State's foster care under scrutiny

State's foster care under scrutiny

CAROL NADER
March 4, 2010
JUST months after an explosive report revealed failings in the child protection system, state welfare authorities are facing more scrutiny by the Ombudsman, who is believed to have turned his attention to the standards in which children removed from the care of their parents are living.

The Age believes the Ombudsman is investigating the state's out-of-home care system, which includes foster care, kinship care - where children are placed with relatives - and residential units that house four or five traumatised children together.

Sources say the Ombudsman is well into his own-motion investigation and has made inquiries with senior members of the Department of Human Services and people working in not-for-profit welfare organisations that operate some of these services for the state government.

The Age last year ran a series of stories highlighting the problems with residential care units, in which thousands of incidents, including physical and sexual assault, self-harm and substance abuse, occur each year. Some teenagers in residential care also resort to sex work.

Carers have been openly critical about the practice of housing teenagers with traumatic backgrounds together, and there have been concerns that an inappropriate mix in a house can do young people more harm.

There have also been long-running concerns around trying to recruit and retain foster carers, many of whom have complained of not being properly supported by the government and have left the system.

Any report that emerges, possibly within months, is expected to be another blow to the department, which was condemned by the Ombudsman last November for its handling of child protection and for taking a dangerously long time to intervene in some cases where children were being abused.

Nor will it be welcomed by the government, which is facing a state election in November and has recently been damaged by the issue. Last year, Premier John Brumby was forced to admit the state had failed to protect children.

The system is now the subject of unprecedented attention, with a government review by the Victorian Law Reform Commission currently looking at the way in which the Children's Court operates within the child protection system.

http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/states-foster-care-under-scrutiny-20100303-pj11.html