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A Charter Of Rights For Children In Care - A West Australian ProjectDownload this presentation - 420KB PDF AuthorAssociate Professor Mike ClarePresentorAssociate Professor Mike ClareOrganisationUniversity Of Western AustraliaThis paper reviews practice and research literature which debates the importance of involving children and young people in care in planning and reviewing key aspects of their placements. The paper argues that children's involvement in decisions about their care is consistent with the recommendations of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. It is informed by the growing international awareness of the 'invisibility' of the child as citizen and as consumer of human services. The paper considers the issues arising from attempts to design and implement Charters of Rights and practice standards developed in the light of this awareness of the need for children's meaningful participation. It asks whether policy and practice is biased towards floors and minimum standards or towards ceilings and optimal outcomes for children and young people. All of this serves to contextualise the work in Western Australia of the Office for Children and Youth and the CREATE Foundation to develop a draft Charter of Rights for Western Australian children and young people in care - in accordance with Section 78 of the Children and Community Services Act, 2004. In this project, particular attention was given to ensuring that the draft Charter of Rights represented the thoughts, ideas, wishes and aspirations of children and young people in care. The paper outlines the consultation processes used to engage 115 children and young people in care and 60 adult stakeholders for their feedback and input into the draft Charter of Rights. These consultations were with children and young people from 4 years to 19 years of age - from regional and metropolitan areas. Importantly, the consultations included children and young people from Indigenous and culturally and linguistically diverse (CaLD) backgrounds and children with disabilities. The paper then presents the draft Charter of Rights and undertakes a comparative analysis of the Western Australian material with other national and international Charters. Finally, it reports on the progress of the Western Australian project. PresentationPaperBiographyMike Clare was involved since 1993 in the introduction of the Looking After Children case management system in Western Australia; this project led to a Leaving Care Project in 2000 and a review of the arguments for and against the introduction of Mandatory Reporting of Child Abuse in Western Australia with colleague, Dr Maria Harries, in 2002. Member of the State Government's Children and Young Persons' Advisory Committee for Children in Care since 2002 - and involved in the project to establish a Charter of Rights for Children in Care. Currently works at the University of Western Australia as Discipline Chair of Social Work and Social Policy. |
