's services are no longer able to deliver a high quality service that meets the needs of the children and families who use them. Changes will be necessary to enable them to do this. If outreach or other programs for vulnerable families and children are to be added to this program these changes need to be made. There is no point in using a currently inappropriately resourced service as a base for an additional one.
It also needs to be said here that many of these families previously accessed long day care services but changes which have restricted access to services for non-working families and increased gap fees have meant that these families have dropped out. The point here is not to revisit the non-work related use of long day care services (although that is an issue which needs discussion) Rather the intention is to make the point that broad policy decisions often have unwanted and unplanned for consequences.
Build on what has already been done
Don't reinvent the wheel. This is not a new area concern. There have been many programs established and funded in the past that had the potential to contribute to the delivery of positive outcomes for these families and their children. In many cases these programs foundered because of lack of ongoing support. The SA Parenting Network is one such program.
Active support for families to make use of and participate in any program/service will be essential.
It cannot be assumed that simply because a program is available that families will use it. These families are unlikely to be sophisticated users of services. It is more likely that they will be unconfident and even suspicious about the motivation for the service and the level of real world understanding of their needs and capacity to meet them. Hope and optimism about the future are at low levels in most vulnerable families. Strategies based on respect and understanding will need to be put in place to support and encourage families to participate in any program. Bridging programs will be essential ie it may be necessary to meet families initially in their own territory. Access may also be about something as simple as the provision transport.
Meeting parents needs is not the same as meeting children's needs.
Any model should be explicit about the specific outcomes its wants for the parents, the children and the family. Where children are concerned the program should be child focussed and concerned with the quality of the early childhood experience. In all of these programs consideration needs to be given to what sorts of inputs are necessary to guarantee quality outcomes for the children and families who participate in them. They should be funded to achieve this. Inputs include such things expertise, materials, staff, community linkages etc.
Vulnerable families and children have the same needs as other families and children and strengths as well as problems.
Programs to support these children and families should recognise and respond to the sameness and differences between these families and others. In the same way they should be concerned with both their strengths as well as their problems. Intervention efforts must be affirming and supportive rather than demanding.
Best practice across a range of areas should be central to the model including being based on ethical codes of conduct.
Issues such as confidentiality, being non-judgemental and non-threatening, modelling of good behaviour rather than lecturing about it, incidental learning ie in playgroups are all aspects of best practice as is the availability of multiple ways to participate. There are also best practice issues in regard to the management of these programs and these relate to the participation of families in the way the program works.
Prevention, early intervention and intervention are all important
As said previously there is some considerable evidence that families and children within particular groups are more likely to be or become vulnerable. This work should be used to identify early, families at risk and provide early support to them.
Pamela W Cahir
National Director
31 August 1999
Note
An important contributions to understanding resilience is Emmy Werner's report in "Vulnerable but invincible" and a Report to the British Government by Peter Fonagy.
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