Progress in 2016–17 Upcoming in 2017–18 Introduced mandatory drug testing for parents who work voluntarily with the department to meet their child’s care needs to enable better decisions about potential risk of harm to the child Established seven new family group meeting coordinators and a new collaborative family decision-making (CFDM) model to ensure more inclusive planning and with families in the child protection system Released an options paper for the second stage of statewide public consultations on the review of the Child Protection Act 1999 Developed the resource Information kit on child protection for parents to provide parents with information about their rights, investigation and case management processes, court proceedings, how to make a complaint, and where to find support Embedded the key elements and tools of the Framework for Practice through ongoing training to improve child protection assessment and family engagement, delivering better engagement and outcomes for vulnerable children and families in need Enhanced the response to child protection notifications through establishing a new service response, Assessment and Service Connect (ASC), which partners with non- government services to assess a family’s needs and connect them to support Trial joint response teams with child safety officers and child protection police in Toowoomba, Townsville and the Gold Coast to ensure rapid responses where there are concerns about the welfare of a child Station four child safety officers at Police Headquarters to improve and streamline information sharing Establish a new child safety service centre in Morayfield to meet increasing demand across the region Pilot six family recovery units in Logan, in partnership with Lives Lived Well, to support families involved with the child protection system to overcome ice issues so they can stay together or reunite Establish a practice leader for alcohol and other drugs and practice leader for mental health to work with staff to strengthen departmental skills, resources and knowledge as they relate to child protection practice Finalise the full review of the Child Protection Act 1999 and develop contemporary legislation to better support the child protection and family support reform program and Our Way and its first three-year action plan Progress priority legislative amendments that aim to achieve stability and permanency for children and young people in care and
Performance snapshot 42%of all children in out-of-home care are Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children, compared to 39%in 2013 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children are disproportionately represented in the tertiary child protection system, and this continues to increase. More Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children are placed with kin, increasing from 36%to 43% (30 June 2013 to 30 June 2017) Our Way calls for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children in out-of-home care to be placed with kin, and enabled to reconnect or reunify with their family. This has been supported by a 12% increase in the number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander carers. Establish 20 Aboriginal and 15% increase in the number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children subject to child protection orders and24% increase in Intervention with Parental Agreement (30 June 2013 to 30 June 2017) We are working more closely with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families to protect and care for their children at home. $1.5M over three years to implement the First 1000 Days Australia initiative to give Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children 1000 the best start in life of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children subject to child protection orders have a case plan, and Torres Strait Islander Family Wellbeing 95% of children subject to ongoing intervention
© The State of Queensland (Department of Communities, Child Safety and Disability Services) 2017 Copyright protects this publication. Excerpts may be reproduced with acknowledgement of the State of Queensland (Department of Communities, Child Safety and Disability Services). Department of Communities, Child Safety and Disability Services GPO Box 806, Brisbane QLD 4001