ghassan noujain - multicultural foster care service - ssi - strengthening children through culture
TRANSCRIPT
BACKGROUND
• Settlement Services International Inc.:
- formed in 2000,
- peak state-wide representative body for 11 Migrant
Resource Centres and Multicultural Services across
NSW.
• Settlement Services International (SSI) is an
OOHC provider with a particular focus on children
from Culturally and Linguistic Diverse (CALD)
backgrounds.
Strengthening Children Through Culture
About OUR PROGRAM
Settlement Services International
• Humanitarian Settlement Services
• Community Support Program
• Enterprise Facilitation
• Child and Family
• Ability Links
Strengthening Children Through Culture
SSI Philosophy of care
• The Multicultural Foster Care Service (MFCS) is based
on a belief that children and young people from non-
English speaking backgrounds are strengthened through
knowing about, and having connections with their
cultural heritage.
• The service has been provisionally accredited by the
NSW Children’s Guardian. Operations started on
January 2013.
Strengthening Children Through Culture
Cultural Matching
• The Child’s first language
• The Child and Parent’s Religion
• Other
– Country of Birth
– Cultural connections of the child prior to placement
– Child’s own knowledge of their culture
– Child’s connections with siblings
– Child’s connections to extended family
– Proximity and access to ethnic community
– Willingness of community to support foster carer and placement
Strengthening Children Through Culture
Service Model
Strength in Culture
Carer Assessment
Recruitmentof Carers
Matching workers
Cultural, ReligiousLanguage Matching
Strengthening Children Through Culture
Cultural Matching flowchart
Child in need of placement
Foster Carer
Culturally Matched with Child
Bilingual Caseworker Culturally matched
with Child
Child, Parents, Carer and Caseworker
communicate in the Child’s first language
Bilingual Caseworker Culturally
matched with Child
Bilingual Sessional Workers provides cultural support to child , parents caseworker
and foster carer
Bilingual Caseworker communicates with
Children and Parents in the Child’s first language
Foster Carer communicates with child and parents in
the child’s first language
SSI will use interpreters
Bilingual Caseworker provides foster carer with cultural training
and support
Ongoing cultural assessment of
carer
Yes
Yes
No
No
No
Yes
SSI engages Bilingual Sessional Workers to
Provide cultural advice to
caseworker
Partial Culturally Matched Placement
Culturally Mixed Placement
Bilingual Sessional worker
available Yes
No
No
Strengthening Children Through Culture
Section 1: UNDERSTAND THE CULTURE
AND VIEWS OF THE BIRTH PARENT (S)
1.1 Seek to understand the family's cultural
influences, languages (s), religion and their
involvement in community, cultural and
religious activities.
Strengthening Children Through Culture
Section 2: UNDERSTAND THE CULTURE AND
VIEWS OF THE CHILD OR YOUNG PERSON
• The intent is to understand the child/young
person’s relationship with their culture, language
and religion at the point of removal from their
birth family.
Strengthening Children Through Culture
Section 3: VIEWS AND CAPACITY OF THE
CARER(S)
• Engage in discussion with carers about the child/young person’s cultural
needs and the types of supports that may assist the child/young person.
• Engage the carers on their views, feelings, their level of support,
willingness, concerns and/or capacity to support the child/young person.
• Seek for carers views on how those needs can be met as they may/will
have valuable insight on the child/young person’s needs and interest.
Strengthening Children Through Culture
Section 4: IDENTIFYING SERVICES AND
SUPPORT
• Identify services and support that are available to assist in meeting
the child/young person’s cultural needs. This could be supports
from:
• Multicultural Foster Care Services/ Cultural Support Aides
• Access to services, groups, activities, lessons, courses or
individuals from community, cultural, social, educational and
religious organisations from within and beyond the child’s cultural
community.
Strengthening Children Through Culture
Section 5: Developing a Cultural Plan
• The plan outlines the cultural, linguistic and/or
religious needs of the child or young person.
• The plan is to be provided to the birth parents,
carers, and the child or young person
information and language that they can
understand.
Strengthening Children Through Culture
Successes
• Children maintaining their culture and their heritage whilst in care.
• Children having connection with their parents and extended family.
• Matching placements
• Recruiting CALD carers.
Strengthening Children Through Culture
Case Study
• 3 African siblings in a non matching placement with no family contact.
• African caseworker engaged with the parents who started contact and practise their culture during these contacts.
• Cultural plan and support in place.
• Resources to the carer.
• Support Group.
THE CHALLENGES
• Communicating and carrying the wishes of the birth family
• Parents’ expectations while working with a worker from the
same background.
• Learning and understanding a new culture
• The child/young person may wish to identify with the culture of
the carer
Strengthening Children Through Culture
Cont. The Challenges
• Being accepted by the child/young person’s cultural
community
• Identifying an entry point(s) into the community
• Lack of understanding of out of home care
• Availability of Interpreting services that matches the language
and the culture.
Strengthening Children Through Culture
The experiences, challenges and needs of CALD
children and families in the Child Protection
System (CPS)
Lack of awareness about:
Laws and CPS
Local community services
Fear of :
Authority because of shame on family
Authority due to past experience with FACs /authority bodies in
their country
Strengthening Children Through Culture
Contact
• Ghassan Noujaim• Manager OOHC - Multicultural Foster Care Service
• Out of Home Care, Families & Communities
• t: (02) 8799 6700
• e: [email protected]
• f: (02) 8799 6799
• Level 2, 158 Liverpool Road
• Ashfield NSW 2131
• w: www.ssi.org.au
Strengthening Children Through Culture