This week we went to many agencies that focused on children and relationships with their caregivers. We learned at lot about the system and how the government is supporting these types of families. We know that healthy relationships and bonds are especially important for children at a young age and this week especially emphasized this.
At Berry Street and the Bouverie center, we were reminded to consider the whole person whenever working with clients. Rather than make any assumptions about why a parent may not be able to care for their child, we have to try to understand the backgrounds that the parents have come from. Berry Street took a unique approach to building relationships between foster carers, the children, and their biological parents by inviting everyone to a playgroup together that meets once a week. Various activities are conducted throughout the day to engage the carers and parents with the kids and provide a framework for the kids to rebuild some of the bonds of attachment that may have been lost. It hasn’t been long that they have integrated both the foster carers and the parents in the same playgroup, but it seems to be going well. We found it especially interesting that in Australia, they refer to the second-carers as foster carers rather than foster parents. This may be why it is a little bit easier to integrate the various family members because the foster carers are coming in as a second support rather than as a replacement parent.
At Vic Seg, we gained insight about children in immigrant families and it was mind-blowing. We got a look into two families’ eyes about being strangers in a new country. They had to start from the ground up and rebuild their lives from nothing. It was emotional especially for me (Vy), but also a couple of our classmates because we have parents that are immigrants and we are immigrants ourselves. While watching the video we were reminded that we all have different beginnings and that you cannot judge someone by the way they speak, look, sound, etc. People are unique and diverse, and that is what makes our world beautiful. We all have different experiences to reflect on and gifts of wisdom to share with one another. The bonds and relationships we form with the people we meet should be appreciated and cherished because that is what makes us vulnerable, relatable, and human.