Research to date suggests that, for children growing up in out-of-home care, connections with family and cultural background are critical for good psychological outcomes. Positive and well-managed contact between children in care and their family is a connective strategy that supports promotes emotional and psychological well-being, through developing relationships with family members. However, researchers have also warned that poorly planned and poor quality contact may in fact be harmful, particularly where there is a history of maltreatment.

The kContact research project is a partnership of academic researchers and OOHC agencies in Victoria and the ACT, aiming to build evidence of good contact practice. Many discussions throughout the research period have highlighted gaps in our knowledge about which children in care are having contact with their families or have lost contact with them altogether, and the implications for how the sector works with parents at different stages of the child’s placement journey.
In a nested study within the wider kContact research, the research team mapped the contact arrangements of more than 1000 children in foster and kinship care with kContact agency partner programs over the preceding 12 months. The data shows a drop in contact between children and their parents when case plans reject the possibility of reunification. Given research evidence for the importance of continuing connections between children in care and their families, an approach will be raised for discussion that focuses on connection, with contact just one of a repertoire of strategies.

Improving services to assist young people in out-of-home care to flourish in adulthood requires high quality performance information. The COAG-initiated Report on Government Services (RoGS) provides nationally comparable information on the performance of governments across 17 service areas including child protection and out-of-home care services.

The RoGS uses a performance indicator framework to provide information on the equity, effectiveness and efficiency of child protection, out-of-home care and family support services. Where possible, results are provided for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children for each service type. Child protection reporting in the RoGS complements national-level reporting under the National Framework for Protecting Australia’s Children 2009-2020.

This presentation will outline the RoGS performance indicator framework for out-of-home care services and the recent performance of governments; discuss developments for reporting on governments’ objective to deliver services in an equitable manner; and potential measures for the RoGS on the outcomes for children leaving out-of-home care as they move into adulthood. As a result, conference participants will be better informed on how performance information in the RoGS can be used to facilitate improvement in the wellbeing of young people who are receiving out-of-home care services.

Depsite grandparent care being the fastest growing form of out of home care for Australian children for some years, little is known about the experience or profile of grandparent carers or the impact of their caring role. The result is grandparent carers are often a hidden population, with a complex and likewise hidden policy and service framework to identify and address their needs.

There is mounting evidence of improved outcomes for children placed in kinship care, with more stability and less disruption in their placements, continuity of family ties and identity, greater familiarity with cultural practices and existing attachment relationships. Yet there is also evidence of the struggles - emotional, financial, health, familial and social - that grandparents face in raising their grandchildren.

Understanding the specific needs of grandparents carers is essential to ensure adequate structures are in place to sustain grandparents in their caring role and create best possible outcomes for the children in their care.

Wanslea, the largest service provider to grandparent carers in WA, has recently been awarded a near one-million dollar grant to conduct a two year research project with grandparent carers. The purpose of the research is to inform advocacy, policy and service development for grandparent carers.

This presentation will outline how a research agenda with grandparent carers was established, managing multiple stakeholders, creating research partnerships with universities, engaging funding as well as a preview of the research aims and methodology.