Office of the
Guardian for
Children and
Young People
The Office of the Guardian for
Children and Young People advocates
for and promotes the best interests
of young people and children under
the guardianship or custody of the
Minister.
In this edition >
Letter from
the Guardian . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
What’s been done . .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .3
Aboriginal culture and
connection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4
A place to call home for
children in state care Home-based care. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Having a Say. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .6
february 2017
NEWSLETTER
GPO Box 2281, Adelaide, South Australia, 5001
email [email protected]
website www.gcyp.sa.gov.au
72 endorsing organisations!
404 Charter Champions!
T
he release of the 2016 revision
of the Charter of Rights for
Children in Care and re-endorsement by
organisations has been a great success.
‘It’s not about the numbers of course but
it’s been really exciting and satisfying to
see how agencies working with children in
care have responded to the revised Charter
of Rights for Children and Young People,’ said
Charter Coordinator Nicole Pilkington.
‘Every organisation that has endorsed the
Charter has now been through the full
endorsement process and aligned their values
and practices with the 37 rights in the new
Charter.
‘I had some fascinating conversations and found
out about the work of some great organisations
as we worked through the endorsement process
since May last year.
‘It is encouraging to know that we have more
than 400 champions of the rights of young
people seeded throughout the child
protection and out of home care
system. Being so close to the
action, Charter Champions
are great sources of ideas and
feedback at a time when child
protection is gearing up for such
profound changes.
‘We are also fully stocked with the new
posters, booklets, contact cards and
other materials that reflect the revised
Charter,’ she said.
Organisations that have endorsed the Charter
can order the materials free of charge for
distribution to children in state care through
the requesting materials page of the Guardian’s
website.
Children and young people in care have the right to feel good about themselves.
Letter from the Guardian for
Children and Young People
Anyone who knows me will tell you that I love statistics.
‘Without data you are just another person with an opinion’ – W. E. Deming *
So it was with growing unease that we dutifully recorded each month over the last
few years the steady growth in the numbers of children and young people being
placed by the state into so-called ‘emergency care’.
In emergency care children are looked after in temporary accommodation by rotating
shifts of workers with minimal training, provided mostly by commercial companies.
In the popular shorthand they have become known as ‘kids in motels’ although their
ages vary and the places in which they reside include bed and breakfasts, caravan
parks and short-term rentals.
We have frequently reported, and Commissioner Nyland’s investigations reached
the same conclusion, that emergency care is very unsuitable for children. It does not
and cannot support their psychological needs and social development and potentially
places them at greater risk of abuse.
Amanda Shaw
Guardian
There are now nearly 200 children and young people living under such arrangements
so we need to get the numbers down - yes?
Well, yes – but with a very strong proviso.
“A placement in home-based
or residential care must have
the best chance to make them
feel safe, secure, accepted and
support them to reach their full
potential.”
Finding a suitable alternative placement is much more than just finding a bed. In
a complex calculation, the child or young person’s age, gender, cultural identity,
maturity, previous experiences, psychological state, personality and disabilities all
form part of the planning. A placement in home-based or residential care must have
the best chance to make them feel safe, secure, accepted and support them to reach
their full potential. As well, a good placement has to consider not just the best for the
child or young person being placed but, equally importantly, what is in the interests
of those who already live in that placement.
Getting this right has consequences for the safety, happiness and wellbeing of the
children and young people being placed, not just now but for the future and perhaps
for the rest of their lives.
In the past we have seen efforts to ‘get the numbers down’ lead to children being
placed into unsuitable home-based or residential care placements. They were often
hastily planned and executed, poorly matched and ignored the views of the children.
We need to acknowledge the community and media pressure on the new Department
to ‘get the numbers down’ but the safety, wellbeing and interests of children and
young people must come first. A number of matters coming before the Office’s
Advocates recently have raised my concern that an emphasis on ‘getting the numbers
down’ is once again coming at the expense of good placement matching. Placement
options are being discussed that appear very unsuitable, that children and young
people do not want and that may place them at risk.
There is also some evidence that children and young people in settled circumstances
are being shuffled among the residential care houses in order to create places.
There is a dilemma in taking action for the greater good – making more placements
within the same resources available – while not losing sight of the individual’s rights,
wellbeing and, importantly, their voice.
South Australia already has the highest average number of placement changes per
child in Australia and we have previously documented the negative effects of forced
placements changes in reports and in young people’s own words.
There is no shortcut to creating suitable quality care placements in foster care,
relative care and residential care. It will take time, resources and sustained effort but
creating suitable alternatives is the only acceptable way to reduce the numbers in
emergency accommodation.
In the end it will be the stories of the children and young people behind the statistics
that will be the evidence of our success or failure.
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2
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* William Edwards Deming was a notable American management innovator and champion of
evidence-based decision making. Wikipedia
Newsletter of the Office of the Guardian for Children and Young People February 2017
What’s been done
September 2016 – February 2017
I
n preparation for the Government’s response to The life they deserve, Child
Protection Systems Royal Commission Report, the Office regularly released concise
summaries of issues and recommendations on major themes identified as priorities for
children and young people in care. Immediately prior to the Government’s response,
the Office released a consolidated Child protection reform checklist.
We continue to receive applications from agencies – government, non-government
and private - to endorse the revised Charter of Rights for Children and Young People in
Care. To date, 72 agencies have endorsed the revised Charter, and an additional six
have commenced the endorsement process. There are now 404 Charter Champions.
The Office submitted a comprehensive response to the Children and Young People
(Oversight and Advocacy Bodies) Bill 2015 and worked in collaboration with a number
of agencies to successfully effect changes prior to it becoming legislation. The Office
also submitted a response to the draft Children and Young People (Safety) Bill 2016
that is intended to replace the Children’s Protection Act 1993.
The Office’s report The circumstances of children and young people in care, a report
on the 2015-2016 Audit of Annual Reviews was released. This provides some factual
balance to the reported stories of crises in child protection and out of home care. It
is written from the ‘auditor’s’ point of view and includes the participation of children,
placement stability, allocation to caseworker and use of Individual Education Plans
In the second half of 2016, the Office received 122 requests for intervention about
children under guardianship, involving 166 children. The Senior Advocate audited 31
annual reviews and the Advocates made 10 official visits to residential or youth justice
units. The Office’s ability to undertake more audits of annual reviews and monitoring
visits was reduced by the continuing demand in and protraction of complex
individual advocacy.
The GCYP welcomed the return of Kendall Crowe to the staff team as a Senior
Policy Officer and commenced recruitment for a new position, Assessment and
Referral Officer, and a temporary vacancy for the role of Senior Advocate.
In February we farewelled Tony Minniecon who returned to Child and Youth Mental
Health Service. Our warm thanks to Tony for his great contribution to the life and
work of the Office.
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Children and young people in care have the right to live somewhere they are safe and cared for
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3
Aboriginal culture and connection
… some Aboriginal children need to reside with non-Aboriginal carers. Supporting the cultural needs
of these children is not tokenistic, but profoundly important...
Margaret Nyland 1
W
1 The
life they deserve: Child Protection
Systems Royal Commission Report, Volume 1:
Summary and Report(Government of South
Australia, 2016) available at http://www.agd.
sa.gov.au/child-protection-systems-royalcommission
2 For this article, where we use the term Aboriginal we shall take it to include Aboriginal
and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
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4
hen Advocates from the Guardian’s Office start monitoring residential care facilities
for children and young people in state care in 2017, it will be armed with a new focus
on Aboriginal culture and connection and a new set of tools to complement it. (See the
previous item on the Guardian’s website New indicators focus on Aboriginal 2 culture and
connection.)
‘Our visits to each residential care house are necessarily quite short’, said Senior Advocate
Jodie Evans, ‘and so we try to spend as much time talking and hanging out with the
residents as possible.’
‘Reviewing the records of the house before we visit gives us some valuable data and insights
into how things are going at the house.
‘Sometimes you can talk with young people about their Aboriginal culture and connections
quite freely but for many it can be a sensitive and private subject and not something readily
shared with a relative stranger.
‘The really important thing is not that they have those conversations with us but that they
are having those conversations with someone and that their needs and wishes are being acted
on.
‘How well this is being done can be hard to verify in the relatively short time that our
Advocates have to visit.
‘Sometimes as an Advocate you can just look around – is there Aboriginal artwork on the
walls, pictures of Aboriginal performers and athletes and music and TV shows featuring
Aboriginal talent. This can be one indication of honouring and nurturing a resident’s
Aboriginal identity.
A
‘ nother is the keeping of an Aboriginal Life Story Book and a memory box, which, if it’s
done well and with the full involvement of the young person, can show that that the house
is making an effort to nurture their Aboriginal culture.
‘Likewise, Advocates will look for evidence of participation, not only in activities linked to
popular Aboriginal events such as NAIDOC Week, but also of efforts to link the Aboriginal
resident to communities that share personal connections, language and cultural ties.
‘For some young people, a visit to country, their community and their culture is invaluable in
developing their Aboriginal identity. We know that to do it well requires a great investment
of effort and cooperation but to have done so is powerful evidence to an Advocate of serious
commitment to meeting residents’ cultural needs.
‘We know that residential care staff cannot do this work alone. Without receiving the
information held by others and the practical support from others, their best efforts will be
seriously limited. Our Advocates will be looking for evidence of an active involvement of
other professionals such as case workers, Principal Aboriginal Consultants and teachers.
‘We will also be looking out for the use of the new Aboriginal Cultural Identity Support
Tool. The in-depth information captured by the tool, if it is passed on sensitively, can be
invaluable in helping residential care houses to best direct their efforts in rebuilding and
strengthening connections to culture for their Aboriginal residents.
‘We are looking forward to getting out and among the young people and staff in residential
care this year and especially to finding and sharing examples of good cultural support.
A
‘ nd also, around the middle of the year, taking a good look at how effective our monitoring
has been in supporting real improvement in the provision of cultural support to young
Aboriginal residents,’ she said.
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Children and young people in care have the right to get the help they want and need.
A place to call home for children in state care –
Home-based care
One of the greatest issues facing us when we remove children from
their birth families is finding safe, stable and nurturing homes in
which they can live.
I
n South Australia, children are cared for under three main
systems, home based care (which includes foster care and
kinship care), residential care and emergency care.
In this article, we will look at home-based care; what
Commissioner Nyland recommended in her report and how
the Government is responding.
Foster care
Home-based care is thought by most authorities and
researchers to be the best option for most of the children
placed into state care. In recent years, however, the supply of
families willing to foster children has not been able to keep
up with the increasing numbers coming into care. Changes
in society in Australia and in similar countries around the
world have meant that there are fewer families willing or able
to foster children.
In her report, Commissioner Nyland was persuaded that the
poor treatment of foster carers by staff of the then Families
SA, lack of clarity about roles and a lack of support for foster
carers have dissuaded families continuing or becoming foster
carers.
Commissioner Nyland made a range of recommendations
designed to improve the skills, remuneration, support, rights
and voice of foster carers, most of which were accepted or
accepted in-principle by the Government in December 2016.
These are the major changes.
• Induction training for foster carers is to be changed to
include material on managing trauma-related behaviours
and on the types of support available (R112) and will
include input from agency staff, children and existing
carers in foster carers (R113). For consistency, all foster
carer training will be co-ordinated by the Child and Family
Welfare Association (R125).
• Advocacy organisation Connecting Foster Carers will be
funded to provide advocacy services for foster carers (R115)
and to develop new materials making clear foster carers’
rights (R116).
• A system for resolving carer complaints will be set
up (R127) and there will be a revised process within
the Department to ensure that proper consideration
is given to the removal of children from long-term
placements, though this is not the independent panel that
Commissioner Nyland recommended (R118).
• The right of approved carers to have access to information
about the children they care for will be guaranteed in the
new child safety legislation (R98).
• The role of the NGOs that provide support for carers
will be clarified (R115) and those organisations will be
reimbursed more consistently (R115). The Child and Family
Welfare Association will be contracted to coordinate
respite services for carers (R126).
• Placements that are
at
risk or under stress will
be guaranteed access to
therapeutic support (R84).
• The Government
has also supported
a
number of recommendations
leading to a more flexible
tiered model of foster care. Remuneration rates and
structures will be reviewed (R119). Foster carers will be
able to change support agencies (R121) and to develop their
skills and increase remuneration (R120) in line with the
changing needs of the children they care for.
• Pre-empting the formal response, a handbook
documenting carers support payments has been produced
and is publicly available (R123).
Kinship care
Kinship care has grown rapidly in recent years and it
was popular within Families SA because it promised an
alternative to the declining numbers of foster placements
available. It also offered the opportunity for children to
maintain family connections, including recognising the
significance of cultural connections for Aboriginal children
coming into care.
As Commissioner Nyland revealed, though, the rush into
kinship care has meant a lack of careful screening of many
care placements and the lack of ongoing support to kinship
carers once placements are started. Many children placed
under fast-track interim registration processes have not had
their situations reviewed. The result has been an increase in
unsuitable and, at times, unsafe placements and increased the
number of placement breakdowns.
The breakdown of home-based placements is not just
a numerical problem for the system. Each breakdown
represents a significant crisis in the life of children who are
frequently already traumatised.
The Government has accepted the need for a complete
overhaul and expansion of kinship care assessment processes,
resources and tools to improve speed and efficiency of their
response (R104,R105,R106). As part of this, there will be
developed or purchased a new tool to assess the safety and
appropriateness of prospective kinship placements (R103).
A backlog team is promised within the Department to review
the placements of children who were placed under interim
registration processes and not reviewed within the required
three-month period (R109).
The Government has not accepted the recommendation to
outsource to NGOs kinship care recruitment and support as
is done with foster care, keeping it within the Department
instead (R102).
Look for parts 2 and 3 of this article in which we discuss residential
care and emergency care on our website or in our Information
Service briefings.
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Children and young people in care should have the best services.
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5
Having a Say
On 5 January 2017, three young
people and their mentors met
with Guardian Amanda Shaw and
Advocate Michelle Hopkins. Here are
some of the things the young people
said in discussion.1
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1 We will have a full report in the Having a Say consultation report later this year.
2 This was written down by one participant . In a side conversation she said that she felt ‘invisible’
when she was not given the opportunity to have a say about her thoughts and feelings.
6
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Office of the Guardian for Children and Young People, GPO Box 2281, Adelaide, South Australia, 5001 email [email protected]