❓ WA Parliamentary Question on Notice regarding child safety and wellbeing assessments and children in care as of November 2015, including data on assessment numbers, delays, and unallocated cases, broken down by district.
AnsweredQoN 3800Legislative Council
QuestionView source ↗
(1) As at 30 November 2015, what was the number of new Safety and Wellbeing Assessments for a child recorded during that month, by district? (2) As at 30 November 2015, what was the number of children in care for more than 20 days with no planning recorded, by district? (3) As at 30 November 2015, what was the number of Safety and Wellbeing Assessments with a harm assessment open for more than 90 days, by district? (4) As at 30 November 2015, what were the number of open Safety and Wellbeing Assessments with a harm assessment, by district? (5) As at 30 November 2015, what was the number of 'monitored' or 'active holding' cases not allocated to workers caseload, by district?
AnswerView source ↗
Answered
24 March 2016
Responded by
Minister for Child Protection
Response time
37 days
(1) During November 2015, there were 789 new Safety and Wellbeing Assessments recorded in the following districts: Armadale – 69 Cannington – 48 Crisis Care – 80 East Kimberley – 5 Fremantle – 29 Goldfields – 52 Great Southern - 56 Joondalup – 51 Midland – 10 Mirrabooka – 35 Murchison – 58 Peel – 39 Perth – 16 Pilbara – 67 Rockingham – 45 South West – 33 West Kimberley – 30 Wheatbelt – 66.
(2) As at 30 November 2015, there were 6 children in care for more than 30 days with no planning recorded.
(3) There are a range of reasons for delay in finalising Safety and Wellbeing Assessments, including waiting to receive critical information from other agencies or professionals; forensic investigations being finalised by the Western Australia Police; and delays in data entry. The Department takes the necessary action to keep a child safe while the Safety and Wellbeing Assessment is underway.
As at 30 November 2015, there were 692 Safety and Wellbeing Assessments open for more than 90 days in the following districts: Armadale – 61 Cannington – 43 East Kimberley – 36 Fremantle – 13 Goldfields – 17 Great Southern – 40 Joondalup – 56 Midland – 72 Mirrabooka – 89 Murchison – 15 Peel – 24 Perth – 16 Pilbara – 62 Rockingham – 32 South West – 53 West Kimberley – 9 Wheatbelt – 54.
(4) There are a range of reasons for delay in finalising Safety and Wellbeing Assessments, including waiting to receive critical information from other agencies or professionals; forensic investigations being finalised by the Western Australia Police; and delays in data entry. The Department takes the necessary action to keep a child safe while the Safety and Wellbeing Assessment is underway. As at 30 November 2015, there were 2,285 open Safety and Wellbeing Assessments in the following districts: Armadale – 204 Cannington – 135 Crisis Care – 18 East Kimberley – 80 Fremantle – 47 Goldfields – 84 Great Southern – 141 Joondalup – 190 Midland – 138 Mirrabooka – 212 Murchison – 109 Peel – 122 Perth – 44 Pilbara – 218 Rockingham – 143 South West – 141 West Kimberley – 69 Wheatbelt – 190.
(5) As at 5 December 2015 there were 661 monitored cases in the following districts: Armadale – 115 Cannington – 8 East Kimberley – 32 Fremantle – 44 Goldfields – 5 Great Southern – 100 Joondalup – 13 Midland – 145 Mirrabooka – 19 Murchison – 5 Peel – 34 Perth – 12 Pilbara – 5 Rockingham – 28 South West – 38 West Kimberley – 21 Wheatbelt – 37.
Cases which involve children in the CEO’s care aged 2 years or younger must not be placed on the Monitored List. Children in the CEO’s care aged between 3 and 5 years may, where there are extraordinary reasons, be placed on the Monitored List if the decision has been approved by the Executive Director (Metropolitan or Country Services). If the case remains on the Monitored List, the decision must be reviewed by the team leader/district director every month and approved by the relevant Executive Director every three months. The list is reviewed on a monthly basis to ensure compliance with the above.
(2) As at 30 November 2015, there were 6 children in care for more than 30 days with no planning recorded.
(3) There are a range of reasons for delay in finalising Safety and Wellbeing Assessments, including waiting to receive critical information from other agencies or professionals; forensic investigations being finalised by the Western Australia Police; and delays in data entry. The Department takes the necessary action to keep a child safe while the Safety and Wellbeing Assessment is underway.
As at 30 November 2015, there were 692 Safety and Wellbeing Assessments open for more than 90 days in the following districts: Armadale – 61 Cannington – 43 East Kimberley – 36 Fremantle – 13 Goldfields – 17 Great Southern – 40 Joondalup – 56 Midland – 72 Mirrabooka – 89 Murchison – 15 Peel – 24 Perth – 16 Pilbara – 62 Rockingham – 32 South West – 53 West Kimberley – 9 Wheatbelt – 54.
(4) There are a range of reasons for delay in finalising Safety and Wellbeing Assessments, including waiting to receive critical information from other agencies or professionals; forensic investigations being finalised by the Western Australia Police; and delays in data entry. The Department takes the necessary action to keep a child safe while the Safety and Wellbeing Assessment is underway. As at 30 November 2015, there were 2,285 open Safety and Wellbeing Assessments in the following districts: Armadale – 204 Cannington – 135 Crisis Care – 18 East Kimberley – 80 Fremantle – 47 Goldfields – 84 Great Southern – 141 Joondalup – 190 Midland – 138 Mirrabooka – 212 Murchison – 109 Peel – 122 Perth – 44 Pilbara – 218 Rockingham – 143 South West – 141 West Kimberley – 69 Wheatbelt – 190.
(5) As at 5 December 2015 there were 661 monitored cases in the following districts: Armadale – 115 Cannington – 8 East Kimberley – 32 Fremantle – 44 Goldfields – 5 Great Southern – 100 Joondalup – 13 Midland – 145 Mirrabooka – 19 Murchison – 5 Peel – 34 Perth – 12 Pilbara – 5 Rockingham – 28 South West – 38 West Kimberley – 21 Wheatbelt – 37.
Cases which involve children in the CEO’s care aged 2 years or younger must not be placed on the Monitored List. Children in the CEO’s care aged between 3 and 5 years may, where there are extraordinary reasons, be placed on the Monitored List if the decision has been approved by the Executive Director (Metropolitan or Country Services). If the case remains on the Monitored List, the decision must be reviewed by the team leader/district director every month and approved by the relevant Executive Director every three months. The list is reviewed on a monthly basis to ensure compliance with the above.
Explore WA Government Data
Search the full archive in the free dashboard, or query programmatically via API.
Explore more
Government Gazette
Appointments, regulatory notices, planning changes.
Hansard
Debates, questions, speeches and sentiment.
Tabled Papers
Reports and documents tabled in Parliament.
Committees
Committee profiles and recent reports.
Regulations
Subsidiary legislation with filters and summaries.
Bills
Proposed laws and parliamentary progress.
Acts
Current WA legislation and summaries.
Explanatory Memoranda
Bills with EMs (text/PDF) available.
Members
MP profiles, party breakdown and rankings.
Pollie Rankings
Data-driven rankings across 19 categories.
Amendment Chains
Track how schemes and regulations evolve over time.