❓ WA Parliamentary Question on Notice regarding the number of children under the care of the Department of Child Protection in May 2010, their placement types, and reported allegations of child abuse. Data limitations and system changes affect the availability and comparability of some information.
AnsweredQoN 2924Legislative Council
QuestionView source ↗
(1) How many children were under the care of the Department of Child Protection (DCP) during the month of May 2010, by district?
(2) How many of these were placed in non-Government group facilities, by district?
(3) How many of these were in placements with DCP foster carers by category of relative and non relative carer, by district?
(4) How many of these were in placements with non-Government organisation foster carers by district?
(5) With reference to children under the care of the DCP, how many allegations of child abuse were reported in the month of May 2010?
(6) What was the category breakdown of these allegations, -
(a) sexual;
(b) physical;
(c) emotional;
(d) psychological; and
(e) neglect?
(2) How many of these were placed in non-Government group facilities, by district?
(3) How many of these were in placements with DCP foster carers by category of relative and non relative carer, by district?
(4) How many of these were in placements with non-Government organisation foster carers by district?
(5) With reference to children under the care of the DCP, how many allegations of child abuse were reported in the month of May 2010?
(6) What was the category breakdown of these allegations, -
(a) sexual;
(b) physical;
(c) emotional;
(d) psychological; and
(e) neglect?
AnswerView source ↗
Answered
11 November 2010
Responded by
Minister for Child Protection
Response time
22 days
The response should be read in conjunction with the following:
The Department for Child Protection has recently implemented a new client system and there is ongoing data quality work to ensure the accuracy and completeness of data migration from the previous client system.
Due to the differences between the two systems, reported results may not be comparable with data previously reported.
In March 2010, the Department for Child Protection implemented a new assessment and investigation framework.
In the context of this question, the term "reports" equate to an
Initial Inquiry
.
Initial inquiries
are made for the purposes of determining whether action should be taken to safeguard or promote a child's wellbeing. If there are concerns for a child, a
Safety and Wellbeing Assessment
is initiated.
The previously named
Assessment for Concern for a Child
equates to a new
Safety and Wellbeing Assessment
. The purpose of a safety and wellbeing assessment is to assess the current circumstances of the child and family, as these relate to risks, harm, future danger, safety, wellbeing and protective concerns, in order to determine whether further actions should be taken to safeguard or promote the child's wellbeing.
The previously named
Investigation
equates to a
Safety and Wellbeing Assessment with a harm assessment.
A harm assessment is completed, as part of the safety and wellbeing assessment, for concerns relating to abuse and neglect where significant harm or risk of significant harm is suspected.
(1) These data are not retrospectively available. As at 11 October 2010, there were 3,389 children in care, in the following districts:
Armadale - 361
Cannington - 271
Fremantle - 231
Joondalup - 221
Midland - 257
Mirrabooka - 300
Perth - 220
Rockingham - 156
Goldfields - 114
Great Southern - 155
Kimberley (East) - 130
Kimberley (West) - 143
Murchison - 137
Peel - 168
Pilbara - 113
South West - 182
Wheatbelt - 218
Accommodation and Care Services - 11
Crisis Care - 1
(2) These data are not retrospectively available. As at 11 October 2010, there were 112 children placed in non-government group facilities in the following districts:
Armadale - 25
Cannington - 12
Fremantle - 6
Joondalup - 18
Midland - 8
Mirrabooka - 10
Perth - 11
Rockingham - 8
Goldfields - 1
Great Southern - 4
Kimberley (East) - 1
Kimberley (West) - 2
Murchison - 1
Peel - 2
Pilbara - 0
South West - 1
Wheatbelt - 2
(3) These data are not retrospectively available. As at 11 October 2010, there were 1,300 children placed with departmental relative foster carers and 1,217 children placed with departmental non relative foster carers, in the following districts:
Armadale - 103 relative, 173 non relative.
Cannington - 124 relative, 97 non relative.
Fremantle - 114 relative, 76 non relative.
Joondalup - 59 relative, 93 non relative.
Midland - 86 relative, 83 non relative.
Mirrabooka - 99 relative, 131 non relative.
Perth - 68 relative, 102 non relative.
Rockingham - 41 relative, 68 non relative.
Goldfields - 59 relative, 18 non relative.
Great Southern - 82 relative, 49 non relative.
Kimberley (East) - 79 relative, 15 non relative.
Kimberley (West) - 84 relative, 23 non relative.
Murchison - 62 relative, 41 non relative.
Peel - 56 relative, 78 non relative.
Pilbara - 63 relative, 11 non relative.
South West - 53 relative, 81 non relative.
Wheatbelt - 67 relative, 68 non relative.
Accommodation and Care Services - 1 relative, 10 non relative.
(4) These data are not currently available.
(5) With reference to children under the care of the Department, there were 11 abuse in care notifications in May 2010.
In the context of this question, the notifications relate to the previously named
Assessment for Concern for a Child
that equates to a new
Safety and Wellbeing Assessment.
For allegations of abuse in care,
Safety and Wellbeing Assessments
are undertaken when initial inquiries establish there is a concern for a child in the care of the Chief Executive Officer and formal assessment of the risk of physical, emotional, psychological or sexual harm to a child, or neglect, is required. These data therefore reflect the point at which a decision is made that formal assessment of risk of harm is required rather than the point at which the concern is first reported.
(6) The category breakdown of these notifications were:
(a) Sexual - 3
(b) Physical - 6
(c) Emotional - 2
(d) Psychological - 0
(e) Neglect - 0
Notice: This document is created or edited using unregistered or evaluation copy of rtLib valid for testing or development purposes only. To use it for productive or any other purposes please register it. You may purchase the license on
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The Department for Child Protection has recently implemented a new client system and there is ongoing data quality work to ensure the accuracy and completeness of data migration from the previous client system.
Due to the differences between the two systems, reported results may not be comparable with data previously reported.
In March 2010, the Department for Child Protection implemented a new assessment and investigation framework.
In the context of this question, the term "reports" equate to an
Initial Inquiry
.
Initial inquiries
are made for the purposes of determining whether action should be taken to safeguard or promote a child's wellbeing. If there are concerns for a child, a
Safety and Wellbeing Assessment
is initiated.
The previously named
Assessment for Concern for a Child
equates to a new
Safety and Wellbeing Assessment
. The purpose of a safety and wellbeing assessment is to assess the current circumstances of the child and family, as these relate to risks, harm, future danger, safety, wellbeing and protective concerns, in order to determine whether further actions should be taken to safeguard or promote the child's wellbeing.
The previously named
Investigation
equates to a
Safety and Wellbeing Assessment with a harm assessment.
A harm assessment is completed, as part of the safety and wellbeing assessment, for concerns relating to abuse and neglect where significant harm or risk of significant harm is suspected.
(1) These data are not retrospectively available. As at 11 October 2010, there were 3,389 children in care, in the following districts:
Armadale - 361
Cannington - 271
Fremantle - 231
Joondalup - 221
Midland - 257
Mirrabooka - 300
Perth - 220
Rockingham - 156
Goldfields - 114
Great Southern - 155
Kimberley (East) - 130
Kimberley (West) - 143
Murchison - 137
Peel - 168
Pilbara - 113
South West - 182
Wheatbelt - 218
Accommodation and Care Services - 11
Crisis Care - 1
(2) These data are not retrospectively available. As at 11 October 2010, there were 112 children placed in non-government group facilities in the following districts:
Armadale - 25
Cannington - 12
Fremantle - 6
Joondalup - 18
Midland - 8
Mirrabooka - 10
Perth - 11
Rockingham - 8
Goldfields - 1
Great Southern - 4
Kimberley (East) - 1
Kimberley (West) - 2
Murchison - 1
Peel - 2
Pilbara - 0
South West - 1
Wheatbelt - 2
(3) These data are not retrospectively available. As at 11 October 2010, there were 1,300 children placed with departmental relative foster carers and 1,217 children placed with departmental non relative foster carers, in the following districts:
Armadale - 103 relative, 173 non relative.
Cannington - 124 relative, 97 non relative.
Fremantle - 114 relative, 76 non relative.
Joondalup - 59 relative, 93 non relative.
Midland - 86 relative, 83 non relative.
Mirrabooka - 99 relative, 131 non relative.
Perth - 68 relative, 102 non relative.
Rockingham - 41 relative, 68 non relative.
Goldfields - 59 relative, 18 non relative.
Great Southern - 82 relative, 49 non relative.
Kimberley (East) - 79 relative, 15 non relative.
Kimberley (West) - 84 relative, 23 non relative.
Murchison - 62 relative, 41 non relative.
Peel - 56 relative, 78 non relative.
Pilbara - 63 relative, 11 non relative.
South West - 53 relative, 81 non relative.
Wheatbelt - 67 relative, 68 non relative.
Accommodation and Care Services - 1 relative, 10 non relative.
(4) These data are not currently available.
(5) With reference to children under the care of the Department, there were 11 abuse in care notifications in May 2010.
In the context of this question, the notifications relate to the previously named
Assessment for Concern for a Child
that equates to a new
Safety and Wellbeing Assessment.
For allegations of abuse in care,
Safety and Wellbeing Assessments
are undertaken when initial inquiries establish there is a concern for a child in the care of the Chief Executive Officer and formal assessment of the risk of physical, emotional, psychological or sexual harm to a child, or neglect, is required. These data therefore reflect the point at which a decision is made that formal assessment of risk of harm is required rather than the point at which the concern is first reported.
(6) The category breakdown of these notifications were:
(a) Sexual - 3
(b) Physical - 6
(c) Emotional - 2
(d) Psychological - 0
(e) Neglect - 0
Notice: This document is created or edited using unregistered or evaluation copy of rtLib valid for testing or development purposes only. To use it for productive or any other purposes please register it. You may purchase the license on
http://www.rtlib.com
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