Developing a Trauma-Informed Therapeutic Service in the Australian Capital Territory for Children and Young People Affected by Abuse and Neglect
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ACT: The Trauma Recovery CentreAs outlined, the aforementioned services focus on children and young people who are clients of child protection statutory services; being the primary referral source. Similarly, in the ACT, the Trauma Recovery Centre will provide therapeutic support to children aged 0–12 who are clients of the OCYFS statutory services. The centre will:
As part of the development of the Trauma Recovery Centre, a service mapping exercise was undertaken to review the accessibility and availability of existing therapeutic support services for children and young people in the ACT. This exercise has highlighted that the ACT does currently have a range of existing services that provide trauma-informed therapeutic support to children and young people. Of note are the Child at Risk Health Unit, Relationships Australia and Canberra Rape Crisis Centre. It is anticipated that these trauma-informed services will allow for opportunities for partnerships and interagency collaboration. However, whilst there are trauma-informed services in the ACT, the service mapping exercise also highlighted that the Trauma Recovery Centre has an integral role to play in the provision of therapeutic services to children. Notably, it will be the only therapeutic service in the ACT specifically for children aged 0–12 and the focus on sole referrals from the statutory services (Care and Protection Services and Youth Justice) is unique. The centre will also offer a service to children and young people who are experiencing placement instability/placement moves; at present there appears no service that offers a therapeutic and long term intervention to young people experiencing placement instability and/or persistent and multiple placement changes. Furthermore, the Trauma Recovery Centre is a peripatetic service and will therefore provide a flexible approach to service delivery. In line with the rest of Australia, the OoHC data in the ACT highlights the need for a therapeutic service that focuses on children in care who have experienced trauma as a result of abuse and neglect, and is culturally sensitive. On 30 June 2012, there were 566 children and young people in OoHC, of which 17 children were under one; 120 children were aged one to four; 184 children aged five to nine and 157 children aged 10–14. The 2011–12 recurrent expenditure on children in OoHC in the ACT was $26 million (AIHW, 2013). Just over half (52%) of the children exiting care after 12 months or more had experienced three or more placement moves. For those exiting care after less than one year, 19% had lived in three or more placements and about 40% of children admitted to care were under the age of five years. The Trauma Recovery Centre’s focus on children aged 0–12 is supported by this data insofar as a significant majority of children in the care of the Director General in the ACT are under 12 years of age. Additionally, a recent ACT Community Services Directorate Child Profiling Study (2014) has further highlighted these numbers — as of 30 June 2013, 66% of the children who came into care were under the age of four and 49% under the age of two. The purpose of the Child Profiling Study was to gain a population measure of all children and young people in OoHC with respect to their current levels of need and the complexity of their behaviours. Using a Complexity Assessment Tool, the children and young people in this study (476) were assessed and categorised as having either a Minor (Level 1), Moderate (Level 2), Significant (Level 3) or Extreme (Level 4) level of need. Of note, 80% of children in the study had minor level of needs, whilst 20% fell into the moderate, significant and extreme levels of need categories. There were more children in the extreme behaviour category as opposed to the next level down, the significant level. Therefore, there were more children exhibiting extremely complex behaviours that required very intensive interventions and needed additional assistance to support their placements, than those with significantly complex needs (Community Services Directorate, Child Profiling Study, 2014:10). It is likely based on this level of need, that the Trauma Recovery Centre will see many of the children who fall into the significant and extreme levels of needs, although referrals will be coordinated by Care and Protection Services. With respect to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and young people, of the 566 children in OoHC in the ACT (as of 30 June 2012), 134 were Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander, which is the highest rate ratio (13.8%) of entry to care between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and non Indigenous children of any State/Territory in Australia (Parenting Research Centre, 2013:12). The Child Profiling Study has provided more recent information regarding the representation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children in OoHC. At the time of the assessment (June 2013) Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and young people made up 28.4% of the OoHC population. There were double the number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander males (90) than Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander females (45) in the care system and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander males made up 34.9% of the male population and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander females make up 20.6% of the female population. The study also highlighted that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children are more likely than non-Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children to have a level of need above minor (27% to 17%). Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander males are almost twice as likely to have a higher level of need (32%) than both Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander females (16%) and non-Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander males (17%) (Community Services Directorate, Child Profiling Study, 2014:7). Future DirectionsThe research clearly articulates that the earlier in life an intervention is applied, the greater the chance of recovery. Conversely, the older the child and/or the longer the history of abuse or exposure to trauma, the more difficult it is for the individual to recover (McClung, 2007:38). Recovery will not occur whilst the trauma is still continuing for the child, therefore children and young people need to feel safe and secure and enjoy the presence of supportive and loving relationships in order for healing to take place. The ACT Trauma Recovery Centre will seek to provide children and young people with the therapeutic support required to heal from their traumatic experiences and achieve optimal development. In addition, and in line with the literature which highlights the importance of an eco-systemic and collaborative approach, the centre will work to build a trauma-informed system or ‘village’ around the child to further facilitate recovery. In order for this to be achieved however, the existing services in the ACT must work together and commit to the understanding (and a key service principle) that supporting a child to heal from trauma, repair existing relationships and develop new healthy and supportive relationships is a shared responsibility, and requires the long term support and commitment of all caring adults in a child’s life. 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1 It is not within the scope of this paper to explore all services in Australia who are providing trauma-informed therapeutic support to children. The services included in this paper are examples from each state and/or services with whom the Trauma Recovery Centre Project Officers have had direct contact. |