Ways Forward For Kin With Kids – Queensland Kinship Care Forum III
The third Queensland Kinship Care Forum III was held Thursday, 9th September 2021 as part of Queensland Child Protection Week, hosted by PeakCare in association with IFYS, Kummara Association, Infinity Community Solutions, QATSICPP, and Queensland Foster and Kinship Care. The event featured a hybrid online format to enhance accessibility for those who could not attend in person. The forum built on learnings from the first Kinship Forum in September 2019, and the second Kinship Forum held in February 2020, and considered transformative approaches to kinship care.
Special thanks is given to carers who attended. A special highlight of the forum was, as previously, hearing the voices of kinship carers featured during the panel discussion, on needs, challenges, and how best they can be supported.
See the forum program for more details, and watch the individual sessions as recorded below.
Introduction: Transforming kinship care
+ Video messages from Deidre Mulkerin, Director-General, Department of Children, Youth Justice and Multicultural Affairs (DCYJMA)
+ Panel discussion with Kate Connors, Deputy Director-General and Dr Meegan Crawford, Chief Practitioner, DCYJMA
Facilitated by Lindsay Wegener, Executive Director, PeakCare
Statutory kinship care
+ Including lessons from developing statutory kin care in Victoria
Delivered by Dr Meredith Kiraly, Honorary Research Fellow, University of Melbourne
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander kinship care
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Kinship Care: A culturally-informed and culturally-sound model
+ Showcasing an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander kinship care model that is culturally informed and culturally sound led by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Community Controlled Organisations
Delivered by Candice Butler, Director Innovation & Practice Development, Queensland Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Child Protection Peak
Working with families
Working with Kinship Carers: Partnering with families
+ Panel discussion about finding kin, partnering with carers to navigate the highs and lows of providing statutory kinship care
Panel members: Bryan Smith, Executive Director, Qld Foster and Kinship Care, Ange Tyson, Senior Kinships Support Worker and Annaley Clarke, KIC (Kummara and Infinity Community Solutions)
Panel discussion with kinship carers
+ Lived experience panel discussion from carers around the needs, challenges, highs and lows of what carers experience and identifying how to better offer support
Special guest panel members: Trish (maternal grandmother caring for two children), Janelle (paternal grandmother caring for two children) and Gina (caring for her second cousin)
Facilitated by Joanne Roff, Operations Manager South (Child & Families), Integrated Family & Youth Services (IFYS)
Conclusion: Next steps
Take Home Messages and Next Steps
+ Summary and learnings
Facilitated by Lindsay Wegener and Tom Allsop, PeakCare