Most of us have a variety of records and stories that connect us to who we are and where we come from. Family photo albums, videos, saved souvenirs of milestones, school photos and stories often repeated at family gatherings help us to have a sense of connection and identity.
When children and young people spend a significant part of their growing years outside of their birth family, their personal history and connection to their past, origins, culture and family may become disjointed.
Life story work is a way to record information about the child’s history and personal development. The child or young person is assisted in this work by trusted adults, who may be carers, caseworkers and volunteers at their Families SA office or other people who have a meaningful relationship with the child or young person.
Benefits of life story work
What life story work should contain
Preparing kids for life story work
The role of carers in life story work
Aboriginal life story book
Benefits of life story work
Life story work helps to build a bond between the child and the adult who is helping them. If a child is reunited with their parents, the life story work can bridge the gap between the carer and the birth family, and fill in the gaps the birth parents may feel they have missed out on.
Life story work is important for all children and young people in care. For Aboriginal children it has special importance as it assists them to maintain a connection to, and knowledge of their culture. Families SA provides a special Aboriginal life story book which is tailored to the child’s own clan group to assist with this work.
What life story work should contain
How life story work is recorded may vary according to the preferences of the child and the talents of the adults who are assisting them. Scrapbooking, photo albums, treasure boxes, multimedia computer files and DVDs are all valid tools. The important thing is that the work is done, continuously updated and portable so that it can move with the child or young person to new placements and on to their lives after being in care.
Life story work may include anything meaningful to the child, but should include the following elements:
- photographs recording the child’s growing up including
- activities
- milestones and achievements
- pets
- significant other people
- place of birth
- holidays and outings
- a copy of their birth certificate
- their own artwork
- letters from parents, siblings and carers
- their family tree/genogram to three generations
- information about the child’s cultural background
Preparing kids for life story work
Caseworkers and carers should work together in preparing the child or young person for life story work.
The child or young person may have difficult feelings about the things that have happened to them. It is important to acknowledge those feelings. They may experience a range of feelings during the course of the work. The child or young person should be encouraged to talk about those feelings. If sensitive issues arise additional support such as counselling may be sought.
The child or young person should understand that the materials collected are theirs, and that they can choose who to share it with. They should be encouraged to keep the materials in a safe place, and be helped to understand that the information is confidential and that no-one should access it without permission.
The role of carers in life story work
Carers will usually be the main person to work with the child to record their life story. Carers spend the most time with the child or young person and have the greatest opportunity to collect the materials to add to it.
As a carer you need to be proactive in taking photos to record special events, and keeping the mementos of achievements and activities. You can also encourage the child to keep personal mementos and to put them into their life story materials. The sorts of things that the child might save are letters, postcards, and their own artwork.
Remember to progress life story work at the child’s own pace. This may be gradual. But still try to set aside regular time to update the material to provide the opportunity for the child to remember and record information about their family and their time in care.
You should discuss with the child and young person that the material is confidential and discuss where it could be kept so it is safe.
If the child or young person leaves your placement you must ensure that their life story work goes with them.
Aboriginal life story books
The Aboriginal Life Story Book is a tool which helps Aboriginal young people to learn about their culture and identity and track their own personal journey. It has been developed for Aboriginal children and young people who are in foster care or are clients of other Families SA services.
The book covers such areas as cultural and kinship groups, Elders, The Dreaming, their Dreaming story and kinship genograms. It is individualised for the young person’s gender and kinship group.
It is important to keep Aboriginal children and young people connected to their community. When the child protection, alternative care and youth justice systems intervene in their lives there is a risk that this connection will be lost.
The Aboriginal Life Story Book aims to ensure that Families SA staff make every effort to ensure that children and young people are correctly identified within their cultural group and, where possible, within their family or clan group. The book will lead to greater recognition of the importance of Aboriginal children’s cultural needs and improved consultation with Aboriginal people and agencies.
If you are an Aboriginal child or young person in care, or the carer of an Aboriginal child or young person, and you do not have an Aboriginal Life Story Book, please ask your case worker to arrange this.