Question on Notice regarding the criminalisation of young people in out-of-home residential care in WA, seeking data on the number of children in care, their ages, and their involvement with youth justice detention and community-based orders.

AnsweredQoN 2123Legislative Council
Asked
7 May 2019
Portfolio
Child Protection; Women's Interests; Prevention of Family and Domestic Violence; Community Services

QuestionView source ↗

I
refer to research from New South Wales regarding the criminalisation of young
people in residential care, and I ask: (a) how
many young people are currently in out of home residential care in Western
Australia; (b) will the Minister please
advise the ages of the young people currently in residential care; (c) how
many of the young people currently in residential care have been sentenced to a
period of youth justice detention since being placed in residential care; and (d) how
many of the young people currently in residential care have been sentenced to a
community based order since being placed in residential care?

AnswerView source ↗

Answered
11 June 2019
Responded by
Leader of the House representing the Minister for Child Protection; Women's Interests; Prevention of Family and Domestic Violence; Community Services
Response time
12 days
(a)  As at 7 May 2019, there were 388 children in out-of-home residential care.
(b)  Of the 388 children in residential care:
(c) 75 of the children in residential care have had at least one recorded period of detention while in care.
Not all children who enter a period of detention will have been “sentenced”.  Within Communities’ client information system, the reasons a young person can be recorded as being in detention include instances where they:
(d) The information requested is not readily available from the Department of Communities’ (Communities) child protection information system. As this information is held on individual case files, it would impose a significant administration burden on Communities to source this data.

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