Elevating how services approach cultural connections with children
Cultural Care Planning
In line with the Australian National Standards in Out of Home Care, since 2011 Cultural Care Planning is a mandatory practice. Every Indigenous child, and child from a culturally and linguistically diverse background is entitled to an individualised plan that supports them to develop and/or maintain their cultural identity. The practice aligns with our responsibility to the United Nations Conventions commitment, that children have a right to be connected to family, community and culture.
Culture can mean different things to different people. It is shaped by our experiences, what we're taught by others, what we experience with family, communities, community leaders or elders. Culture guides choices, experiences, and relationships within and across social groups.
Effective cultural care planning is a collaborative activity with the child, their family, carers and other important people in the child’s life. The process requires practitioners to explore conversations with those who can support the child and document the most appropriate ways to reconnect and/or maintain cultural connections for the child.
The S.E.L.F-practice tool can facilitate conversations with important people in the child's life and guide planning and recording of how to nurture cultural relationships and keep the child connected to their culture in a meaningful way.
Cultural connections to heritage, traditions, languages, spiritual practices, storytelling, and community are essential in supporting a child to gain their sense of identity. Placement in kin or foster care can alter children’s relationships and their sense of identity.