The experiences of parents facing Protection and Care matters in the Children’s Court of Western Australia is poorly researched. Anecdotally we know parents who do appear and participate in the legal process often experience heightened levels of anxiety and fear, do not necessarily understand the process, the language or the outcomes.
In a report titled, ‘No voice, no opinion, nothing’, Ross et ell spoke with parents in the Newcastle region of New South Wales, who described how the court experience was frightening, demeaning and dehumanising; suggesting commonalities in the way parents in other jurisdictions experience the court and child protection authorities.
(Ross, N., Cocks, J., Johnston, L. & Stoker, L. 2017. ‘No voice, no opinion, nothing’: Parent experiences when children are removed and placed in care. Research Report. Newcastle, New South Wales: University of Newcastle.)
These experiences, with the addition of little or no legal representation, can lead parents to feel helpless which exacerbates their experience – at best they may participate in the process in a harmful or passive manner, or at worst remove themselves from the process completely, which ultimately may lead to lose of relationship with their children.
Many families involved in the court process are often characterised by
‘social disadvantage or vulnerability … Such disadvantage is compounded by the absence of good legal representation in what can be an adversarial process’ (In Miller, 2015, p. 27), Queensland Child Protection Commission of Inquiry, Carmody (2013)
These experiences have been echoed in the most recent research, conducted by Teresa Hinton from the Social Action and Research Centre, Anglicare Tasmania July 2020, entitled: Rebalancing the Scales: Access to Justice for Parents in the Tasmanian Child Safety System
Hinton interviewed 36 parents, 24 lawyers, surveyed 43 lawyers and held focus groups with key stakeholders from across the state.
The ‘pilot court’ is a welcomed opportunity to seek to redress the imbalance of power in the court process, to elevate parent’s voices, and the constructively and meaningfully participate in the court process.
Fin WA has committed a professional advocate (social work trained) and peer worker (a parent with lived experienced, who has been trained) to be appointed to the ‘pilot court’.
Generally, they will provide advocacy, information and support to families involved in protection and care matters. Families will be Fin WA clients as well as referrals from the Legal Aid (LAWA) duty team, and direct referrals from the Magistrate of the ‘pilot court’. As our presence becomes known referrals from other sources may be possible such as the ALSWA, WLSWA, Djinda etc.; staff will also be able to offer assistance to families who are not connected to other supports and are alone during the experience.
By providing the services of an advocate and peer worker, the hope is that families will remain more connected to the court process, engage in working effectively with the Department and ultimately maintain meaningful relationships with their children which may, or may not, lead to reunification.
Information Sheet for Parents →
We will use a rights framework of participation and access to information, with a focus on client centred work. The advocate will sit alongside the parent in the court process, and where needed may speak on behalf of the client. The peer worker will also sit in the court providing emotional support.
The Fin WA advocacy model is to work relationally and with respectful inclusion, therefore work is only conducted with consent and direction of the client.
Most work will be conducted at the court, however some attendance at Departmental meetings maybe required.
Advocates will specifically:
*where there is an identified need, follow up with the department workers regarding agreed actions will occur, or attendance at Department meetings such as Signs of Safety or Care Plans
Peer worker will specifically:
*Working relationally means privileging the worker – client relationship; the work is in establishing connection, rapport and trust to allow effective work to occur.
There is an evaluation being conducted by the University of Newcastle. The pilot is expected to finish October 2020.
There is an advisory board on which a magistrate sits alongside peers, academics and other stakeholders. The link below is the brochure on the FISH website:
https://finclusionh.org/the-project/
‘No voice, no opinion, nothing’: Parent experiences when children are removed and placed in care, by Dr Nicola Russ et al
https://www.lwb.org.au/assets/Parent-perspectives-OOHC-Final-Report-Feb-2017.pdf