An Australian social worker who has built up a big family and child welfare organisation uses a congratulatory press interview to press for reform of the Victorian child welfare system : no it’s not that old – the state of Victoria. She aims for:
Getting rid of the adversarial legal processes through the Children's Court … 'Investment in early years; funding for out-of-home care that matches the demand — right now it's capped; an education allowance for kids in out-of-home care, and the transferring of case management from the Department of Human Services to the community sector.
These would be recognisable aims in many countries. Adversarial legal antics is not a good way of handling children’s lives. Adequate funding that prevents children from coming into state care, supports children’s education and if possible keeps them in a community setting is an important priority to many social workers. And too often hard-pressed state social work agencies focus on government priorities and political prejudices instead of the needs of children. Better to support planning and advocacy outside the state. Of course, social workers can be creative in government services, but over-bureaucratic controls and poor finance often hold creative practice back, for children and for adults.
Read more: http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/repairing-broken-young-lives-20110715-1hi75.html#ixzz1SSp5O7vI
No comments:
Post a Comment