"Shocking blowout for children in crisis"
- Details
- Category: Uncategorised
- Created: Wednesday, 12 March 2014 13:06
- Written by James Campbell, Matt Johnston - Herald Sun
A SECRET government document has lifted the lid on a litany of abuse, missing children, bungles and delays that have left Victoria's child protection system in crisis.
The Department of Human Services quarterly report, obtained by the Herald Sun, reveals more than 300 children and teenagers in care disappeared last year in dangerous circumstances.
The explosive report, which will put Community Services Minister Mary Wooldridge under increasing pressure, also reveals:
DHS is failing to meet its targets in allocating child protection cases;
ALMOST a third of non-emergency cases of suspected child abuse are going uninvestigated for more than two weeks;
JUNIOR case workers are regularly going without supervision;
ALMOST 15 per cent of child protection workers quit in the last six months of 2013.
The report also shows that on two occasions criminal checks of kinship carers were not done.
As well as failing to meet the targets, the report reveals that children in care were involved in more than 1000 "category one" incidents - incidents that can result in serious outcomes such as a severe trauma or death - were reported between June and December last year.
And in the past six months, the department allowed 16 children's protection orders in court to lapse.
The size of the job workers are battling to deal with is also revealed, with 39,193 child protection reports received in that six-month period.
The revelations come after the Herald Sun revealed gangs were targeting vulnerable children in care to use for sex, often in exchange for drugs and phones.
In a worrying predicament for embattled Community Services Minister Mary Wooldridge, Commissioner for Children and Young People Bernie Geary told the Herald Sun that last month he had begun an investigation into sexual exploitation of children in residential care after his office was made aware of a number of "alarming incidents".
Yesterday in Parliament, Ms Wooldridge evaded a question from Opposition Leader Daniel Andrews about why she didn't inform Mr Geary of paedophile gangs targeting children in residential care.
Ms Wooldridge said the Government was working hard to improve child protection of vulnerable children and the delivery of child protection and out-of home care services.
"Comprehensive reporting and data analysis was initiated by the Coalition Government so that we have a clear picture how the department is performing, where the pressures are, and where the resources need to be directed," she said.
"In 2012-13 in terms of sexual exploitation, sexual assault, indecent assault and rape, there were 189 cases that were reported as category one cases, and that is down from 202," she said.
Mr Geary said his office had opened an investigation after troubling cases of deviants using technology to lure vulnerable children and target their friends or housemates.
CHILD PROTECTION CARER BASHED, STRIPPED AND HELD PRISONER
A CHILD protection worker was beaten, stripped and held prisoner for several hours by two teenagers in care last year in a case that experts say shows two staff members should always be on duty in the state's residential care units.
The incident, which took place one night in September in Melbourne's west, left the woman's body covered in bruises and scratches, while the teenage boy and girl responsible are currently on bail awaiting sentence at the Children's Court.
In another incident in Dandenong last year, two teenage boys held a blanket over the head of a child protection worker and beat him with kitchen implements so badly that he required treatment at hospital. The teens then took off in the worker's car.
The reports come as the Herald Sun can reveal nearly 15 per cent of child protection workers quit their jobs in the last six months of 2013.
A senior child protection manager told the Herald Sun the case in Melbourne's west was a "textbook example" of why two workers need to be rostered on in the state's residential units.
Yesterday, the peak body for the child and family services called on the Government to immediately ensure that change was made.
Centre for Excellence in Child and Family Welfare CEO Deb Tsorbaris said at present half the children in residential care lived in units with only one staff member.
"This issue has been raised by the Centre with the Department of Human Services on numerous occasions," she said.
"With new social media applications such as Whatsapp and Snapchat providing opportunities for paedophiles to have easy access to images and chats with young people in State care, it's vital we improve standard of supervision and support in residential care."
Her concerns were echoed by Commissioner for Children and Young People Bernie Geary, who said: "If a child doesn't come home, and no one goes looking for them, that's wrong."
Mr Geary said he had proposed a Community Visitor Scheme for Victorian residential care homes to provide a network of volunteers to talk to vulnerable kids and boost interactions.
"They are people from the community who visit, we have got them in disability care - even in prisons," he said. (Source : http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/victoria/shocking-blowout-for-children-in-crisis/story-fni0fit3-1226853022823?sv=f31f34e2722f0a9545da4031443de42f#.UyPVNbAfKM4.facebook)
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