Bringing Up Aboriginal Babies at Home: Program Evaluation

Abstract

Victorian Aboriginal babies are 16 times more likely than non-Aboriginal babies to be admitted to out-of-home care, due to disruption to Aboriginal family, culture, and self-determination as the result of colonisation and ongoing stressors and a range of system factors. The most powerful system flaws related to Aboriginal baby removal are the absence of a program or intervention for pregnant mothers with complex needs who identify themselves or their unborn baby as Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander and culturally incongruous and negative encounters with child protection practitioners and non-Aboriginal health professionals. This report presents the evaluation of a case management prog..