Out-of-Home Care Reform in Western Australia Community sector briefing December 2015

1. Title Arial 28 Out-of-Home Care Reform in Western Australia Community sector briefingDecember 2015 Subtitle Arial Narrow 18

2. Agenda • Drivers for reform • Reform development, planning and consultation • Costing of out-of-home care • Needs profiling • Key policy reforms • Possible legislative amendments

3. Key drivers for reform • 1. Significant demographic changes including: • System capacity - number and needs (complexity) of children; • Aboriginal children - 52% of all children in care, 15 times more likely to be in care; and • Most now in relative rather than general foster care (44%). • 2. Financial sustainability – demand and cost. • 3. Permanency planning – stop ‘care drift’, early decision making. • 4. The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse - highlights gaps in the WA system.

4. Timeline of out-of-home care reform

5. Research and consultation Research • Literature, jurisdictional scan and enquiry research into out-of-home care across the world. Consultation • Significant and ongoing consultation with stakeholders including children, consumers, carers, the community services sector, government agencies and the wider community.

6. Community services sector input on reforms discussed today

7. A note on reform implementation • Out-of-Home Care Reform Plan in launched in February 2015. • Reform is occurring in conjunction with Earlier Intervention and Family Support Strategy and district structure realignments. • Incremental implementation over five years. • Significant contracting changes unlikely to occur prior to January 2018.

8. Costings and funding • Department and community services sector have a desire to: • provide recurrent funding to more CSOs to support their sustainability. • introduce a new resource model that more accurately allocated resource to needs of children. • Treasury demand rigorous methodology in determining system needs and costs. • PwC have been engaged to provide assistance in: • Establishing system needs (status: information collected and analysis currently underway). • Building a cost profile against the service profile that has been established to meet these needs (status: about to commence).

9. Costings and funding cont. • Partnership with CSOs in this work as per DCSPP. • Significant and ongoing consultation with CSOs; • Building needs profiling tool with CSOs; • Workshop(s) with CSO Finance Directors; • Stakeholder Engagement Guide. • Exploring changes in contracting practices: • Less restrictive expectations of service-types/programs; • Increased focus on outcomes desired; • Support CSOs to implement flexible strategies to meet these outcomes. • Any increase in funding will be sought through 17/18 budget process.

10. Needs profiling • Needs Identification Profiling Tool (NIPT) • Developed through two workshops with community services sector and Department practitioners. • Identify needs of children in out-of-home care - "what are this child’s exceptional needs, over and above those of a typical child in out of home care”. • Identify what supports they require ‘over-and-above’ what is typically received. • Where the needs are located (geographically). • 1300 children in out-of-home care (29% of all children in care in Western Australia). • Two samples of children have been chosen for this sampling exercise: • children with the most complex needs and behaviours • a targeted random sample of children across the state. • 100% completion rate. • Analysis currently being undertaken by PricewaterhouseCoopers.

11. Reform strategies

12. Reform principles and goals Principles that guide the system: • A responsive system that is driven by the needs of children. • A system that delivers certainty and stability for children, carers and families. • A coordinated and coherent system with capacity. • A system that is accountable. Goals of the reform: • Reduce the over-representation of Aboriginal children and families in the child protection system. • Early, permanent decision-making for children in out-of-home care. • More effective and equitable application of finite resources.

13. Outcomes Framework for Children in OOHC in WA • No current mechanism to measure ‘cohort outcomes’ for children in out-of-home care’. • Difficult to measure efficacy and performance of the system. • Implement the Outcomes Framework for Children in Out-of-Home Care in Western Australia, measuring the following: • Safe and stable - Children live safely in a stable care arrangement. • Healthy - Children have strong physical, social and mental health. • Achieve - Children attend, participate and achieve in quality education. • Belong - Children develop and retain a deep knowledge and understanding of their life-history and identity. • Included - Children are included by the systems that support them. • Future life outcomes - Children leave care equipped with the resources to live productive lives. • Reported annually in March/April. • Improve measures over time. • Undertake longitudinal post-care research project, utilising data linkage, with Telethon Kids Institute and Curtin University.

15. Reposition into Transitional and Permanent phases of care • Permanency planning leads to better lives for children. • Implementing permanency planning policy (updated in 2014) is a priority for the Department. • Current strategies to implement permanency planning policy include: • Department staff training package. • Reunification practice guidelines. • Permanency planning monitoring framework. • Focus on Team Leaders as the lead agents. • Consultation and education to CSOs and support agencies.

16. Reposition into Transitional and Permanent phases of care Out-of-Home Care Reform strategies: • Implement ‘phases of care’: • Transitional Care: The phase of OOHC where no final court decision has been made for the long-term legal and care arrangements of a child. • Permanent Care: The phase of OOHC where a final court decision has been made for a child to remain in the long-term or permanent legal and physical care of people other than their biological parents. • Foster carers are defined as transitional foster carer and/or permanent foster carer. • A carer whose role it is to care for a child where no final decision has been made for their legal and care future (transitional care). • A carer whose role it is to care for a child when a decision has been made for them to live permanently out of their parent’s care (permanent care).

17. Reposition into Transitional and Permanent phases of care Child enters care Permanent order made Phase of care Transitional Care Permanent Care Protection Order (until 18) Protection Order (Special Guardianship) Adoption Order Provisional Protection and Care Protection Order (Time-Limited Foster carer-type Transitional Carer Permanent Carer

18. Repositioning - improved matching to child needs and permanency need • Better matching of children and carers on ‘child need’ and ‘permanency need’. • Remove policy and IT impediments to whole-of-system knowledge and matching of children. • Complements decentralisation of ‘home-for-life program’. (ie a child in Fremantle can be matched to a ‘permanent carer in Joondalup). Current Future Relative carers Relative carers District foster carer District foster carer Other CPFS foster carer All other carers in out-of-home care system CSO carer

19. A new out-of-home care resource framework • Previous costing of ‘raising a child in out-of-home care’ was undertaken in 2001/2. • A/Professor Paul Henman (University of Queensland) has determined ‘cost of raising a child in out-of-home care’. • New resource framework is linked to the ‘cost of raising a child in out-of-home care’. • New resource framework and cost components: • Caring allowance – compensates the carer for time and resources used to raise a child. • Child support costs - items and activities that may be incurred by nature of raising a child in OOHC. • Carer contribution - financial contribution of carers. • Care arrangement support costs - additional cost used to support the child in their care arrangement, with direct reference to the child’s particular complexity and needs.

20. Resource framework - caring allowance • Implement new caring allowance rate which places more activities into the caring allowance. • Implement caring allowance rate as the cross-sector minimum. • Align caring allowance age bracket implements to natural transition points in schooling (0-5 years; 6-11 years; 12–17 years). • Implement new payment schedule of caring allowance • a fortnightly amount for basic needs; • a fortnightly amount for pocket money; • a quarterly amount for extracurricular activities; • a quarterly amount for clothing; • an annual amount for school uniforms; and • an annual amount for education.

21. Improved consistency of high quality foster carer standards • Over-time, inconsistencies have arisen in standards of foster carers across the out-of-home care sector. • It is important that the out-of-home care sector takes collective responsibility for high carer standards. Definition of foster carer • Expand definition of foster carer: “a non-relative care arrangement where a family or individual cares for children in their own home or in a home provided by an organisation as the carer’s primary residence.” • In situations of dispute over care model, the CEO of the Department determine if is a ‘foster care’ model. Assessment and approval • Community sector organisation foster carers must be assessed and approved against the regulated competencies. • All foster carers (irrespective of volunteer or employee status) are to be considered (for endorsement) by a cross-sector consistent Foster Carer Assessment Panel. • Approval remains with organisation. • The panel will be comprised of representatives from the out-of-home care sector (including specific Aboriginal representation).

22. Improved consistency and accountability of carer standards Foster Carer Assessment Panel considers all foster carer applicants for endorsement Community services sector Assess, recommend and manage transitional and permanent carers Prospective non-relative carer Department Prospective non-relative carer Districts assess, recommend and manage transitional and permanent carers

23. Improved consistency of high quality foster carer standards Training • All foster carer applicants (Department and CSOs) are required to complete the agreed preparation training prior to approval as a foster carer. • All applicants who reside within the metropolitan area are expected to attend the face to face, full version delivered by the Learning and Development Centre.

24. Increased independent systemic oversight • There is a spectrum of oversight in out-of-home care. • Royal Commission is considering system oversight of out-of-home care. • Western Australia’s ongoing system oversight is the monitoring of the Better Care, Better Services Standards by the Department. • This process is considered to be an internal oversight process • Raises perceptions of conflict of interest – ie overlooking poor standards to preserve care arrangements. • Cross-sector working group has developed principles and proposed models for consideration by Senior Officers Group (Ombudsman, Auditor-General, Children’s Commissioner, community services sector).

25. Increased independent systemic oversight • Develop Western Australian Safety Standards for Out-of-Home Care. • Safety Standards • fundamental aspects that support the provision of safe care • monitored by Ombudsman (external to the Department) • Retain Better Care, Better Services as measure of quality standards • Quality standards • Continuous improvement • Amend Better Care, Better Services to complement Safety Standards. • Monitoring undertaken by the Department (Standards Monitoring Unit).

26. Delegated case management • Pilot of transfer of case management responsibilities of 19 children to four community sector organisations. • Evaluation highlighted some difficulties including: • Record management issues; • The Department approving care planning with no knowledge of children; and • No improvement in case worker stability. • Evaluation recommended significant changes prior to expanded pilot. • The combined focus and energy of Department and community services sector needs to be on implementing out-of-home care reforms. • No expansion of Delegated case management at this time.

27. Legislation reform – Permanency Bill Permanency legislation • Consultation paper released from November 2015 – January 2016. • Implement immediate amendments to legislation through high priority Permanency Bill, including: • Permanency - measure to support earlier permanent decision-making for children. • Shared Responsibility for Children - Implement legislation to compel agencies to prioritise services such as housing, education and health to children in care to have access to services they need (building on Rapid Response Strategy).

28. Legislation reform – Permanency Bill Permanency: • amending or introducing legislative principles underpinning the Children and Community Services Act 2004 to require the Courts to provide a greater focus on permanency planning; • providing maximum timeframes for the Court to make permanent decisions for children in out-of-home care; and • re-naming of some orders to better reflect their purpose.

29. Permanency Legislation – Length of orders

30. Length of Protection Orders – a current example • Non-prescriptive legislation No requirement for permanent decision Further order made Child enters care PO (TL) expires PO (TL) made 3.5 years 12 mths 4 years 6 mths 1.5 years 2 years 2.5 years 3 years Child enters care Court duration Court duration Length of order 36 months

31. Length of Orders – a possibility Permanent decision made Order reconsideration Child enters care PO (TL) made 3.5 years 12 mths 4 years 6 mths 1.5 years 2 years 2.5 years 3 years Child enters care Court duration non-permanent order Max length of further order 24 months

32. Length of Orders – another possibility Permanent decision made Child enters care PO (TL) made 3.5 years 12 mths 4 years 6 mths 1.5 years 2 years 2.5 years 3 years Child enters care Court duration non-permanent order 24 months

33. Prioritising Orders • Prioritising children being in permanent legal arrangements with carers. • Requires the Department and Court to follow hierarchy of preferred permanent care options when assessing and determining best interests of the child

34. Foster carer legislation • Royal Commission is concerned about consistent high quality carer standards. • Some legislative methods to support this include: • A single decision-maker to approve all carers (CEO of the Department). • A single decision-maker for revoking all carers (CEO of the Department). • Requirement for regular review of carer’s performance against competencies. • Obligation for foster carers to report new, relevant information to approval body.

35. Questions? Title Arial 28 Subtitle Arial Narrow 18