Page 1289 - Week 04 - Wednesday, 3 April 2019
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Children and young people—out of home care
MS ORR: My question is to the Minister for Children, Youth and Families: what is the government doing to ensure that the voices of carers are heard in the out of home care system?
MS STEPHEN-SMITH: I thank Ms Orr for her ongoing interest in the role of carers in our out of home care system. The government is committed to hearing the voices of kinship and foster carers in the ongoing implementation of our five-year out of home care strategy, A step up for our kids. Carers play a critical role in delivering trauma-informed care to some of the most vulnerable children and young people in our community.
In 2017 we formalised the role of the carer wellbeing subcommittee within the governance arrangements for A step up for our kids to ensure that kinship and foster carers have a direct role in influencing the implementation of the strategy. The role of this subcommittee is to monitor and report on the wellbeing of carers, advise on strategies to support the role of carers within the strategy and monitor how the strategy impacts on the carer experience. On this subcommittee carer representatives sit alongside representatives from ACT Together, Carers ACT and the Community Services Directorate. The subcommittee reports to the joint governance group which oversees the implementation of A step up for our kids.
In February I had the opportunity to attend a meeting of the subcommittee to discuss the outcomes of the recent carer survey which the group commissioned. The survey provided an opportunity to hear directly from carers about their experiences and the circumstances which make caring either easier or more stressful. More than 200 carers responded to the survey, and I appreciate the time they took to share their views and experiences.
The findings were mixed and certainly point to a number of areas where improvements are required to better support carers in their role, particularly in the area of communication and involvement in decision-making. The carer wellbeing subcommittee and partner agencies across A step up for our kids are committed to addressing the findings of the survey and to improving carers’ experiences and, by extension, the care they offer children and young people.
MS ORR: Minister, What action has the ACT government taken to ensure that carers are supported in their role?
MS STEPHEN-SMITH: I thank Ms Orr for the supplementary. The ACT government is committed to supporting kinship and foster carers in a role that is extremely rewarding but also very challenging. Under A step up for our kids the government has introduced a range of supports, including trauma-informed training for carers and independent carer advocacy through Carers ACT. As I mentioned earlier, the recent carer survey showed that there is more to be done, including better access to clear and timely information as well as support for carers to care for the children and young people they look after.
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