"Who cares" : the impact of carer trauma and resilience profiles on capacity to support young people with complex support needs

The focus of the study was the investigation of the psychological profile of carers engaged in the support of young people with complex needs in the OOHC settings in NSW. Specifically, the study assessed the relationship between primary trauma, resilience and expectations, and how these factors impact on aspects of capacity to care. The study builds on the work of practitioners and researchers exploring the support required to facilitate trauma recovery, the impact of vicarious trauma, the nature of resilience and aspects of carer capacity; but currently stands as unique in its particular focus on the psychological profile of direct carers. The study used a mixed methods model, and was divided into two major sub-projects, including the administration of three normed psychological scales, and carer interviews delivering both qualitative and quantitative data. A total of 125 participants were involved representing foster carers, birth relatives or kinship carers, and paid staff carers, with one third (34) of the sample identified as Aboriginal. The key finding of the study has been the discovery of a profile of the OOHC carer population as one that reflects a significant experience of primary trauma, while also reporting positive resilience. The study also discovered that the carer sample as a whole held expectations that tend to under-estimate the support needs of the children and young people they cared for, and that variations in carer expectations appeared driven most by carer type. It was found that Aboriginal carers shared the identified psychological features of the broader sample. This research has begun to address the ‘gap’ in the established literature related to knowledge of the psychological features of the carers, and how this links to capacity to care. The findings highlight both the vulnerabilities and strengths of carers who are charged with looking after the most distressed and challenging children and young people in our community