A WA parliamentary question on notice seeks data on child safety and wellbeing assessments, children in care, and unallocated cases by district as of August 31, 2014. The response provides some data, notes data limitations, and clarifies changes in departmental practices.

AnsweredQoN 1654Legislative Council
Asked
16 September 2014
Portfolio
Child Protection

QuestionView source ↗

(1) As at 31 August 2014, what was the number of new Safety and Wellbeing Assessments for a child recorded during that month, by district? (2) As at 31 August 2014, what was the number of children in care for more than 20 days with no planning recorded, by district? (3) As at 31 August 2014, what was the number of Safety and Wellbeing Assessments with a harm assessment open for more than 90 days, by district? (4) As at 31 August 2014, what were the number of open Safety and Wellbeing Assessments with a harm assessment, by district? (5) As at 31 August 2014, what was the number of "monitored" or "active holding" cases not allocated to workers caseload, by district?

AnswerView source ↗

Answered
22 October 2014
Responded by
Minister for Child Protection
Response time
36 days
(1) There were 1,435 new safety and wellbeing assessments for a child recorded during the month of August 2014, and their distribution by district was:
Armadale - 109
Cannington - 86
Crisis Care - 108
East Kimberley - 54
Fremantle - 73
Goldfields - 44
Great Southern - 85
Joondalup - 65
Midland - 74
Mirrabooka - 87
Murchison - 100
Peel - 78
Perth - 64
Pilbara - 107
Rockingham - 91
South West - 76
West Kimberley - 34
Wheatbelt - 100.
(2) The data is not retrospectively available. As at 22 September 2014, there were three children in care for more than 30 days with no planning recorded, in the following districts:
Cannington - 1
Joondalup - 1
South West - 1.
(3) The Department no longer distinguishes between safety and wellbeing assessments with and without harm concerns at the assessment stage. As at 31 August 2014, there were 908 safety and wellbeing assessments open for more than 90 days, in the following districts:
Armadale - 114
Cannington - 52
Crisis Care - 9
East Kimberley - 2
Fremantle - 22
Goldfields - 50
Great Southern - 22
Joondalup - 9
Midland - 248
Mirrabooka - 32
Murchison - 29
Peel - 51
Perth - 16
Pilbara - 53
Rockingham - 35
South West - 50
West Kimberley - 102
Wheatbelt - 10
Other work units ‑ 2.
(4) The Department no longer distinguishes between safety and wellbeing assessments with and without harm concerns at the assessment stage. As at 31 August 2014, there were 3,440 open safety and wellbeing assessments, in the following districts:
Armadale - 341
Cannington - 240
Crisis Care - 51
East Kimberley - 87
Fremantle - 110
Goldfields - 126
Great Southern - 177
Joondalup - 80
Midland - 472
Mirrabooka - 184
Murchison - 184
Peel - 204
Perth - 131
Pilbara - 295
Rockingham - 185
South West - 211
West Kimberley - 191
Wheatbelt - 169
Other work units ‑ 2.
(5) As at 31 August 2014, there were 783 monitored cases across the following districts:
Armadale - 40
Cannington - 68
East Kimberley - 6
Fremantle - 44
Goldfields - 54
Great Southern - 36
Joondalup - 27
Midland - 106
Mirrabooka - 5
Murchison - 37
Peel - 48
Perth - 16
Pilbara - 86
Rockingham - 35
South West - 57
West Kimberley - 64
Wheatbelt - 54.

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