Child Protection and Family Services, Western Australia Garfield Prowse Mel Samuels Pene Linsley

Transcription

1 Getting Back to the Kurturtu Child Protection and Family Services, Western Australia Garfield Prowse Mel Samuels Pene Linsley

2 Presented by: Title Subtitle Arial Arial Narrow 28 Getting 18 Back to the Kurturtu (Getting back to the Heart) Garfield Prowse District Director Melanie Samuels Assistant District Director Pene Linsley Senior Practice Development Officer Goldfields the most progressive District in the state

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6 Goldfields The Most Progressive District in Australia

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9 The police were very worried about Bobby, Katie, Lisa, Melissa and Eric because the adults were so drunk that no one could look after the kids, and the kids are too little to look after themselves. Wake up

10 Tjuntjuntjara

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12 Martin Connie Albert? Jess Sarah? Daphne? Lola Randall Lyndon?? Trish Kelvin Shana Martin Nadia Mary Anisha Danny

13 Garfield with Aine

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15 Garfield with Mum

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17 Words and Pictures for Nadia and Mary so they know why they are in care again and not living with their mum. Mum wants you to know that she loves you very much. Nadia remembers happy times when she lived with mum like times when they cooked together and made stir fry s. Mary also remembers happy times with mum like when they went to the park together and Nadia would ride her bike.

18 On the 6 th November 2013, Mum Sarah came to DCPFS (the Department ) ofpice in Kalgoorlie with her two daughters, Nadia and Mary because she says Nadia didn t want to stay with her anymore. Nadia told Aine (Case Worker) that her mum hit her with a stick and a chord. As Aine was in Esperance, it was hard to work out what was going on. Mum seemed to get even angrier, yelling and swearing at the departmental workers, which made Nadia, and Mary really scared. Mum was also threatening workers to do bad things to them and this made the workers think Sarah (mum) might have been taking drugs or drinking for her to say such horrible things around Nadia and Mary. Mum says she hadn t been drinking or using drugs and that she didn t hit Nadia with a stick or chord.

19 The Department is worried that the relationships between Sarah and her children and the rest of the family get really mixed up and have done for a long time. This makes it hard for the children to know who is in charge and who is the one looking out for them to keep them safe. Workers are also worried that when they talk with Sarah and Nadia and then talk with Cheryl or other people in the family different things get said. This makes it hard for workers to keep working with Sarah and her family to come up with a plan that will keep Nadia and Mary safe.

20 The Department are also worried because Nadia says Mum has been taking drugs and she has seen needles falling out of her pocket. Workers have seen Mum get angry really quickly when she uses drugs like marijuana and speed. When Mum is using drugs, she is also around other people who use drugs and this is not safe for the girls. Sometimes when Mum is using drugs with other people, there are scary Pights that happen between Mum and her family. Nadia and Mary hear mum swearing, shouting and saying grown up things that children shouldn t hear. If they keep hearing this, they might think that it is the way to solve problems and they can act like this too which is not OK. Mum says she is worried about this too and that she knows Nadia and Mary sometimes copy the things she does, like when she has taken things from the shops without paying.

21 The Department is most worried that Nadia and especially Mary as she is only 3 years old, might accidentally get hurt when mum is Pighting with other grown ups. Mary already looks like she is so use to this that she sings when Mum is angry which tells the workers that something is wrong for a little girl to look OK when Mum is not acting like a safe mum. Mum says she hasn t noticed Mary do this but that when she is yelling and angry Mary tells her to stop talking and sometimes holds her mouth so she will stop.

22 The workers can t talk to Mum when she is acting all scary and mean and they decided that it was not good for Nadia and Mary to be around their mum when she was so angry. Aine went to Court and told the Magistrate about her worries. The Magistrate agreed that Nadia and Mary shouldn t stay with mum for now and that the Department need to take care of them until things with mum can get sorted out.

23 Mum has worked really hard before to have Nadia and Mary in her care. She says she is not always using drugs or drink when she gets really angry but that she is a mother hurting for her children. Departmental workers have seen this pattern in Sarah for a really long time where she gets into a rage and it looks like it s really hard thing for Mum to change but Mum needs to show departmental workers that she can Pind other ways to deal with her hurts so that she doesn t drink or take drugs and end up in big scary Pights around Nadia and Mary. Mum says she wants to Pind other ways too because she doesn t like how it feels when she is really angry like this.

24 Mum will work with Jenny, Aine, Russell, Aunty Violet, her mum, Cheryl, Nanna Raylene, Lorena, Aunty Trilby and other people at the Department to build up her safety network again so that Nadia and Mary can be safe when they are with her. Mum will work with everyone to write a safety plan so that Nadia and Mary are not left with people who drink, take drugs or might hurt them. Mum will show Mary and Nadia that she can care for them in a calm way and they do not need to be frightened when they see her and spend time with her. Mum s best hope is for Mary and Nadia to have a good life, go to school everyday and one day get their own house.

25 Presenting the Words and Pictures to the Children

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29 Getting Back to the Kurturtu Child Protection and Family Services, Western Australia Garfield Prowse Mel Samuels Pene Linsley