Cross-cultural Child Development for Social Workers: An Introduction

Abstract

The transgender community represents a highly marginalised portion of the Australian population, frequently experiencing discrimination, social isolation, and harm. This review explores literature informing Australian social work with transgender people. It highlights the importance of generating a transgender-positive discourse within Australian social work to effectively engage with and advocate for individuals with nontraditional gender identities. Key themes emerged from reviewing the literature related to the medical model, the mental health of transgender people, interdisciplinary and alternative transgender literature, minority status of transgender people, existing social work approaches to transgenderism, and Indigenous transgender literature. The views of transgender Australians are largely absent from the literature. However, the Australian transgender community's emerging voice and political activism highlights the potential for collaboration to play a significant role in the process of building a working knowledge base for social work. Based on the identified gaps in literature, in this paper we call for continued progress in developing a theoretical and practical knowledge base that incorporates the lived experiences of transgender Australians. We argue for the development of an approach to practice that is responsive to gender diversity. Highlighted in the review are the conditions that promote greater engagement with the transgender community.     

Relatives as Child Care Givers: After Hours Support for Nontraditional Workers

This study uses a sample of 1,841 families from the National Child Care Survey (1990) and accompanying Low-Income Supplement (1990) to determine the amount and timing of child care services offered by relatives to working families with young children. Results indicate that relative care is primarily provided by grandparents. Compared to other parents, single parents and those working nontraditional hours are significantly more likely to use relatives for child care, and their children spend significantly longer periods of time in relative care, especially at nontraditional times of the day. The study conclusion is that relatives are facilitating parental employment by providing child care at times of the day when other market alternatives usually are not available.     

Recognising and Enabling Social Workers to Promote Child Wellbeing and Protection

The paper explores the relevance of social enterprise to social work practice and policy development. Social enterprise refers to a broad set of approaches that use business acumen to address social goals. A marginal activity in social work for a long time, recently social enterprise has been thrust into the spotlight in debates about the future of social policy and community services. It is important that social workers understand the meaning and implications of social enterprise if they are to apply it critically and reflectively in practice and participate in contemporary debates about its relevance in promoting individual and community empowerment. The paper provides an overview of the meaning of social enterprise, outlines the reasons for the renewed focus on social enterprise and related concepts in social policy debates, particularly community economic development, and examines its underlying values. It concludes with a discussion of questions and concerns surrounding the implementation of social enterprise in Australia.     

Child Protection and Child Custody

Abstract

A child'S need for safety should trump any and all other considerations in family law. Child-service agencies cannot be expected to both promote reunification and child protection simultaneously. The author asserts that legislatures need to change the laws such that it is clear to the court that children come first and that safety is paramount. Although visitation between child and parent is considered to be a fundamental right, this right can and should be abrogated when initial evidence shows that such contact poses a risk of danger to the emotional or physical health and safety of the child. A new and specially trained court dealing only with issues of family violence and abuse may need to be considered.     

Finding and Keeping Child Welfare Workers

Summary

Administrators in public human services are constantly involved in the exhausting challenge of recruiting and training staff in the child welfare arena. This article describes a program that the Commonwealth of Kentucky developed in order to address the recruitment and retention issue. The Public Child Welfare Certification Program is a special multi-university preparation program designed to recruit excellent workers from BSW programs who are prepared to take on complex cases with normal supervision within weeks of employment and to sustain those workers over time. Evaluation of the pilot indicates that the program is a great success in preparing students for child welfare work. Implications are discussed.     

Strategies and Pretrial Hearings for Child Protection

Abstract

There are various tools that attorneys and their clients might use in custody and/or visitation disputes involving family violence. This column sets forth examples of pretrial motions, hearings, and other strategies. These are used to provide the court with detailed information about the abuse that has happened and the impact that the court's decisions will have upon the children involved.     

中国儿童保护制度建设论纲

推进公权力对家庭育儿过程的干预,积极预防和有效应对家庭内的儿童虐待问题,是儿童保护制度的重要价值追求,也是现代国家的共同努力。中国在政治上高度重视儿童保护,并在法律层面为儿童保护制度的实践提供了基本框架,但儿童保护的相关法律规定不够健全、具体、可操作,儿童保护制度缺乏相应的社会政策与服务基础,缺乏有力的组织机构保障。我国儿童保护制度的发展,要在不断健全法制、强化组织机构的同时,致力于建立健全面向儿童及其家庭的监护监督制度、监护支持制度、监护替代制度等国家监护制度,发展并完善一系列儿童保护服务,全面落实国家之于儿童的监护责任。     

Ethnic Diversity and Child Protection

SUMMARY: Black and minority ethnic children in need of protection receive a poor response from health and social services. Practitioners are reluctant to intervene, and when intervention does take place it reflects a eurocentric approach that fails to engage with the ethnic diversity of vulnerable children. Increasing the levels of safety far all children, black and white, suffering or likely to suffer significant harm, requires taking positive action: collecting ethnically relevant data, a commitment to an equitable distribution of resources, consulting children and parents and involving them in planning and designing services.