Congratulations to Life Course Centre researchers Professor Janeen Baxter and Dr Jenny Povey, who are part of a multidisciplinary team awarded an Australian Research Council Linkage grant on ‘Enhancing children’s journey in Out-of-Home Care: A multi-perspective study’.
The $778,000 project grant, administered by The University of Queensland, is led by Professor Karen Healy and Chief Investigator Dr Jemma Venables, both of UQ’s School of Nursing, Midwifery and Social Work, and Partner Investigator Dr Peter Walsh from The Benevolent Society. Other community partners are: Churches of Christ in Queensland, Uniting Care, Life Without Barriers, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Community Health Service Brisbane, Queensland Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Child Protection Peak Limited, and the Queensland Department of Child Safety. Professor Baxter, Director of the Life Course Centre, and Dr Povey are based at UQ’s Institute for Social Science Research.
The Linkage Project aims to improve the experiences of, and outcomes for, Indigenous and non-Indigenous children in out-of-home care. Drawing on detailed longitudinal, qualitative interview data from children in out-of-home care, their birth families, and carers across geographically diverse sites in Queensland, the study will build a rich understanding of their experiences.
It seeks to improve knowledge of how to strengthen children’s connections to culture and caring relationships during out-of-home care, and investigate how such connections shape well-being. This includes better practice for achieving positive social, cultural and emotional well-being for those in out-of-home care, especially in Indigenous communities.