Standard 5: Nurturing the child’s lifelong belonging

We will:

• ask and listen to children about who is important to them
• urgently reconnect children with family and other supportive people who are in their life, or who could be in their life – no matter where they live
• show respect towards children and support them to build healthy relationships
• talk to the important people in a child’s life about what we are worried about, and include them in building safety and support for the child together
• work with children and their families to understand the role that family, kin and others have in their life
• help connect the adults in a child’s life to their identity and culture
• recognise and include adults in a child’s life as important holders of information and stories about their child and their identity and culture.
• keep siblings together wherever possible and keep them connected if they need to be placed in out of home care
• Work with parents, family, carers and children to organise meaningful family time for children when they cannot live at home
• help children be a part of their community
• share as much information as we can with parents when their child is in care

What we mean by…