Expert helps trace families of children in care

Saturday, 13 August 2016
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• ​Renowned family finding specialist Kevin Campbell visits Perth
• Five-day training course to help child protection workers find relatives of children in care

A world-leading family finding specialist visited Perth this week to pass on his expertise to more than 100 child protection workers.

Child Protection Minister Andrea Mitchell said Kevin Campbell, an international expert in childhood trauma and establishing lifelong supports for children in care, spent the week training child protection workers on his Family Finding model.

"The model was developed by Mr Campbell to help locate the estranged relatives of children in care," Ms Mitchell said.

"This is an excellent opportunity for child protection practice as the model will be used to help strengthen the safety and support networks for Western Australian children in care.

"The model provides the strategies needed to locate family members, so every child can benefit from lifelong connections that only a family provides.

"Providing safe and stable family based living arrangements for children in care helps them to maintain ongoing contact with other family members and friends and preserves their cultural identity and sense of belonging."

The Minister said providing nurturing family based homes was the most important factor in helping children who had suffered from trauma to thrive and not just survive their childhoods.

At the course, child protection workers used the model to help locate long-lost relatives of children and young people currently in care.

Fact File

• Expert trainer and Family Finding model developer Kevin Campbell works at the National Institute for Permanent Family Connectedness, California, USA
• The Family Finding model is currently also used in America and Canada
• For more information, visit http://www.familyfinding.org