Hidden in plain sight: A policy position for the involvement of extended family with family support services

This study provides a strengths based policy position that emphasizes engaging the extended family of children in the child protection system. It offers significant change by placing a high value on relationships, moving away from bureaucratic and risk-averse interventions. The intention is to promote child safety and wellbeing by supporting strong relationships between children, parents and their extended family. The same workers stay involved with the family across different child protection phases, and form collaborative, active working relationships with all family members. The study also extended the traditional Policy Delphi method, and advances the definition of evidence-informed policy development.