Keeping the family: A socio-ecological perspective on the challenges of child removal and reunification for mothers who have experienced substance-related harms

Julie Dare, Celia Wilkinson, Shantha P. Karthigesu, David A. Coall and Ruth Marquis

Children and Youth Services Review, 2023, vol. 145, issue C

Abstract: The challenges and experiences associated with child removal and reunification from the perspective of mothers experiencing substance-related harms is under-researched in Australia. Our qualitative study employed a socio-ecological model to better understand the background to child removal, and perceived barriers and facilitators to achieving reunification of mother and child. In-depth interviews were conducted with 16 women, 8 of whom self-identified as Australian First Nations People. At the time of the interviews, these women were either living in substance use rehabilitation facilities, their own home or with relatives. Findings highlighted a history of complex disadvantage and trauma among the women, along with a deep and enduring commitment to their children. Key barriers to reunification included limited social support networks, insecure housing, and challenges in meeting conflicting requirements from the child protection, social welfare and justice systems. An important facilitator to reunification was access to a residential substance use rehabilitation facility that offered holistic wrap-around services with links to community support. This study highlights the inadequacy of individual approaches focused on parents’ substance use and emphasises the need to address significant structural disadvantages that underpin increasing numbers of children being placed in government mandated care in Australia.

Keywords: Child welfare services/child protection; Reunification; Substance use; Substance-related harms; Socio-ecological model; Out-of-home care; Qualitative research (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S019074092200408X
Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:cysrev:v:145:y:2023:i:c:s019074092200408x

DOI: 10.1016/j.childyouth.2022.106772

Access Statistics for this article

Children and Youth Services Review is currently edited by Duncan Lindsey

More articles in Children and Youth Services Review from Elsevier
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Catherine Liu ().