ghassan noujain - multicultural foster care service - ssi - strengthening children through culture

Multicultural Foster Care

Program SSI

Strengthening Children Through Culture

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.


About OUR PROGRAM

Settlement Services International

• Humanitarian Settlement Services

• Community Support Program

• Enterprise Facilitation

• Child and Family

• Ability Links


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.


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


Service Model

Strength in Culture

Carer Assessment

Recruitmentof Carers

Matching workers

Cultural, ReligiousLanguage Matching


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


SSI Cultural Plan


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.


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.


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.


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.


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.


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.


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


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.


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


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


ghassan noujain - multicultural foster care service - ssi - strengthening children through culture

Health & Medicine

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