‘Putting the Heart Back into the Record’: Personal Records to Support Young People in Care

Abstract

The records of children and young people growing up in care have multiple purposes and audiences. Cathy Humphreys and Margaret Kertesz discuss the ways in which the characteristics of the documentation determine the record's usefulness to care leavers as a resource for identity at some point in later life. The Who Am I? action research project, based in Victoria, Australia, explores the extent to which records and current record-keeping practices facilitate this. Two approaches were found to be especially useful: the Knowledge Diamond framework, which harnesses the different knowledge brought by diverse groups to the task of developing principles for record-keeping; and the records continuum (constructing, storing and accessing the record), which provided a concept through which to understand the significance of the archive as a dimension of good practice. It was found that workers' accountability to the children now and in the future risks being overshadowed by the requirements of other stakeholders unless the principles that underpin effective record-keeping are articulated and implemented.

Improving the Archiving of Records in the Out-of-home Care Sector

“…Several advocacy organisations, including CLAN, AFA, CREATE and Connecting Home, were members of the research advisory group and provided extensive assistance with the research process. The research program involved several different strands of research: the current practice strand (see Humphreys & Kertesz, 2012); the historical strand and development of a web resource that has now become a national resource funded by the Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs (see www.findandconnect.gov.au); the records access project (see Murray & Humphreys, 2012); the learning and development project arising from the current strand (see http://www.cfecfw.asn.au/know/research-and-evaluation/sector-research-partner ship/partnership-projects/out-home-care/who-am-i); and the archiving strand. The last is the subject of this paper.…”

“…(Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs [FaHCSIA], 2011) In exploring documents of value across the life course, it becomes clear that records relating to young people are complex and often fragmented (Humphreys & Kertesz, 2012). The "case file" or administrative record can be understood as the sum of many different types of case notes and reports written by professionals for other professionals and the courts.…”

Compassion and Compliance: Releasing Records to Care-Leavers under Privacy and Freedom of Information Legislation

“…In contrast, for young people growing up in care today, ‘there is a clear expectation that they should be provided with comprehensive information about their family and time in care’ (Feast, 2010: 1). Practice with children in care today supports the development of life-story books and their age-appropriate participation in reviews and decision-making that affects them (Feast, 2010; Humphreys and Kertesz, 2012). Typically, this was not the case for older care-leavers; nor was it expected that post-care adults would return to access their records.…”

‘My life's been a total disaster but I feel privileged’: care‐leavers’ access to personal records and their implications for social work practice

“…Significantly, one of the dimensions of the current looked‐after children records relates to identity, and research suggests that it is often poorly addressed by current front‐line workers (Thomas & Holland ). Less attention has been given to the records as a whole as a potentially rich resource for identity (), although Horrocks & Goddard (, p. 265) have noted ‘accessing child care files, with their mixture of new and forgotten personal information, can be a hugely significant event in the self‐identity story‐telling project of these adults’. Other research has highlighted the need for improvements in the provision of access to records services.…”

“…Generally, the relevance of these Acts is that the subject of the records is entitled to access information about themselves. In practice, this is not so clear cut – partly because records were not kept, they have not been archived in ways that make them readily accessible, they have been destroyed or they have been lost (). Also, even when there are records, there may be restrictions on what can be released, in particular in relation to third‐party information.…”