In Australia, children and young people with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) in out-of-home care are at critically greater risk of getting involved with the youth justice system. Over time, involvement in out-of-home care and youth justice can create a pattern of criminalisation, that spirals into a cycle of reoffending and deeper involvement with both systems. Breaking the cycle of FASD recriminalisation means providing early diagnosis, support and intervention.

Although kinship care now represents the majority of out-of-home care placements in Australia, comparatively little attention has been given to the risk factors and protective factors for grandparent carers experiencing secondary trauma. In this blog, researchers highlight the additional risk of secondary trauma to grandparent carers, due to the family crises that led to caring for their grandchildren, managing the conflicting roles of being the child's carer and the child's parent's parents, and the personal connectedness they feel to the specific traumas their grandchildren have experienced.

Last week, CETC facilitated an insightful panel about trauma-informed care and young people in youth detention. CETC welcomed Joanna O’Connor, Associate Professor Tim Moore and Murray Robinson to share their insights, reflections, experience and ideas with over 100 sector attendees.