Page 3152 - Week 11 - Tuesday, 9 November 2021
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Placement types within out of home care continue to remain relatively stable, with the majority of children and young people in kinship care placements as at 30 June 2021. At 30 June 2021, 12 per cent of carer households with a current placement had at least one carer who identifies as Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander.
The number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children in the care of the director-general with a cultural care plan in place has declined. As at 30 June, 158 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and young people had a cultural plan in place—80 per cent—compared to 180, or 87 per cent, for the same period in the previous year. In considering the decline, it is important to note that the snapshot report counts cultural plans only when they have been lodged as part of a child or young person’s annual review, and any cultural plans that are in development are not included.
We continue to support children, young people and their families through prevention services, with a renewed focus on supporting families with complex needs to prevent entry and/or re-entry to care.
Over the life of the A Step Up for Our Kids strategy from January 2016 to 30 June 2021, 620 children and young people have received 705 episodes of service from Uniting preservation services. Thirty-one per cent of children and young people receiving these preservation services identified as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander. For these Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and young people who received Uniting preservation services, 88 per cent had not entered care three months after commencement and 64 per cent had not entered out of home care 24 months after the commencement of service.
As shown by the figures reported in the snapshot report, over-representation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and young people in out of home care continues to require a focused effort to reduce entry into care. Equally important is the need to ensure that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and young people remain connected to their family, kin and country. The Community Services Directorate cultural review panel is now meeting fortnightly to review cultural plans, with any outstanding plans referred to the panel to ensure that cultural needs can be incorporated into individual plans.
In addition to this, further work is being undertaken by the directorate to enhance reporting capabilities and improve automated data-counting rules within the record management system known as the child and youth record information system, CYRIS. This will enable CYRIS to capture cultural plan data more accurately, including plans that are in development, endorsed by the cultural review panel, as well as cultural plans lodged as part of an annual review package.
This continual refinement of data is considered pivotal in the provision of a responsive service system and working to eliminate the over-representation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and young people in care. I commend the reports to the Assembly.
Question resolved in the affirmative.
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