Children of Parents with a Mental Illness > National Resource Centre

Background Information for Mental Health Workers

Access to Information, education and decision-making

The following is a summary of key information for workers in the Mental Health sector taken from the document, 'Principles and Actions For Services and People Working with Children of Parents with a Mental Illness' released in 2004 by the Australian Government Department of Health and Ageing.

Background information relating to the 'Principles and Actions' document can be accessed here.

Promoting Well-being and Reducing Risk

Mental health workers have a key role in:

the identification of the parental role and responsibilities of consumers (including pregnancy) and of parent's strengths and support needs.

the identification of safety, health, developmental, and support needs of children of parents with a mental illness at the time of initial contact and periodically thereafter, particularly at times of key mental health intervention for the parent.

supporting consumers who intend to have children or are pregnant to access early antenatal care and to prepare for the care and support of their baby.

supporting access to advice regarding family planning for people with a mental illness who are contemplating having a child or more children.

promoting the parent-child relationship by encouraging positive attachment experiences.

notifying child protection services if they have formed the belief that a child is at significant risk of neglect or maltreatment.

identifying and reducing behaviours associated with the parent's mental illness, which may negatively impact upon their child's health and wellbeing.

giving due consideration to the parenting role and responsibilities of consumers when planning treatment and rehabilitation.

Support for families and children

Mental health workers can provide support for families by:

examining and responding to the needs of the family as well as of specific members.

recognising family needs and advocating for the provision of ongoing support and monitoring of family preservation.

providing information about local support services and assistance to access these services if necessary.

providing consultation assistance to mainstream parent support agencies to help them support parents with mental illness throughout the life span as the demands of the children change.

advocating for and providing services to assist children of parents with a mental illness to remain well by having access to factors which increase resiliency.

advocating for and providing services and information to assist consumers, carers and families to build on their strengths and implement strategies which increase resiliency and help their children remain well.

advocating for and providing services and information to assist young carers of mentally ill parents to participate in social and leisure activities, education, training and employment at rates approaching those of their peers who do not have caring responsibilities.

assisting parents while they are well to plan with their families for care for the children and management of related family affairs should the parents experience a relapse of their illness and be temporarily unable to care for their children.

Child Protection

Mental health workers are:

required to work collaboratively with other service providers, the nominated child protection case manager and with the consumer's family to develop a safety and monitoring plan for any consumer's child assessed to be at risk of neglect or maltreatment.

Addressing Grief and Loss Issues

Mental health workers (in association with other service providers) can effectively assist family members where a parent has a mental illness to minimise or address feelings of loss and grief by:

working together to implement prevention and early intervention strategies aimed at promoting the child-parent relationship and avoiding child-parent separation.

supporting the right of the child who is separated from one or both parents to maintain personal relations and meaningful contact with both parents on a regular basis except if it has been assessed to be contrary to the child's best interests.

planning for and assisting in the reunification of the parent and child/ren following temporary separation.

offering and maintaining appropriate support to both the parent and child in the event of loss of primary care provision by the parent to the child/ren.

offering strategies to promote and strengthen the child-parent relationship to the parent even if the child is not in their care.

identifying and addressing grief and loss issues of consumers, their partners or other family members/personal support people involved in the care of their children which relate to the parent's mental illness.

Access to information, education and decision-making

Mental health workers have a key role in supporting consumers' children's access to information, education and decision making processes by:

exploring consumers' concerns around issues of confidentiality and discussing the benefits to children of receiving accurate age-appropriate information.

promoting children's access to age-appropriate information about the parent's mental illness, whilst maintaining the right of the consumer to confidentiality.

encouraging consumers to speak with their children about their mental health and illness, and providing resources (e.g. booklets, videos) and support to assist them.

supporting parents to discuss early warning signs of their illness with their older children and/or other supportive adults to ensure they know of appropriate actions to take, especially actions that are protective of very young children.

supporting the involvement of children, where appropriate and with parental consent, in decision-making processes with their parent/s regarding the ongoing care of the consumer and support of the family.

providing or brokering age-appropriate debriefing services where necessary for family members, including children, following a mental health crisis of a parent.

providing opportunities for children to have their questions answered about their own risk of developing a mental illness and any concerns they may have about this on their future lifestyle choices.

ensuring that young people who have major caregiving responsibilities for their parent have access to relevant information about their parent's treatment and involvement in their parents' discharge planning if they are hospitalised.

promoting the parent's insight into their illness and its implications for their family by providing information about diagnosis, prognosis, management and services.