Is all contact between children in care and their birth parents ‘good’ contact? Stephanie Taplin PhD NSW Centre for Parenting & Research 2006 ACWA Conference 15 August 2006

History of contact in foster care Recent history of contact in OOHC Developed out of open adoption literature Influences of family law s. 86 Children and Young Persons (Care and Protection) Act 1998 commenced in 2000

Impacts of new legislation Increased time and resources on contact arrangements Children may be having more contact than previously In NSW around 4,000 children enter care p.a. and over 10,000 are in care

Debates between legal and welfare professions Decisions and interpretations affected by: personal and family experiences, socio-cultural backgrounds, their role and responsibilities, agency task, professional training and experience, perceived power and authority. Harris & Lindsay 2002

How good is the evidence for contact in OOHC? Much of the evidence comes from family law and adoption literature Much of the research on foster care has methodological flaws e.g. small, unrepresentative samples Few sound, large-scale studies on effects of contact in long-term care

For contact to be beneficial, per se, a causal relationship needs to be proven: that increased contact leads to improved outcomes, not just that contact is associated or correlated with improved outcomes.

Benefits of contact Prevents idealisation of the birth parents; opportunities to discuss why cannot live together Maintains cultural identity, origins Those visited more often are better adjusted psychologically – but is it the contact? Some evidence that contact increases stability in adoption – but applicable to foster care?

Other benefits….. Contact encourages reunification? Children who have greater amounts of contact are more likely to return home But no evidence that the contact visits alone explain this Confounding variables may explain, such as child-birth parent relationship, a lack of child behavioural problems, or promotion of contact by the worker.

Contact encourages/maintains attachment to birth parents? ‘Research on the attachment behaviour of children in foster care is limited and needs to be bolstered to provide a clearer understanding of how maltreatment, separation from parents, and placement in foster care influence attachment, and how foster children’s attachments affect their long-term adjustment.’ Mennen & O’Keefe 2005

Reasons for no/restricted contact: threat of harm/abuse Where strong evidence that child had been abused prior to placement, prohibitions on contact found to be associated with better outcomes Previously abused children with no restrictions were more likely to be re- abused either during contact or after return home Sinclair, Gibbs & Wilson 2004; Sinclair et al 2004

Other reasons why contact not beneficial: disruptions Violence and drunkenness/ intoxication by birth parents Serious mental health issues Common problems: unreliability of parents, rejection by parents, parents trying to undermine the carer or setting the child against the carers Farmer et al 2004; Sinclair, Gibbs & Wilson 2004; Sinclair et al 2004 & 2005

Additional effects on the child The impact on children of being rejected by their parents undermines the child’s sense that their new family can keep them safe and secure; the child’s emotional distress from contact may have a knock-on effect of undermining the new parents’ psychological equilibrium. Neil & Howe 2004

Foster carers’ views Many dissatisfied with contact arrangements Behaviour problems after contact visits Increased strain from contact visits

Conclusions re contact in long-term care No conclusive evidence that contact, in itself, promotes reunification or attachment Not enough is known about the effects of contact to be able to generalise about its long-term impacts Arguments often been driven by ideology not science ‘Do no harm’

Implications for practice Recommendations must be case- specific Good-quality assessments are needed Principle: that contact facilitates child’s developmental needs, promotes stability and security Most issues to consider are inter- related and dynamic

Is the goal restoration? When the goal of intervention is returning the child to the birth parents, then frequent visits should be encouraged (Mennen & O’Keefe 2005; Leathers 2003) Assessments of parenting capacity, risks Early decisions about restoration

Other issues to consider How strong is the attachment/ relationship between children and their birth parents? Are there risks to the safety of the child? Are children’s wishes for and reactions to contact being taken into account?

What else? Age and developmental stage of child How supportive are foster carers? Any changes in relationships and situations? Significant travelling and disruption Reaction of birth parents Contact with other family members Indirect contact may be sufficient

Conclusions Decisions about contact should be made on a case-by-case basis and reflect the unique characteristics of the child and their overall circumstances.

Full report available at research_good_contact.pdf DoCS’ Research site publications/research.htm