Infant placement in out-of-home care

Dr Stacy Blythe
Adopt Change and Western Sydney University Research

Infants and young children (<4 years) represent the highest proportion of admissions into out-of-home care (OOHC) in Australia. Indeed, infants under one year of age are more likely, than other aged children, to be the subject of allegations and substantiations of child abuse and/or neglect and thus more likely to require placement into OOHC. The majority of infants receiving OOHC services are placed into home-based care with foster and/or kinship carers. Generally, carers are provided ongoing training as part of their care-giver role. Foster/kinship carers have a significant responsibility to ensure the health and well-being of infants in OOHC. However, whether or not these carers are receiving specific training and/or support to care for infants (many of whom have increased health care needs) has been largely unknown. This study used a mixed methods design employing an online survey and individual interviews with foster/kinship carers to gain understanding of their experiences providing care to infants under one year of age.

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