What is out-home-care(australia)

2024-07-28 作者:

What is out-of-home care?

Out-of-home care refers to the care of children and young people up to 18 years who

are unable to live with their families (often due to child abuse and neglect). It involves

the placement of a child or young person with alternate caregivers on a short- or long-term basis (Victorian Department of Human Services, 2007). Out-of-home care can be

arranged either formally or informally. Informal care refers to arrangements made

without intervention by statutory authorities or courts, and formal care occurs following a

child protection intervention (either by voluntary agreement or a care and protection

court order). This paper will describe those children in out-of-home care in Australia who are on care and protection orders.

1

Types of out-of-home care



Residential care: placement is in a residential building whose purpose is to provide placements for children and where there are paid staff.



Family group homes: homes for children provided by a department or community-sector agency, which have live-in, non-salaried carers who are reimbursed and/or subsidised for the provision of care.



Home-based care: placement is in the home of a carer who is reimbursed for

expenses for the care of the child. There are three categories of home-based care: relative or kinship care, foster care and other home-based out-of-home care.





Independent living: includes private board and lead tenant households.

Other: placements that do not fit into the above categories and unknown placement

types. This may include boarding schools, hospital, hotels/motels and the defence forces.

Source: Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW), 2015, p. 46.

The National Framework for Protecting Australia's Children 2009-2020(link is

external) (Council of Australian Governments [COAG], 2009) noted that out-of-home

care is a last resort for keeping children safe. Supporting children within their family is

the preferred option. Where the home environment is not safe enough for children and

they have to be placed in out-of-home care, the focus is on providing children with safety,

stability and a sense of security. Importantly, the Framework noted that while the need

for carers to provide quality out-of-home care for children is rising, the availability of such carers appears to be decreasing.

1

/cfca/publications/children-care

How many children live in out-of-home care in Australia?

The most recent statistics from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW,

2015) show that, as of 30 June 2014, there were 43,009 Australian children living in out-of-home care. This has increased from 7.7/1,000 children at 30 June 2013 to 8.1/1,000

children at 30 June 2014. Table 1 shows the number of children in Australia admitted to out-of-home care, by age group, in each state and territory during 2013-14.

Table 1: Children admitted to out-of-home care by age group, states and territories, during 2013-14

Age

(years)

NSW

Vic.

Qld

WA

SA

Tas.

ACT

NT

Total

Number

<1

674 520 426 235 102 37 39 63 2,096

1-4

875 822 542 283 93 60 47 106 2,828

5-9

816 761 515 261 113 60 46 82 2,654

10-14

646 718 505 234 92 34 49 107 2,385 Table 1: Children admitted to out-of-home care by age group, states and territories, during 2013-14

Age

(years)

NSW

Vic.

Qld

WA

SA

Tas.

ACT

NT

Total

15-17

237 389 278 87 45 17 33 35 1,121

Unknown

0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1

Total

3,248 3,210 2,266 1,100 445 208 214 394 11,085

Percentage

<1

20.8 16.2 18.8 21.4 22.9 17.8 18.2 16.0 18.9

1-4

26.9 25.6 23.9 25.7 20.9 28.8 22.0 27.0 25.5

5-9

25.1 23.7 22.7 23.7 25.4 28.8 21.5 20.9 23.9 Table 1: Children admitted to out-of-home care by age group, states and territories, during 2013-14

Age

(years)

NSW

Vic.

Qld

WA

SA

Tas.

ACT

NT

Total

10-14

19.9 22.4 22.3 21.3 20.7 16.3 22.9 27.2 21.5

15-17

7.3 12.1 12.3 7.9 10.1 8.2 15.4 8.9 10.1

Total

100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0

Notes: The table includes all children admitted to out-of-home care for the first time, as well as

those children returning to care who had exited care 60 days or more previously. Children

admitted to out-of-home care more than once during the year were only counted at the first

admission. Percentages exclude children of unknown age. Percentages in tables may not add to exactly100.0 due to rounding.

Source: AIHW, 2015, Table A26, p. 95.

The number of children in out-of-home care has risen every year over the past 10 years

(AIHW, 2015). As seen inTable 2, the number of children in out-of-home care increased

by 20% from 30 June 2010 to 30 June 2014. This increase may reflect the cumulative impact of children being admitted to, and remaining in, out-of-home-care.

Table 2: Trends in children aged 0-17 years in out-of-home care, states and territories, 30 June

2010 to 30 June 2014

Year

NSW

Vic.

QLD

WA

a

SA

b

Tas.

ACT

NT

Total

Number

2010

16,175 5,469 7,350 2,737 2,188 893 532 551 35,895

2011

16,740 5,678 7,602 3,120 2,368 966 540 634 37,648

2012

17,192 6,207 7,999 3,400 2,548 1,009 566 700 39,621

2013

17,422 6,542 8,136 3,425 2,657 1,067 558 742 40,549

2014

18,192 7,710 8,185 3,723 2,631 1,054 606 908 43,009

Number per 1,000 children

2010

9.9 4.5 6.9 5.1 6.2 7.6 6.7 8.8 7.1 Table 2: Trends in children aged 0-17 years in out-of-home care, states and territories, 30 June

2010 to 30 June 2014

Year

NSW

Vic.

QLD

WA

a

SA

b

Tas.

ACT

NT

Total

2011

10.2 4.6 7.1 5.7 6.7 8.3 6.7 10.2 7.4

2012

10.4 5.0 7.3 6.1 7.2 8.7 6.9 11.1 7.7

2013

10.4 5.2 7.4 5.9 7.4 9.3 6.7 11.6 7.7

2014

10.8 6.0 7.3 6.3 7.3 9.2 7.1 14.3 8.1

Notes: Some rates may not match those published in previous publications of Child Protection

Australia due to retrospective updates. Rates were calculated using revised population estimates

based on the 2011 Census and should not be compared with rates calculated using populations

or projections based on previous census data, including those published in previous editions

of Child Protection Australia. Refer to tables A47 and S2 for the populations used in the calculation of rates.

a

Data for 20090-10 for Western Australia are not comparable with other years due to the

introduction of a new client information system in March 2010. Proxy data were provided for that year.

b

South Australia could only provide the number of children in out-of-home care where the

Department of Families and Communities is making a financial contribution to the care of a child. Source: AIHW, 2015, Table 5.6, p. 54.

What are the living arrangements of children in out-of-home care?

The AIHW statistics show that 93% of all children living in out-of-home care in Australia are in home-based care. Of that figure, 41% are in foster care, 48.5% are in

relative/kinship care and 3.9% are in other forms of home-based care. A further 6% of

children were placed in alternative living arrangements (see Table 3) (AIHW, 2015). At

30 June 2014, the vast majority of children living in out-of-home-care had been in care

for more than one year. Twelve per cent of children had been in out-of-home-care for

between 1-2 years, 28% had been in care for between 2-5 years, and 41% had been in out-of-home-care for more than 5 years.

Table 3 compares the proportion of children in out-of-home care by living arrangements

for each state and territory. Of children in out-of-home care, Queensland and Northern

Territory had a relatively high proportion in foster care (52% in both jurisdictions), and

New South Wales had a relatively high proportion placed with relatives or kin (55%) compared to other states and territories (AIHW, 2015).

Table 3: Proportion (%) of children in out-of-home care, by living arrangements, states and

territories, as at 30 June 2014

Type of

placement

NSW

(n=

18,192)

Vic

a

(n=

7,710)

Qld

(n=

8,185)

WA

(n=

3,723)

SA

(n=

2,631)

Tas

b

(n=

1,054)

ACT

(n =

606)

NT

c (n =

908)

Total

(n=

43,009)

Foster

care

d

41.5 27.7 51.6 41.6 42.3 38.0 35.1 52.0 41.0

Relatives/kin

d

55.2 50.3 40.4 48.9 44.2 28.7 52.5 1.9 48.5 Table 3: Proportion (%) of children in out-of-home care, by living arrangements, states and

territories, as at 30 June 2014

Type of

placement

NSW

(n=

18,192)

Vic

a

(n=

7,710)

Qld

(n=

8,185)

WA

(n=

3,723)

SA

(n=

2,631)

Tas

b

(n=

1,054)

ACT

(n =

606)

NT

c (n =

908)

Total

(n=

43,009)

Other

home-based care

0.0 14.7 0.0 0.0 0.0 24.2 5.9 28.7 3.9

Total home-based care

96.7 92.7 92.0 90.5 86.5 90.9 93.6 82.6 93.4

Family

group

homes

0.1 0.0 0.0 5.0 - 2.8 0.0 1.0 0.6

Residential

care

2.8 6.7 8.0 4.5 12.7 4.6 6.3 9.9 5.5

Independent living

0.4 0.6 0.0 0.0 0.8 0.1 0.0 0.6 0.3 Table 3: Proportion (%) of children in out-of-home care, by living arrangements, states and

territories, as at 30 June 2014

Type of

placement

NSW

(n=

18,192)

Vic

a

(n=

7,710)

Qld

(n=

8,185)

WA

(n=

3,723)

SA

(n=

2,631)

Tas

b

(n=

1,054)

ACT

(n =

606)

NT

c (n =

908)

Total

(n=

43,009)

Other/unknown

0.1 - 0.0 0.0 - 1.7 0.2 5.9 0.2

Total

100.0 100.0 100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0 100.0

100.0 100.0

Notes: Percentages include children with "other/unknown" living arrangements. Percentages in the table may not add to exactly 100.0 due to rounding.

a

In Victoria, the "foster care" category includes children in permanent care placements. These

placements are different to foster care as they involve granting permanent guardianship and

custody of a child to a third party via a permanent care order. Unlike adoptions, permanent care

orders do not change the legal status of the child and they expire when the child turns 18 or marries.

b

In Tasmania, children under third-party guardianship orders are counted under "Other home-

based care" living arrangements.

c

In the Northern Territory's client information system, the majority of children in a relative/kinship

placement are captured in the "foster care" placement type. Approximately 45% of children in the "foster care" placement type are placed in a relative/kinship household.

d

Where a child is placed with a relative who is also fully registered to provide foster care for other

children, they are counted in the "foster care" category for Victoria and Western Australia,

whereas they are counted in the "relatives/kin" category in Queensland and South Australia. Relatives/kin in some jurisdictions undergo assessment, registration and review processes to

similar foster carers under the national definition and are considered as (relative) foster carers in

local practice, policy and reporting. Source: AIHW, 2015, Table A28, p. 97

How many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children live in out-of-home care?

Australian Bureau of Statistics population projection data for 30 June 2014 indicates that

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children would comprise 5.5% of all children aged

0-17 years in Australia (AIHW, 2015); yet in 2013-14 they constituted nearly 35% of all

children placed in out-of-home care. In all jurisdictions, the proportion of Aboriginal and

Torres Strait Islander children on placement orders was higher than that for other

children. As of 30 June 2014, there were 14,991 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander

children in out-of-home care in Australia - a placement rate of 51.4 per 1,000 children. In

contrast, the rate for non-Indigenous children was 5.6 per 1,000. This indicates that the

national rate of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children in out-of-home care was

almost 10 times the rate for non-Indigenous children (AIHW, 2015). There was substantial variation across the states and territories, with the placement rate of

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children varying from 21.8 per 1,000 in Tasmania to

71.3 per 1,000 in New South Wales (AIHW, 2015). Indigenous children were over-represented in out-of-home care across all age groups and children aged 1-4 were 11

times more likely than non-Indigenous children of the same age group to be in out-of-home care (AIHW, 2015).

What is the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Child Placement Principle?

Cultural safety is important for the safety and wellbeing of all children. The right to

cultural safety while a child is placed in out-of-home care is enshrined in Article 20 of the Convention of the Rights of the Child (United Nations, 1989).

The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Child Placement Principle endorses this in

legislation and policy in all Australian states and territories. The principle provides an

important acknowledgement that previous policies caused suffering to Aboriginal and

Torres Strait Islander peoples and reflects the right of Indigenous people to raise their

children in their communities (Lock, 1997). The principle states the preferred order of

placement for an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander child who has been removed from their birth family. The preferred order is for the child to be placed with:







the child's extended family (kin);

the child's Indigenous community (kith); or other Indigenous people.

According to the principle, an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander child can only be

placed with a non-Indigenous carer if an appropriate placement cannot be found from

these three groups (Lock, 1997). However, in order to find suitable placements for

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children there must be suitable places available for

children. Increasing demand on the child protection system must be met with an

increased availability for children who require out-of-home care and where demand

outstrips availability, children will have to be placed in homes that may not comply with this principle.

Even when children are placed in accordance to the principle they may become

disconnected from their culture. This may occur when children are placed with the

"white" side of the family, an Aboriginal carer who is not from the child's own cultural

group, or kin who may have (because of their own removal) been disconnected from their traditional culture (Scott & Higgins, 2011).

The percentage of children placed with relatives/kin, other Indigenous caregivers or in

an Indigenous residential care facility varied substantially across jurisdictions from 40.5%

in Tasmania to 81.4% of placements in New South Wales (see Figure 1). In Australia in

2013-14, 67% of Indigenous children were placed with relatives/kin, other Indigenous caregivers or in an Indigenous residential care facility (AIHW, 2015).

For more information see Child Protection and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander

Children.

Figure 1: Percentage of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children in out-of-home care, states and territories, 30 June 2014

Notes:

a Aggregate data were provided by New South Wales, Queensland and the Northern

Territory for this table.

b For Victoria, 286 children for whom relationship of carer and/or their

Indigenous status were unknown are included in the categories "Other caregiver" and "Total not

placed with relatives/kin, other Indigenous caregivers or in Indigenous residential care". Source: AIHW, 2015, Table A33, p. 101.

What does foster care cost?

Recurrent expenditure on child protection and out-of-home care services was

approximately $3.3 billion across Australia in 2013-14, an increase of 2.4% from 2012-13. Nationally, out-of-home care services accounted for the majority (65.4%, or $2.2

billion) of this expenditure (Steering Committee for the Review of Government Service

Provision, 2015). A study by the Social Policy Research Centre found that the cost of

caring for children in foster care is, on average, 52% higher than the costs of caring for other children not in care (McHugh, 2002).

What are some of the key issues/challenges in foster care in Australia today?

Many children in out-of-home-care experience multiple placement changes (Delfabbro,

King, & Barber, 2010; Rubin, O'Reilly, Luan, &Localio, 2007). In a study profiling children

in out-of-home care in South Australia, Delfabbro, Barber, and Cooper (2001) found that

20% of the sample had between three and five placements, 18% had between six and

nine placements, and 24% - almost a quarter of all children - had experienced ten or more previous placements during their time in care.

Placement instability can have significant adverse effects on children. A number of

studies have found associations between continued instability and adverse psychosocial

outcomes, such as emotional difficulties, behaviour problems and poor academic

performance. For example, Rubin et al. (2007) found that placement instability is "a

significant contributor to a child's risk for behavioural problems unrelated to the baseline

problems that a child had on referral for placement" (p. 343). Placement instability can

be a significant concern for young people in care. In a survey of 1,767 Queensland

children and young people in care, almost 20% of respondents were worried about

having to move to another placement in the next few months (Commission for Children and Young People and Child Guardian, 2008).

Recruiting enough carers to cope with the increased demand for foster carers is a

concern for most states and territories (Delfabbro et al., 2010; McHugh & Pell, 2013;

Osborn, Panozzo, Richardson, & Bromfield, 2007). Some are advocating for the

professionalisation of foster carers in a bid to facilitate recruitment and help the

increasing number of children coming into the system with complex and challenging

behaviour problems (Butcher, 2005); and as more carers require an expansion of skills

and ongoing training to respond to these complex behaviours of children (McHugh & Pell, 2013).

With the reliance on home-based care and the problems recruiting sufficient numbers of

foster carers, there has been a rapid increase in the proportion of children in kinship

care (AIHW, 2014; Boetto, 2010; Delfabbro et al., 2010). Studies have shown that

children and young people are able to identify positive experiences of living in kinship

care (Mason, Fallon, Gibbons, Spence, & Scott, 2002) and experience some positive

outcomes such as good educational progress (Kiraly, 2015). However, at this stage,

there is insufficient evidence to demonstrate whether or not kinship care produces better outcomes for children (Bromfield & Osborn, 2007a, 2007b).

The National Framework for Protecting Australia's Children 2009-2020 (COAG, 2009)

noted that while primary and secondary prevention are important to reduce the number

of children affected by maltreatment and the impact that maltreatment has on them, it is

equally important that children who have suffered maltreatment are afforded necessary

support and services. Ultimately, the preference is for children to be safe and cared for

in their own family, but where that is not possible, children require a sense of safety and

stability. Where parental responsibility for care of the child or young person has been

transferred to the minister or state executive, the Framework has also outlined National

Standards for Out-of-Home Care(link is external). These standards influence the health,

education, care planning, connection to family, culture and community, transition from

care, training and support for carers, belonging and identity, and safety, stability and

security of children and young people in care and aim to improve outcomes and experiences for these children and young people.

References



Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. (2014). Child protection Australia 2012-2013 (Child Welfare Series No. 58). Canberra: AIHW.



Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. (2015). Child protection Australia 2013-2014 (Child Welfare Series No. 61). Canberra: AIHW.

 Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. (2006). Child protection Australia 2004-05 (Child Welfare Series No. 38). Canberra: AIHW.





Boetto, H. (2010). Kinship care: A review of issues. Family Matters, 85, 60-67.

Bromfield, L. M., & Osborn, A. (2007a). Kinship care (NCPC Research Brief No. 10). Retrieved from .

 Bromfield, L. M., & Osborn, A. (2007b). "Getting the big picture": A synopsis and critique of

Australian out-of-home care research (Child Abuse Prevention Issues No. 26). Retrieved from .

 Butcher, A. (2005). Upping the ante! The training and status of foster carers in

Queensland. Children Australia, 30, 25-30.



Commission for Children and Young People and Child Guardian. (2008). Views of children

and young people in foster care. Brisbane: Queensland Government.



Council of Australian Governments. (2009). Protecting children is everyone's business:

National framework for protecting Australia's children 2009-2020. Retrieved from

.



Delfabbro, P., King, D., & Barber, J. (2010). Children in foster care: Five years on. Children

Australia, 35(1), 22-30.

 Delfabbro, P. H., Barber, J. G., & Cooper, L. (2001). A profile of children entering out-of-home care in South Australia: Baseline analysis for a 3 year longitudinal study. Children and

Youth Services Review, 23, 865-891.



Kiraly, M. (2015). A review of kinship carer surveys. The "Cinderella" of the care system?

(CFCA Paper No. 31). Melbourne: Australian Institute of Family Studies. Retrieved from .



Lock, J. (1997). The Aboriginal Child Placement Principle. Sydney: New South Law Reform Commission.



Mason, J., Fallon, J., Gibbons, L., Spence, N., & Scott, E. (2002). Understanding kinship

care. Haymarket, NSW: Association of Children's Welfare Agencies and The University of Western Sydney.

 McHugh, M. (2002). The costs of caring: A study of appropriate foster care payments for

stable and adequate out-of-home care in Australia. Sydney: NSW Association of Children's Welfare Agencies.



McHugh, M., & Pell, A. (2013). Reforming the foster care system in Australia. Melbourne: Berry Street.



Osborn, A., Panozzo, S., Richardson, N., & Bromfield, L. (2007). Foster families (NCPC

Research Brief No. 4). Retrieved from .



Rubin, D. M., O'Reilly, A. L., Luan, X., &Localio, A. R. (2007). The impact of placement

stability on behavioral well-being for children in foster care. Pediatrics, 119(2), 336-344.



Scott, D., & Higgins, D. (2011). Supporting Northern Territory Emergency

Response Evaluation Report 2011 (pp. 245-291). Canberra: Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs. Retrieved from

.



Steering Committee for the Review of Government Service Provision. (2015). Report on

government services 2015. Canberra: Productivity Commission. Retrieved from < /research/recurring/report-on-government-services/2015>.



United Nations. (1989). Convention on the rights of the child. Geneva: Office of the High

Commissioner for Human Rights. Retrieved from .



Victorian Department of Human Services. (2007). The home-based care

handbook. Retrieved from .

Authors and Acknowledgements

This paper was updated by Kathryn Goldsworthy, Research Officer with the Child Family

Community Australia information exchange at the Australian Institute of Family Studies. Previous editions were compiled by Deborah Scott, Lalitha Nair and Alister Lamont.

Publication details

CFCA Resource Sheet

Published by the Australian Institute of Family Studies, June 2015.