"Out of Home Care"
- Details
- Category: Uncategorised
- Created: Monday, 12 March 2012 23:30
- Written by Alecomm2
Ms MELANIE GIBBONS: My question is addressed to the Minister for Family and Community Services, and Minister for Women. How is the Government working to improve the lives of the State's most vulnerable children?
Ms PRU GOWARD: I thank the member for Menai for her question and for her abiding interest in this topic. What a pity the question on out-of-home-care reforms was not asked by the member for Canterbury, who thinks it is more important to ask question No. 17 of the Minister for Tourism, Major Events, Hospitality and Racing. The reforms were introduced by the former Government with support from the then Coalition Opposition. We are embarking upon a reform that was too hard for the former Government. I am very pleased today to add to the list of reforms that have begun and that have been achieved by the current Government in its first term and in its first year. This Government inherited Labor's dysfunctional out-of-home care system. Its dysfunctionality was observed by many reporters and commentators. It was inequitable and financially unsustainable, and the outcomes for many children and young people in the system were often poor and tragic.
Today I am pleased to announce we have made significant progress towards meeting our election commitment to transfer out-of-home care to non-government organisations, as recommended by Justice James Wood and, at that time, as supported by the then Labor Government. The transfer began on 1 March. In less than a year the current New South Wales Government has done what Labor failed to do in 16 years. Thirty-five non-government organisations have agreed to reform arrangements covering 96.4 per cent of current contracted placements. This sets up New South Wales and its children for a better system in which non-government organisations manage all children and young people in statutory care.
New, improved and, I would say, sustainable arrangements have been agreed to, including innovative incentives for better outcomes, such as adoption. We are also inviting tenders from new as well as existing non-government organisations to help grow the capacity of the whole system, including out-of-home care in New South Wales. The reform is about improving services. It is about putting children and young people at the centre of the reforms. As Justice Wood said, non-government organisations are more nimble, and Community Services should instead be focused on its performance in relation to its key statutory responsibility—the protection of children at risk of significant harm. Between 2004-05 and 2010-11 under Labor, out-of-home care expenditure increased by approximately 15 per cent a year—from $304 million to an amount that was anticipated to reach approximately $700 million.
Each year, the number of children and young people who were entering out-of-home care continued to increase. There were enormous inconsistencies in unit costs from one non-government organisation to the next for placements, and they were not transparent. I advise the House that the Labor Government was formerly paying non-government organisations between $37,000 and $52,000 for the same funded non-emergency general foster carer service, and between $135,000 and—wait for this—$446,000 for funded non-emergency intensive residential care services. Is that fair? Is that sensible? Clearly it is not. That was extremely expensive, but they did not need to be treated differently, depending on which way the coin fell that day. That was what happened under Labor. Extremely expensive so-called emergency placements, which were individually tailored agreements, were used rather than program-funded places. Why was it acceptable that children with similar needs received varying levels of care at such different prices?
Dr Andrew McDonald: It's called emergency.
Ms PRU GOWARD: No, it was not emergency placement. This was ongoing care dressed up as emergency service. It was inequitable, it was unfair and it was simply unsustainable—it was not a system this Government was prepared to allow to continue. As of 1 March, we have a fairer system. I refer to the introduction of uniform price contracts for all out-of-home care placement types. The dramatic differences in placement unit costs and the use of individual client agreements for placements were key drivers in the soaring cost of out-of-home care. At the core of the out-of-home-care system today are wonderful carers who open their hearts and their homes to children and young people. Respect for carers is important and will be maintained. Individual non-government agencies may well work differently with carers from the way they worked in the past. After all, this is all about encouraging the very best from each non-government organisation. Each non-government agency will continue to determine how best to respond to the needs of a child within the framework and funding package. (Source : http://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/prod/parlment/hansart.nsf/V3Key/LA20120313025?open&refNavID=HA8_1)
