Table of Contents
Child
Custody. 1
Introduction. 3
Credential Information. 4
Background information. 4
Social work assessment and important element of the case. 5
Different work theories and principal based on the child
custody. 6
Conclusion. 7
Reference. 8
The assignment is based on the court report prepared
by the social worker. The final decision of the case will be based on this
court report. The report will discuss all the relevant information related to
the case of child custody. The assignment will discs all the credential
information related to the case, like the information of both the party, main
issue or the reason of the conflict among the parties are discuss in detail.
Between legal complexities social worker are often require to work with their
respective client in order to address any type of conflict with law. The report
prepared by the social worker help to facilitate the decision making process.
In next part of the assignment discuss about the case background in detail. The
case which is considered for this assignment is based on the child custody.
Next the assignment discusses the different important element of the case and
the assessment of the social worker. The next part of the this report discuss
the different theories, principal and law which are made for dealing the case
related to child custody in Australia. In the last part of the assignment
discuss about the outcome of the case and relevant recommendations are
suggested on the base of the above research and study of the above mention
case.
The case is among the charlotte who is a single mother
of two children and the Thomas .In this case the plaintiff is Thomas, he filed
case against the charlotte for the custody of his kids. The matter is brought
to the children court of Australia. Social worker contacted both the part for
the last one year to understand the opinion of both and make the conclusion on
that bases. The social worker has good experience in dealing such type of
critical cases. It is the duty of all the social worker to collect all the
confidential information from its client and not to mislead or misuse this
data. Before presenting the part to court it is very essential to understand
the client and make a friendly behaviour so that the client can feel
comfortable in sharing and communicating (Anthony, et al.,2018).
The person who can communicated and can present the word in most meaning full
and proper manner will face less difficulty from the lawyer of the opponent
side. While the client are presented in the witness stand they have to face
various cross question ,so it is very important to train their respective
client in proper way so that they can face all the possible type of cross
question. The client should get proper training about how to behave in front of
judge and how to deal with the counter question from other Lawyers. There are
various credential information are required, so it is always advice to bring
the entire document rather than getting confused is selecting the document so
bring all the document as it is always good to have more document rather than
less. Some of the essential information is mention. First is the written
submission to the court. Second can be the all the phone call, both the parent
should maintain the proper record of all the call among the kid the parent with
whom the kid is not staying. As these are the evidence of continues contact
between the children and the parent who want their kid custody (Stone, et al., 2017).
Third document will be the proper schedule of visitation; parent should a
proper log of the visitation among the children and the other parent .As this
schedule must include when was the visits happen, place where they meet,
duration or time they stay together and the frequency of they visit. As these
document can be used by non custodial parent to prove their relationship with their
children. Last document can be the report card of the children , as this can be
used to show how good the kids are in study when the parent take care or vice
versa. The written statement from the teacher of the children neighbours and
they have the knowledge about the relationship with the children and the
relationship among the parent itself.
In the case of the children custody, the charlotte is
a single mother of two kids who left her partner Thomas .As the Thomas has long
criminal track or the history, in his history of crime also include the
offences again the children. A report is filed against the Thomas, as per that
report it show that Thomas used to abused their children. AS working on this
case for last one year but in recent visit with the children it was observes
that the older children have some bruises on his body , which show that the
children is facing abuses from their parent. After that the discussion about
the welfare of the children is made with the charlotte but she refuse to accept
any kind of abuse on the children. Charlotte is not ready to accept that her
partner is potential risk for their children; instead she prioritised him for
the safety, wellbeing and the welfare of children. After that contact is made
to his father Thomas, he is ready to take care of his children. Thomas has very
less contact with their children once the charlotte is separated from the
Thomas. As per the conversation with them, it has been observed that charlotte
has the right over the Thomas to keep children custody with her. But the
custody of children are given on the bases of various factor, and after study
in detail all the factory the custody of the children will be provided (Forbes, et al.,2017).
Being as a social worker proper evaluation of the
client is required. These evaluation help to collect the information related to
client education, there mental status, occupational need and many more
information. For evaluating the client proper face to face interaction is
required. Method one can be gathering the information, for that proper schedule
of interview is required by each of the client who are involved in the case. As
the social work assessment come with direct report of all the parties. To
collect all the correct and relevant information interview is conducted will
all the evolved parties in the case like the mother, father, the two children
and other person like the teacher, neighbours etc. All the document of the
client are reviewed properly, and all these interview of direct client and the
indirect are done in safe atmosphere so that they feel comfortable while giving
the interview. Question which are asked in the interview are related to explain
the relationship between the mother and father, relationship with father and
the children. Some of the question that has been included in the interview of
the children is mention below:
1. Do
you want to stay with your father? Yes/no
2. What
you like the most about your mother and father?
3. Who
is your best friend? Mother or father
4. How
frequently do you meet with your father?
5. What
you do when you meet with your father?
This entire question helps to understand the need and
requirement of the children (Tsai,et al.,2017). What exactly the children think about
their parent and many more such type of information which are required in this case.
These questions will also help in finding the problem and at the same time help
in selecting the proper solution and the strength of the solution. The factors
which every judge must consider before giving any final decision are mention
below (Tsang, et
al.,2017). The judge must consider all the evidence of domestic
violence and abuse which might be neglected by either of the parents. Second
the judge must check the ability of both the parent to full fill the physical
need, medical care and emotional wellness of the children. The judge must
consider the option of charter witness on behalf of both the parent. Third can
be the effect on the children by either continuing the current custody or give
custody to other parent. The judge must consider ability of both the parent to
provide a stable and a loving environment to the children. In most of the case
it has been observed that the court may asked the parent to summit the child
custody evaluation, as this will help judge to learn more about the case
before making any final decision (Baude, et al.,2019). The judge must consider
the wish of the children if the children are growing enough to make or express
their desire wish. The mental and the physical health of the both the parent
also play important role in the decision making of the judge. Next can the
quality of relation of children with their parent. All these factor plan an
important role the decision making process of the judges. So its important for
the social worker to collect all these relevant information in his report with
full accuracy (De
Rooy, et al.,219).
Children custody is a legal word which is used to
regard guardianship, this word also describes the legal relationship among the guardian
and the children. Various cases have been observed in Australia regarding the
children custody once the parent is separated or divorces. So the parents file
case against his partner in the children court to gain a full custody of their
children. To face this case the Australian government has made various laws to
protect the interest of the children and their welfare. The interest of the law
maker is to protect the children from the effect of their parent activities.
Some of the law are explain below. The first law of parenting in Australia
start with the assumption that both parents have equal responsibility for the
children (Bastaits, et
al.,2019). This means that both the parent will perform all the
activities, duties, authorities; all this is mention in the family law act of
1975 61B which also include decision related to medical, education and the
upbringing of children. All this is applied till the age of 18 year of the
children. This law is not applied on the stepchildren until they are adopted
legally. In case one parent wants full or sole custody but the other is not
ready, in that case it becomes very complex. In that case the parent tries to
reach agreements with the help of mediator of Family Dispute Resolution
Conference. Then the family court will decide how the children will be
parented, but in most of the case the courts go with the wish of the children,
with whom they want to stay. To get the sole custody the parent have to prove
or bring evidence that the contact with the other parent is not good for the
children. In that case the family court can give an order to have sole custody
of the children and the parental responsibility to one parent and can issue no
contact for the other parent. The sole parent custody is not same as that of
the termination of the parental responsibility, although the one parent has no
right to take any decision and responsibility but still he or she will remain
the parent of the children (Wong, et al., 2019).
From the above discussion and research following are
the few recommendations can be made. The court can prove a sole parental
custody in the case of Thomas and the Charlotte, as there are various evidence
which show that Thomas used to abused their children and he has some criminal
history. So giving the custody to Thomas is a risky for the welfare and the
mental health of the children. Second court can give the sole custody to
Charlotte but some of the responsibility can be share with the Thomas like the
religious upbringing of the children can be manage by the Thomas. This means
that all the responsibility and decision related to the children are taken by
the Charlotte but the religious decision are taken care by the Thomas. By doing
this the Thomas will have a little contact with their children.
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harms against indigenous children in detention in the Northern Territory,
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Forbes, D.
(2017). Physical punishment: Sanctioned violence against children. Journal
of paediatrics and child health, 53(5), 445-446.
Stone, U.,
Liddell, M., & Martinovic, M. (2017). Incarcerated mothers: Issues and
barriers for regaining custody of children. The Prison Journal, 97(3),
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Tsai, L.
P., Barr, J. A., & Welch, A. (2017). Single mothering as experienced by
Burundian refugees in Australia: a qualitative inquiry. BMC nursing, 16(1),
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Tsang, T.
W., Olson, H. C., Latimer, J., Fitzpatrick, J., Hand, M., Oscar, J., ... &
Elliott, E. J. (2017). Behavior in children with fetal alcohol spectrum
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De Rooy,
K., Bennett, S., & Sydes, M. (2019). Women released from custody:
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offender therapy and comparative criminology, 63(13),
2239-2263.
Baude, A.,
Drapeau, S., Lachance, V., & Ivers, H. (2019). Adjustment of children in
joint custody and associated variables: A systematic review. Journal of
Child Custody, 16(4), 313-338..
Wong, P.,
Liamputtong, P., Koch, S., & Rawson, H. (2019). The impact of social
support networks on family resilience in an Australian intensive care unit: a
constructivist grounded theory. Journal of Nursing Scholarship, 51(1),
68-80
Bastaits,
K., & Pasteels, I. (2019). Is joint physical custody in the best interests
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