Page 2625 - Week 07 - Thursday, 1 August 2019
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The mid-strategy evaluation report tells us that overall the level of stability provided for children and young people in care has either remained the same or improved since the implementation of the strategy. For those children exiting care after 12 months, 61 per cent in 2016-17 had one or two placements. The number of children aged under 11 years being placed in residential care continued to decrease through the implementation of the strategy to 2017-18. There were no new children aged under 11 years placed in residential care during 2017-18. The report shows an increase in the number of children remaining at home three months after completing prevention services. It also indicates that further work is required to keep children and young people at home six and 12 months after engagement with reunification programs.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children are over-represented at every stage of the child protection and out of home care system. The proportion of children and young people in care who are placed with extended family, their Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community or other Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people has remained stable since the introduction of A step up for our kids. The number of new carers approved each year remained stable. There are more active kinship carer households than foster carer households. This is consistent with the intent of both the strategy and the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander child placement principle.
Whilst the evaluation report identifies that there has been a steady increase in the number of kinship carers and placements with kin as an alternative to placement with foster carers, which is consistent with the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander child placement principle, there is clearly more work to do to reduce the number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and young people coming into care.
I am pleased to say that all agencies funded under the strategy support the Our Booris, Our Way review and look forward to receiving the steering committee’s final report and recommendations. They believe, as I do, that the establishment of the review and delivery of its interim recommendations are important steps to self-determination and meaningful change.
As I have noted, the data contained in the report is up to 30 June 2018. The operational data in more recent quarterly snapshot reports is showing some promising signs, with the rate of new entries coming into care slowing and the proportion of new entries for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and young people falling. Sixty-nine new carers were approved in 2018-19, and there are currently 70 children and young people being supported through prevention services, which is higher than in past years.
As members are aware, the strategy represents a significant investment in the future of our most vulnerable children and young people. The report allows the Community Services Directorate and its partners to consider how the implementation of the reforms can be strengthened moving forward.
The commitment to long-term generational change can only be achieved through a collaborative and sustained effort. While we are in the process of managing a change in the ACT Together consortium due to the recent announcement by Premier Youthworks that it will cease providing residential care services in the ACT as of
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