❓ Hon Alison Xamon raises concerns about the mental health of children in the Department of Child Protection's care, questioning the thoroughness of screening processes. The Minister responds affirmatively, outlining improvements to screening and monitoring.
AnsweredQoN 5055Legislative Council
QuestionView source ↗
I refer to recommendation 21 of the Commissioner for Children and Young People’s Report on the
Inquiry into the Mental Health and Wellbeing of Children and Young People
from April this year, which raises concerns about the mental health and wellbeing of children and young people in the care of the Department of Child Protection, and I ask -
(1) Will the Department of Child Protection be implementing more thorough mental health screening and monitoring processes for all children in care, in addition to the current screening procedures, including regular and consistent monitoring and evaluation throughout the period of time while children are in care as recommended in the report?
(2) If yes to (1), please describe what improvements to the existing processes will be made?
(3) When will these improvements be implemented?
(4) If no to (1), why not?
Inquiry into the Mental Health and Wellbeing of Children and Young People
from April this year, which raises concerns about the mental health and wellbeing of children and young people in the care of the Department of Child Protection, and I ask -
(1) Will the Department of Child Protection be implementing more thorough mental health screening and monitoring processes for all children in care, in addition to the current screening procedures, including regular and consistent monitoring and evaluation throughout the period of time while children are in care as recommended in the report?
(2) If yes to (1), please describe what improvements to the existing processes will be made?
(3) When will these improvements be implemented?
(4) If no to (1), why not?
AnswerView source ↗
Answered
27 March 2012
Responded by
Minister for Child Protection
Response time
119 days
(1) Yes.
(2)
- All children over four years coming into the Department's care are screened by the Department's pschologists using a specific mental health screening tool.
- Children under four years are screened by Child Health Nurses.
- Both these processes are designed to identify any early developmental and psychological health issues which may lead to ongoing mental health concerns.
- Over the next 12 months, the Department will implement mental health screening reviews for all children in its care as part of their twelve month review.
- Viewpoint is a new program which the Department has put in place to get direct feedback from children in the CEO's care, via a computer assisted questionnaire. It provides information about the child's emotional state and experience in care and will assist in developing an ongoing monitoring process for the caseworker.
- The Department has increased the number of psychologist positions, especially in country districts. This will give the Department more capacity to assist with the screening process for children coming into care and to monitor the progress at the twelve month review as noted above.
- Through the Memorandum of Understanding between the Department and the Department of Health, District Offices are meeting on a regular basis with their local Child and Mental Health Services for regular collaborative meetings to discuss individual children where there are mental health concerns.
(3) As outlined in the previous answer the Department intends to implement further improvements to the mental health screening process over the next twelve months.
(4) Not applicable.
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
(2)
- All children over four years coming into the Department's care are screened by the Department's pschologists using a specific mental health screening tool.
- Children under four years are screened by Child Health Nurses.
- Both these processes are designed to identify any early developmental and psychological health issues which may lead to ongoing mental health concerns.
- Over the next 12 months, the Department will implement mental health screening reviews for all children in its care as part of their twelve month review.
- Viewpoint is a new program which the Department has put in place to get direct feedback from children in the CEO's care, via a computer assisted questionnaire. It provides information about the child's emotional state and experience in care and will assist in developing an ongoing monitoring process for the caseworker.
- The Department has increased the number of psychologist positions, especially in country districts. This will give the Department more capacity to assist with the screening process for children coming into care and to monitor the progress at the twelve month review as noted above.
- Through the Memorandum of Understanding between the Department and the Department of Health, District Offices are meeting on a regular basis with their local Child and Mental Health Services for regular collaborative meetings to discuss individual children where there are mental health concerns.
(3) As outlined in the previous answer the Department intends to implement further improvements to the mental health screening process over the next twelve months.
(4) Not applicable.
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
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.