The Truth Of Our Stories: A mixed method evaluation of Elder and community-led cultural training for out-of-home care agency workers and non-Indigenous foster carers in Australia
Keywords:
Cultural training, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander, out-of-home care, cultural connection, cultural resourcesAbstract
Globally, Indigenous peoples have incurred significant harm due to colonisation of their lands. Dispossession of culture, language, family and land, and the historical, systematic removal of children in Australia (the ‘Stolen Generation’), has resulted in evident ongoing negative outcomes in the contemporary lives of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. The trauma of child removal has been felt across generations and the rising rates of child removal is an ongoing concern, as well as an insult for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities. Centring Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in care processes can repair harm and promote healing. Truth-telling is emerging as an important approach to healing and repairing colonial harms. This out-of-home care research study provided truth-telling as a form of cultural training to mainstream out-of-home care agencies. The delivery and evaluation of ‘The Truth of Our Stories’ cultural training was co-designed with Elders and Aboriginal community advisory groups. A mixed methods approach was used to evaluate the training, inclusive of 42 participants recruited from out-of-home care staff and foster carers. Participants were informed of historical, cultural and social contexts, and the results show that they benefitted from the training, with moderate to large improvements in knowledge and confidence for providing culturally secure service delivery for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children in out-of-home care. Qualitative feedback suggested that the training was well-received by participants. We conclude that this type of cultural training provides important opportunities to share information and knowledge. This training may initiate change by supporting cultural, family, and community connectedness for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children in out-of-home care.
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