Family reunification: Rhetoric and risks

Brenda Clare

Brenda Clare
Brenda Clare has worked in the area of child protection and out-of-home care since 1971 in both England and Australia. In 1990 she moved from the statutory arena to work in a non-government organisation where, for seven years, she developed and managed family reunification and family preservation programmes. She now works as a lecturer on the social work course at the University of Western Australia.
During her 30 years as a practitioner and manager, the writer has been involved in the removal and return of many children. Throughout this period, she has experienced several ‘swings in the pendulum’ around assumptions about the appropriateness of placement as a long-term strategy for children who have been harmed by their parents. The current intervention of preference – at least in Western Australia – is family reunification. The writer's experience in establishing, managing and evaluating both residential and home-based family reunification programmes in this state has made her very aware of the lack of conceptual clarity and the sometimes unrealistic assumptions that underpin this intervention strategy.