A NEW program dedicated to finding family placements for children and young people in residential care has been launched.
The Finding Families program brings together a team of seven senior placement officers dedicated to identifying safe, secure and sustainable family placements with kin or community, for children and young people currently living in residential care.
Recent data showed 85 per cent of children and young people live in family-based care, while 15 per cent of children in the child protection system are in residential care.
The program will initially be trialled over 12 months, and aims to give more children and young people in contact with the child protection and family support system an opportunity to grow up in a nurturing and loving environment with their kin or community.
It is well-evidenced that children and young people who grow up in a family environment, experience significantly better life outcomes than those children and young people living in long-term residential care.
Children aged 10 and under, including sibling groups, as well as Aboriginal children and young people who are over-represented in the child protection and family support system will be prioritised through the program.
The program will be made up of three teams including a general team, an Aboriginal-specific partnership with KWY Aboriginal Corporation to work with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children, young people and families and staff with multicultural expertise focused on children from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds.
KWY Aboriginal Corporation will lead the work for Aboriginal children and young people alongside local Aboriginal organisations around the state.
Marketing and communications coordinator at ac.care Brett Kennedy said ac.care will work with the Department of Child Protection to better support children in care.
“DCP case managers and the new program team will work with ac.care’s residential care staff as part of a broader care team to identify and refer children and young people to Finding Families,” he said.
“The hope is to find family placements with kin or community, for children and young people currently living in residential care.”
Travelling across the state, or even country, to find family or community who are suitable and willing to take on the child or young person’s care will be part of the Finding Families program.
The program will then look to support the carers to ensure the placement is successful.
Outcomes will be evaluated at the end of the 12 month trial of the program.
The program sits alongside the $13.4m State Government investment into additional Family Group Conferencing announced through the 2023/2024 State Budget.
Minister for child protection Katrine Hildyard said through the Finding Families program, all possible options for safely keeping young people connected to family will be explored.
“All children and young people deserve to grow up in an environment where they feel loved, supported and nurtured, and have opportunities to thrive and reach their potential,” she said.
“Finding Families will focus on doing just that. It is an innovative new program which dedicates staff resources to the sole purpose of identifying family-based placements for children and young people currently living in residential care.”
She stressed the importance of Aboriginal children being connected to family, culture, country and community and said the program will focus on giving more Aboriginal children and young people an opportunity to connect with and be cared for by their family and community.
“Importantly, there will be teams dedicated to working with Aboriginal and multicultural families, with a strong and clear focus on ensuring cultural factors are considered when finding family-based placements for children,” Hildyard said.
