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Regreattably, we have run out of time to develop a lengthy submission related to this topic, and it is something that the Royal Commission have not focussed on, therefore we will present some work undertaken by us in 2019 and provide some current data.
Mainstream and Me Project
At the time Speak Out Tasmania commenced this project, the vast majority of parents who sought advocacy support for Child Safety matters had either:
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Already had their child removed at birth and were seeking legal advice
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Prior to removal, were notified by CSS that they were required to attend a meeting and were seeking advocacy support at the meeting
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Had their child removed and were about to commence court proceedings
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Had their child removed and required support at a family group conference Very few referrals came from Child Safety Services.
In 2019, Speak Out conducted a project called Mainstream and Me which was a direct response to the over representation of parents with intellectual disability in Child Protection cases. This is well evidenced within research (Albert & Powell, 2021; Collings, Spencer, et al., 2018; Laliberte et al., 2017; Macintyre & Stewart, 2012; McConnell et al., 2021; McConnell & Bjorg Sigurj6nsd6ttir, 2010) It’s aim was to educate mainstream services about the issues faced by parents with intellectual disability in hope that this would reduce notifications and promote a strengths based approach to parents.
The project employed people who had the lived experience of intellectual disability and being parents. They were trained to be community educators and their role was as experts who would develop resources and deliver training to mainstream services.
We began by holding a parent/child camp attended by 10 parents and their 13 children. We asked parents to identify the areas where they felt the risk of reporting to child safety services stemmed, places they felt most at risk.
They identified:
- Schools
- Hospitals
- Doctors
- Childcare
- Child Health
- Police
- Social workers
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Protection System — Speak Out Advocacy
We then conducted a survey in some of these areas to determine what would help these mainstream services to work better, and better understand parents with intellectual disability.
Below are the initial 56 responses:
What information, training and resources will support you to build skills and knowledge in working with parents with intellectual disability?
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Based on the results of the survey we developed the following resources and training for mainstream services in their work supporting parents with intellectual disability.
Resource Booklet °Communication - it’s not a spectator sport A resource co designed with Parents with Intellectual Disability in
Tasmania
Resource designed to assist in understanding intellectual disability, communicating in everyday language and checking for understanding
DVD - Companion resource Designed to support mainstream services in working with parents with intellectual disability
Face to Face workshops on Easy English and Communication
Designed to build skills and techniques to develop easy read materials delivered by Mainstream and Me Community Educators and Coordination team statewide.
Current situation
Mainstream and Me had a significant impact on the Tasmanian landscape. Although we cannot evidence that notifications have reduced, we can evidence from our advocacy statistics that Child Safety is referring to advocates more frequently and earlier in the process than before. The referrals from CSS have increased significantly. The past 12 months, it is our second most requested advocacy support, NDIS being the first. In the year to date, we have had 54 requests for advocacy around Child Safety matters.
It is also evidenced that CSS are now working more collaboratively to attempt to support parents and link them to support services.
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Recommendations:
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Accessible parenting programs - Parents report that the parenting programs they are required to complete are inaccessible to their needs. They are not designed for parents with intellectual disability and the information is presented too fast and not in an easy to understand way. Parents report that they are required to complete the programs and then when they do not ‘pass’, they are punished or made feel that they are ‘dumb’ or not capable of being good parents.
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Programs should be presented in the environment where the skill is to be practiced.
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NDIS pathway - NDIS should include a specific pathway for parents to enable immediate response to the need for capacity building prior to birth and beyond.
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Adequate resources to maintain family connection - Child Safety Services should provide the adequate resources to enable children to maintain strong relationships with their birth families.
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Cross agency collaboration - CSS and NDIS should be able to share the responsibility of supervising visitations and have a dual role of capacity building and family time.
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Advocacy - is vital in assisting parents to understand the process and their rights, understand what is required of them in relation to risks, seek suitable supports and seek legal advice.
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Funding to continue programs such as Mainstream and Me - parents with intellectual disability need to be the educators of our community in relation to being a parent and their needs.
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Counselling supports - very little attention is paid to the trauma parents experience in having their children removed from their care. Counselling support should be available to all parents.
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Strength based approach - workers who support parents at all stages should take a strength based approach. This includes midwives, child health nurses etc and will require significant shift in values and attitudes and worker training and development. SUPPORT BEFORE REPORT.