9.4 Assessment of Children and Families from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic Backgrounds

RELEVANT CHAPTERS

This chapter was added in September 2010.

For guidance related to children and families with No Recourse to Public Funds please see Families With No Recourse to Public Funds Procedure.

See Child and Family Assessment – Combined Practice and FWi Guidance.

Introduction and Overview
Domain: Children's Developmental Needs
Domain: Parenting Capacity
Domain: Family and Environmental Factors - Pointers for Practice

1. Introduction and Overview

The following guidance should be read in conjunction with Chapter 2 of Assessing Children in Need and their Families, Practice Guidance (DOH 2000).

The population of England comprises many white ethnic minority groups as well as Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic groups and their differences e.g. in culture/religion have to be taken into account as for other ethnic minority groups. Oppression can also be experienced by these groups and this too needs to be acknowledged and addressed. However, here the focus is on assessments of Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic children in need and their families.

Whilst there are some similarities and parallels in the experiences of black, Asian, minority ethnic and white minorities in Britain there is also a fundamental difference. Institutional racism has resulted in the significant impairment of the life opportunities of Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic people in this country (MacPherson, 1999). For Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic children assessments should address the impact that racism has on a particular child and family and ensure that the assessment process itself does not reinforce racism through racial or cultural stereotyping.

Black, minority ethnic and white children require their parents or carers to respond to their same fundamental care needs. They all need basic care, warmth, stimulation, guidance, boundaries and stability. Any child who grows up without access to these basic life blocks (as a result of poor parental care) will suffer to a greater or lesser extent. The base lines for assessing parenting capacity and the child's developmental needs should be the same irrespective of whether a black, minority ethnic or a white child is being assessed.

2. Domain: Children's Developmental Needs

Health - Pointers for Practice

Assessments of Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic families should take account of the specific health needs of different black/minority ethnic communities and address:

The extent to which the physical health of the child may be affected by adverse social conditions;
The extent to which the child and family have direct access to appropriate advice support and services in relation to their health care needs;
Whether the child or family members may be likely to suffer from sickle cell disorder or other illnesses;
Whether past life experiences or trauma has had any affect on the physical health of the child.

Education - Pointers for Practice

Assessment of Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic children's educational and cognitive development should take account of racism as it may manifest itself within the educational system and address:

Whether the child has had the opportunity to realise their educational potential without the limitations imposed upon them by negative stereotyping;
For an excluded child, the extent to which the exclusion is appropriate in relation to the child's behaviour;
The extent to which the child's parents are consulted about and involved in the child's education.

Identity and motional /Behavioural Development - Pointers for Practice

Identity allows individuals to understand and conceptualise themselves as distinct from others and allows individuals to form group identities with other individuals who have similar characteristics to their own. Race, culture, religion and language are central to group and individual identity. Assessments should to address identity holistically by considering:

Any difficulties which the child may be having in acquiring a positive racial identity, and what help the child requires to enable them do so;
The child's awareness of their own ethnicity and personal, family and community history. Where this is not available, what steps can be taken to obtain such information;
The child's access to a lived experience of their culture, for example, attendance at a wedding, or participation in celebrations which include music, food and traditional rituals will give a child a far more profound and effective sense of their cultural identity than any amount of visual or written material;
The religious and spiritual needs of Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic children and their families - this will require professionals to discuss the family's belief systems religion, rites and traditions and record them routinely;
The identity of disabled Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic children holistically and not as a hierarchy of need, in that being black or minority ethnic gives the child a specific perspective on their disability;
The extent to which the child has the opportunity to learn about and maintain family languages. Where the child has not had this opportunity, what steps can be taken to address this deficiency;
The extent to which a black or minority ethnic disabled child has the opportunity to learn their first language. As some disabled children rely upon other forms of communication apart from the written or spoken work, it is vital that communication with their families is facilitated in a way that accounts for their own modes of communication as well as the family's first language. For example, the basis of British Sign Language is English. Translating BSL into English will facilitate the understanding of English speakers, but for those who speak other languages, further translation is required. Although the provision of interpreters is seen sometimes as a logistical nightmare for social welfare agencies, the ability to communicate and to be understood has to be promoted as a basic human right, without which any attempt at assessment would be impossible.

Family and Social Relationship - Pointers for Practice

Information about family history and cultural heritage are vital not only to the child's sense of personal identity and wellbeing, but also to their sense of group identification, in assessing the child's relationship it is important to consider:

The child's relationships within the context of their wider social networks and connections;
The extent of quality and quantity of information the child has about their own roots and heritage, and how deficiencies in this information can be addressed;
The specific family structure in which the child lives, and the patterns of attachment which operates within this particular black or minority ethnic family including any attachment figures who may not be blood relatives;
The impact of migration, separation and trauma on the child and wider family network.

3. Domain: Parenting Capacity

Basic Care / Ensuring Safety - Pointers for Practice

Issues of race and culture cannot simply be added to a list for separate consideration during an assessment. They are integral to the assessment process. In undertaking assessments of Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic families professionals, should be mindful that;

From referral through to Child and Family Assessment, intervention and planning, race and culture have to be addressed using the Assessment Framework.
Culture can explain the context in which an abusive incident took place, but not the behaviour or action of an individual parent. For example a parent who injures their child with a belt may say that this form of punishment is "cultural". Their cultural context may explain the parents anger within the expectations that he or she has of the child, but will not explain why the parent acted upon this anger by using a belt to hit the child. Other parents from the same culture in a similar context may choose to punish the child without recourse to any physical punishment at all;
Racial and cultural stereotyping of Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic families can lead to inappropriate interventions in families as well as a failure to protect Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic children from abuse.

Racial Abuse and Harassment - Pointers for Practice

Racial abuse damages children both physically and emotionally and as such warrants professional intervention to address the effects of this form of abuse whether it comes from within or outside the family. Assessments should consider:

Whether racial abuse, racial bullying or racial violence impacts on the child or on the wider family;
The extent of support, advice and intervention offered to the family, or the family require, and how this can be provided.

Emotional Warmth - Pointers for Practice

There are differences in the way in which affection and love are shown to children by adults. Some of these will be based on established cultural patterns of behaviour whilst some will be related more to individual, family or social influences. In assessing emotional warmth:

Assessments should take account of such variations, whilst still maintaining consistency in the application of minimum standards of child care;
Professionals need to ensure that base lines are consistent across cultures. It is not acceptable that parents who demonstrate cold and unloving responses to children are able to justify their behaviour on the grounds of cultural differences;
In an extended family or clan family structure the whole family may participate in the parenting of the child, including providing emotional warmth for the child. The parent-child interaction will only be one of many adult-child, child-child interactions which should be addressed in an assessment.

Stimulation - Pointers for Practice

In assessing stimulation in Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic families it is important to recognise that children's learning may be encouraged in a range of ways, and that the trappings of a stimulating environment, such as toys and play equipment are not guarantors of a stimulating environment for children. In assessing families workers should make sense of different practices.
In western societies the concept of childhood is underpinned by the desire to be free of adult responsibilities and to have opportunities for explanation, learning and play. In many Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic families children are not expected to take on adult responsibilities, but they are expected to learn certain skills that will prepare them for adult life. Whilst western values encourage pretend play, many Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic families take pride in teaching children the basics of cooking and child care at quite young ages.

Guidance, Boundaries and Stability - Pointers for Practice

In assessing guidance and boundaries, professionals should understand the context in which these are developed. In undertaking assessments:

Professionals should be aware that Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic families at present perceive child welfare professionals as undermining of Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic communities, particularly in relation to the guidance of and boundaries for young people;
The imposition of a western and individualised model of autonomy and independence is at variance with the values of many Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic families, and it's application in assessment and intervention can destabilise families and family support networks;
Where intergenerational or family conflicts arise in relation to guidance and boundaries, negotiations are necessary to reconcile differences

4. Domain: Family and Environmental Factors - Pointers for Practice

Each of the dimensions identified should not be seen in isolation from each other. For instance, having a large family may not in itself be a problem for any one family but if the family are also experiencing overcrowding and low income it may result in family members experiencing additional stress. Any assessment process should take account of the impact on the family of the various factors interacting with each other.

Family History and Functioning - Pointers for Practice

In assessing Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic families it is important to take account of family size and structure. For instance, a family with three or more children with a low income and poor housing is a family likely to experience hardship. Any assessment process should address the implications of this for families;
Although the fact of a lone parent household in itself may not be an issue for an individual family, a lone parent household with no support networks may impact on family functioning. Furthermore, lone parenthood can have an impact on income and wealth, and in turn can impact on the material wellbeing of children. This should be taken account of in an assessment.
In relation to a child of dual heritage assessments should consider the implications of family arrangements on the child and family. For instance how does living in a white only household impact on the child's position within the family, or how does a single white mother's isolation from her community affect her relationship with her child?
It is important for assessors to understand that the evidence of a higher incidence of lone parenthood amongst Caribbean people does not rule out exploration of the issue of 'visiting' relationships, where the responsibility for care of the children may be shared although the parents may not live together.

Parenting strengths and difficulties - Pointers for Practice

Assessments should inform interventions which build on the strengths of Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic families, whilst ensuring that areas of difficulty or potential risk to the child's safety are identified and addressed appropriately;
An empowerment model of assessment should recognise the life experiences of Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic families, particularly the ability of families to survive and resist a system that is disadvantaging;
Targeted support to address family problems should be based on an understanding of a family's circumstances as the result of the assessment process rather than on the basis of assumptions underpinned by stereotypical beliefs of Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic families.

Wider Family - Pointers for Practice

In assessing and minority ethnic families, practitioners should ascertain from children and family members their perception of who constitutes their wider family and tap into the strengths that may be present in that wider family network.

Housing, Employment and Income - Pointers for Practice

In assessing the needs of children and their families it is important to understand the implications of social and economic context within which families live and more importantly how fears and worries about money, health, education and employment impact on family life;
In assessing Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic families any attempts to disregard the impact of racism on the social and economic context in which Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic families live will result in an assessment which is incomplete.

Families Social Integration - Pointers for Practice

Any assessment with individual Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic families should recognise that although many Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic families gain strength from living amongst their own community, there are individual Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic families whose experience of living amongst Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic people may not necessarily be a positive one. As with the white community, the reasons for any Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic family feeling either isolated or ostracised from the majority community will vary. Whatever the reason it is important to think of the support networks for such families;
Alongside the individual impact which racial abuse and bullying has on children, it is important to consider the impact of racial violence on communities. Fear of abuse or attacks can affect whole ways of life in particular communities which are targeted for such treatment by reducing the freedom of movement of women, children and older people in both the hours of daylight and at night. In such cases local authorities should plan for community safety in a more pro-active and co-ordinated way, using the auspices of children's planning processes and area child protection committees, alongside initiatives to reduce crime and improve safety in the locality.

Community Resources - Pointers for Practice

During the assessment process professionals should ascertain from families what are their perceptions of available community resources what kinds of services would be most helpful to them and how to make statutory sector services appropriate and accessible to them.

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