More Than Our Childhoods Project

Guest Post: Dee Michell, Research Team Member, More Than Our Childhoods project

A new project focused on centering the voices of people who were in care and telling their own stories has been launched.

“Care Leaver Activism & Advocacy: From Deficit Models To Survivor Narratives—takes a multi-strand approach to promoting new histories that represent the diverse ways in which Care Leavers have defied negative expectations and campaigned for recognition.”

www.morethanourchildhoods.org

The project’s focus includes political activism, primarily the achievements of activists since the 1990s such as formal inquiries and apologies from state and federal governments and non-government agencies.

Negative stereotypes and stigma experienced by people who were in care continue to persist, despite their significant achievements. Another ‘strand’ of the project will aim to understand and explain the historical reasons for and ongoing implications of those stereotypes, and why “deficit-based narratives” persevere.

Thirdly, the project will show how people who experienced care have devised solutions to these problems, demonstrating the resourcefulness, ability and potential that exists in this community, despite the stigma and associated barriers that get in their way.

The project team are keen to hear from people who have been in Out-of-Home Care (OOCH) – living away from birth family in foster care, kinship care or some sort of residential care arrangement—to form part of a historical record on their website, More Than Our Childhoods. 

Short stories, or biographies, will be posted online and accessible to people all over the world. You can send the research team your story in written, audio or video form, or a member of the research team can interview you and create a short story from that interview. 

All stories from people who experienced care are welcome, including those from activists who have been involved in advocating for change or calling for state and federal government inquiries and redress 

If you would like to be involved, or for more information, please contact: https://www.morethanourchildhoods.org/contact/