Case Study On Family – Care & Protection Of Children

Resource Description

My notes for the Family case study of the care and protection of children

CASE STUDY
Care and protection of children

Family violence: any act or threat of violence by one family member against another, including witnessing that action or threat, that causes fear or apprehension about personal safety.

• Children are the most vulnerable members of society and therefore need the greatest protection by the law.
• Main areas where care and protection issues arise:
• Emotional abuse
• Physical abuse
• Sexual abuse
• Neglect
• CROC along with state and federal legislation protect children from harm in these specific areas.
• These legal responses focus on the safety and wellbeing of CYP by providing safe environments that are free of these harms.
• Emotional abuse – any act by a person that has the care of a child that results in the child suffering any kind of significant emotional deprivation or trauma, including exposure to family violence.
• This was the most common type of substantiated child mistreatment in Australia in 2018.

Where does this issue arise?

• Parents owe their children legal obligations. If they fail to uphold these child protection authorities investigate other options such as adoption or foster care.
• This is in accordance with the permanent placement principles that are found in s. 10A of the Children and Young Persons (Care and Protection) Act 1998 (NSW).
• These principles focus on placing an at-risk child with a stable home environment that they may otherwise not have.

Consequences of parental neglect

• Foster care: temporary housing and care of a child in an out-of-home context where a couple takes on parental responsibility for the child. Administered and governed by the Department of Community and Justice.
• The care of the foster child is undertaken by the foster family, in consultation with the DCJ, and with the biological parents in appropriate circumstances.
• Ultimately the aim is to ‘foster’ the child in circumstances away from neglect.

2004 Law reforms:

• Child Protection Legislation Amendment Act 2004 (NSW)
• It amended:
• Children and Young Persons (Care and Protection) Act 1998 (NSW)
• Adoption Act 2000 (NSW)
• Child Protection (Working with Children) Act 2012 (NSW)
• These reforms were known as the Safe House for Life reform package.
• Creation of ‘permanent placement principles’: s. 10A CYP(CP) Act
• Authorities can seize children once they are born if there is proof that the birth mother has a history of drug and/or alcohol abuse during the pregnancy: s. 38A CYP(CP) Act. This is part of a ‘Parent Responsibility Contract’.
• Courts can force parents to undertake treatment for issues such as drug and alcohol dependency under a parent capacity order: ss. 91A-91I CYP(CP) Act