TY - JOUR
T1 - 'There's More to be Done; Sorry is Just a Word'
T2 - Legacies of Out-of-Home Care in the 20th Century
AU - Fernandez, Elizabeth
AU - Lee, Jung Sook
AU - Foote, Wendy
AU - Blunden, Hazel
AU - McNamara, Patricia
AU - Kovacs, Szilvia
AU - Cornefert, Paul Auguste
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2017 The Author(s).
PY - 2017/9/1
Y1 - 2017/9/1
N2 - This research explored the experiences of care leavers, who lived in institutions (such as Children's Homes and orphanages) or other forms of out-of-home care between 1930 and 1989. Participants included representatives of three sub-cohorts: Forgotten Australians, members of the Stolen Generations and Child Migrants. Employing mixed methods, this research used three forms of data collection: Surveys (n = 669), interviews (n = 92) and focus groups (n = 77). This research concentrated on participants' experiences in care, leaving care, life outcomes after care (education, employment, health, wellbeing and relationships), coping strategies and resilience, current service needs and usage and participation in organisations as well as the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse. Most participants experienced extreme neglect and abuse while in care. Leaving care, often after years of institutionalisation, was generally a frightening and demoralising process. Despite these challenges, a number of participants demonstrated remarkable resilience. For many, however, these experiences had negative consequences in adulthood including serious physical and mental health problems. This often made adult learning, paid employment and positive relationships virtually impossible. Most survivors carry high levels of trauma and complex unmet needs. Implications for policy, practice and services are drawn from key findings.
AB - This research explored the experiences of care leavers, who lived in institutions (such as Children's Homes and orphanages) or other forms of out-of-home care between 1930 and 1989. Participants included representatives of three sub-cohorts: Forgotten Australians, members of the Stolen Generations and Child Migrants. Employing mixed methods, this research used three forms of data collection: Surveys (n = 669), interviews (n = 92) and focus groups (n = 77). This research concentrated on participants' experiences in care, leaving care, life outcomes after care (education, employment, health, wellbeing and relationships), coping strategies and resilience, current service needs and usage and participation in organisations as well as the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse. Most participants experienced extreme neglect and abuse while in care. Leaving care, often after years of institutionalisation, was generally a frightening and demoralising process. Despite these challenges, a number of participants demonstrated remarkable resilience. For many, however, these experiences had negative consequences in adulthood including serious physical and mental health problems. This often made adult learning, paid employment and positive relationships virtually impossible. Most survivors carry high levels of trauma and complex unmet needs. Implications for policy, practice and services are drawn from key findings.
KW - Child Migrants
KW - Forgotten Australians
KW - Stolen Generations
KW - care leavers
KW - institutions
KW - maltreatment
KW - outcomes
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85030113122&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1017/cha.2017.29
DO - 10.1017/cha.2017.29
M3 - Review article
AN - SCOPUS:85030113122
SN - 2049-7776
VL - 42
SP - 176
EP - 197
JO - Children Australia
JF - Children Australia
IS - 3
ER -