MINISTER ACCEPTS REVIEW RECOMMENDATIONS

Wednesday, 01 October 2008
A review of child protection practice following a recent case in Geelong has cleared the Department of Human Services of any wrongdoing and found its decision to close the file a year ago was correct.
The report, from the Principal Practitioner, Ms Robyn Miller, also made six recommendations to improve the handling of child protection cases.

Community Services Minster Lisa Neville said today she had accepted all recommendations of the report and they were currently being implemented by DHS.

“This was a valuable report which has shown us several ways to improve our handling of child protection cases and protect Victoria’s most vulnerable children,” Ms Neville said.

“There are always opportunities to improve our system of child protection. The recommendations in this review will help us move towards our goal of a better-integrated child protection and family services system, that focuses on early intervention and support to vulnerable families.

The report found that DHS and family support services involvement with the family had led to sustained positive change while the family remained in Victoria.

The report also found the protocols governing information sharing between states were appropriate and Victoria had fulfilled its obligation under those protocols. Ms Neville said the  issue of information sharing between states is still being examined by State and Federal Governments as part of the COAG process.
 
“DHS Child Protection services will strengthen their focus on cumulative harm to vulnerable children and work more closely with other family services to better serve vulnerable families,” Ms Neville said.

“This focus will include strengthening Case Conferencing which brings together all professionals working with a family, working with all members of a child’s extended family and better planning for vulnerable infants when they are discharged from hospital.”

“Under a new protocol proposed for the Barwon Region, if a family previously known to a Family Support Agency, is reported to Child Protection Agencies they will be fast-tracked back to the agency to ensure that they are assessed more quickly and that the response is appropriate to their needs. We are assessing whether this protocol should be applied across the State.”

“We will also be further enhancing the computer systems used by DHS to better link the files of siblings to help us identify vulnerable families earlier.”

The review also highlighted the benefit of co-located services. DHS are now considering how they can better integrate Child Protection and family services into other community services and facilities including schools.

The Brumby Government is bedding down major reform to Victoria’s child protection and family services sector. This has included introducing new legislation; providing earlier support for vulnerable families and children; establishing the Office of the Child Safety Commissioner and the ongoing rollout of ChildFIRST across the state.

There are currently 17 ChildFIRST sites, with another seven – enough to cover the entire state – to be opened in the first half of next year.

The recent State budget also included $39.3 million for improving services to children in care, including extra funding for foster and kinship carers. The Government has increased funding for child protection and family services by 110 per cent since 1999.

Ms Miller’s review involved a full examination of case files relating to DHS’s involvement with the family, as well as interviews with the wide range of health and education professionals and members of the community who were involved with them.

“I want to thank Robyn Miller for the thorough review she conducted. Her recommendations are being actively implemented by the Department of Human Services,” Ms Neville said.

Privacy concerns and the fact that elements relating to this case are subject to legal proceedings in South Australia mean DHS is unable to release the report in full or comment in detail.