Cultural care planning is an extremely important part of a child’s ‘care plan’ when they are in an out of home care placement.
Cultural care planning should start with the child’s family, which is central to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures. Keep in mind that family may be extensive and in addition to parents and siblings may include grandparents, aunties, uncles and cousins.
Family members may also have different levels of capacity and interest in supporting the child. Extended rather than nuclear family care is culturally appropriate for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.Cultural Care Plans offer the opportunity for foster and kin carers to be supported and obtain some respite care.
Family members may also have different levels of capacity and interest in supporting the child. Extended rather than nuclear family care is culturally appropriate for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.Cultural Care Plans offer the opportunity for foster and kin carers to be supported and obtain some respite care.
It gives the child or young person the opportunity to build a nurturing network around them, and in this way develop their identity and sense of belonging.People who may be involved in the child or young person’s cultural care plan may include parents, grandparents, aunties, uncles, cousins, other extended family members, friends of the child or family, community elders and other community members. These people may make different levels of commitment in terms of supporting the child or young person’s cultural care.
Tip sheet for activities:
- Close family members can be involved intimately with the child; they could take them to country, on camps and holiday.
- They may spend time in their home, sharing meals with them
- They may also be involved in the child’s extra curricular activities, with their school or health care by attending parent teacher nights or taking the child to medical appointments or to cultural or social events
- Some family members may have limited capacity to make an ongoing commitment but they may be willing to share cultural information and be a friendly contact that acknowledges the child at public events.
Building this network provides a blanket of cultural support around a child and creates a network of people who they know have an interest in them and who care about them!
What can you do as a carer?
- You could make contact with an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander liaison officer at the school that the child attends. In this way they may send the child to an Aboriginal childcare centre, have their health care needs looked after by an Aboriginal medical service or participate in holiday care or camps, which are especially for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children.
- Carers can also keep in touch with community issues through Aboriginal television, radio and newspapers such as the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Times and Koori Mail.
- For older children in bigger urban centres there are film, sport and other cultural festivals.
- Carers may attempt to include Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people who are respected in the local/broader community in the child’s school or community events. For example, they could suggest elders or other interesting and suitable people to welcome school gatherings to Country or to speak at assembly on occasions such as NAIDOC or Sorry Day.
Further Information
This content has been used from Terri Libesman (2011), Cultural Care for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children in out of home care
Resources
Links to (some) state documents or websites on cultural care/cultural support plans:
Victoria
Australian Capital Territory
Queensland
Western Australia
