A WA parliamentary question regarding the decision to eliminate the dedicated child-centred family support team in Bunbury and the rationale behind differing service delivery models between metropolitan and regional areas.

AnsweredQoN 749Legislative Council
Asked
29 October 2013
Portfolio
Child Protection

QuestionView source ↗

DEPARTMENT FOR CHILD PROTECTION AND FAMILY SUPPORT —
BUNBURY
749. Hon ADELE FARINA to the Minister for Child Protection:
I refer to the minister's answer to question without
notice 707 concerning the decision to axe the dedicated child-centred family
support team in Bunbury.
(1) What gave
rise to the change in team structure within the Bunbury office that resulted in
the axing of the dedicated team?
(2) What teams
are now providing child-centred family support in the Bunbury district and how
is that service being provided?
(3) The
department's family support responsible parenting framework dated
February 2012 states that dedicated child-centred family support teams are an
important strategy in keeping children from entering the care of the chief
executive officer and working with families where reunification is the plan;
why is it considered necessary to have dedicated child-centred family support
teams in the metropolitan area, yet not necessary in highly populated regional
areas like the Bunbury district?

AnswerView source ↗

I thank the
member for some notice of this question.
(1) Each
district regularly reviews its team structure to provide the best service to
meet the needs of the local community. I am advised that in Bunbury, this was
best achieved by integrating the child-centred family support team into
existing team structures.
(2) Currently
in Bunbury this function is primarily undertaken by the intake assessment and
investigation teams. It can also be undertaken by children in care teams, and
the parent support team can also provide a service to these families as part of
a child-centred family support case management response.
(3) Each
district determines its own structure based on geographic location, spread of
population and other relevant factors. Only four of the eight metropolitan
district offices and two of the nine country districts have dedicated
child-centred family teams.

Explore WA Government Data

Search the full archive in the free dashboard, or query programmatically via API.

Explore more