National Standards for Out of Home Care - Consultation Paper
Table of contents
- 1. Executive summary
- 2. Setting the scene
- 3. The chance to grow up safe and well
- 4. National Standards for Out of Home Care
- 5. Questions for consultation
- Appendices
1. Executive summary
'All governments and the non-government sector are committed to making sure that vulnerable children are looked after and cared for in a safe and supportive environment wherever they live. This requires a consistent and concerted national response across all levels of government.'
From 'Developing National Standards to protect vulnerable children', Minister Macklin media release 14 October 2009
This Consultation Paper has been developed to inform the consultation stage of the process for developing National Standards in Out of Home Care (the National Standards). The National Standards are intended to apply to formal care arrangements. Formal Out of Home Care service options include, but are not limited to, residential care, foster care and kinship care (where the carer is supported by an agency).
Advisory firm KPMG has been engaged to work on developing the National Standards; contact details of the project team are provided below.
1.1 What is Out of Home Care?
The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare defines Out of Home Care as 'alternative accommodation for children under 18 years of age who are unable to live with their parents, where the State or Territory makes a financial payment or where a financial payment has been offered but declined'. The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare data does not include children who are living in Out of Home Care outside the child protection system, such as placements made in disability services, medical or psychiatric services, juvenile justice facilities, overnight childcare services or supported accommodation assistance services.
The development of these National Standards is a key part of the National Framework for Protecting Australia's Children 2009-2020, which was endorsed by the Council of Australian Governments on 30 April 2009.
This Consultation Paper seeks your views on:
- the drivers for optimal health and well-being outcomes for children and young people
- where and how the Out of Home Care system can impact on outcomes for children and young people in Out of Home Care and how to influence these drivers
- what possible standards should be included in the National Standards for Out of Home Care and how they should be measured and reported.
1.2 Childhood outcomes
It is widely reported that children who have been placed in Out of Home Care have poorer life outcomes than other children.1 Children in Out of Home Care deserve the same opportunities as other children to grow up safe and well, and reach their potential.
The key areas of well-being for children and young people include:
- health
- safety
- culture and community
- spirituality
- emotional development
- learning and achieving.
There are a broad spectrum of factors that, together, assist in developing healthy outcomes for children.
1.3 Developing National Standards to influence outcomes
The National Standards for Out of Home Care seek to drive improvements in the quality of care so that children and young people in care have the same opportunities as other children and young people to reach their potential in all the key areas of well-being.
The National Standards will identify the key factors within care that directly influence positive outcomes for children and young people. For each of the factors, the National Standards will be defined that are measurable, and set at the best practice level so that all jurisdictions are driving improvements.
To assist in the national consultations a series of questions has been proposed and are outlined below:
| Areas of well-being | Factors in Out of Home Care that influence outcomes | Desired outcomes for children in care |
|---|---|---|
| Health (including physical and mental health) | Factors in Out of Home Care that may form the basis of standards:
| Attain and maintain good health Develop effective coping style |
| Safety | A stable environment that is free from physical, emotional and/or sexual abuse Develop social connections | |
| Learning and achieving | Achievement of developmental milestones Participation and achievement in education | |
| Emotional development | Stability in behaviour Positive and supportive relationships | |
| Culture and community | Cultural identity and ethnic pride Participation in community | |
| Spirituality | Positive sense of identity Connection to family/significant others and land/country |
1.4 Consultation process
The KPMG project team, in partnership with the Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs (FaHCSIA), will undertake an extensive consultation process with the community, carers, young people, government representatives and the non-government sector across Australia.
The process will encompasses stakeholder consultation in each state and territory capital city, and four regional locations, beginning mid February 2010 and concluding in March 2010. The following consultations will occur:
- a workshop that will focus on state and territory child protection departments, service providers and representative peak organisations
- a workshop that will focus on foster families, grandparents, kinship carers and professional carers
- group sessions (with appropriate sector involvement) with young people.
Initial consultations have taken place with a range of stakeholders to ensure a thorough understanding of the issues that need to be resolved in order to develop National Standards for Out of Home Care. These initial consultations have included members of the state and territory government departments with responsibility for Out of Home Care, and representatives from non-government peak bodies.
To assist in the national consultations a series of questions has been proposed and are outlined below:
| No. | Questions |
|---|---|
| 1 | Are the key areas of well-being for children and young people identified the right ones to focus on? If not, what additional areas should be taken into account? Why? |
| 2 | What drivers of children's outcomes can be influenced by Out of Home Care - what are the top 10 factors to focus on? What particular issues must the standards address, and why? |
| 3 | What is the best practice benchmark for each aspect of care where National Standards should be set? |
| 4 | To whom should the National Standards apply (carers, community organisations, government)? Why? Should there be different expectations in relation to the National Standards for Out of Home Care services depending on the form of Out of Home Care support provided? If so, how do you see such a system working? |
| 5 | How should the National Standards for Out of Home Care be monitored and measured? |
1.5 Next steps
FaHCSIA and the KPMG project team will publicise details of the national consultations once they have been confirmed.
The draft National Standards are expected to be available for comment by mid 2010 and will be finalised later this year.
1.6 Contact details
Should you wish to ask questions, provide feedback or confirm any details, please find below the relevant contact details.
Project team
Liz Forsyth, Partner
Phone: 0418 659 857
Martin Joyce, Project Manager
Phone: (03) 9288 5840
email: contactus (contactus@nationalstandardsforoutofhomecare.com)
1.7 Confidentiality
In developing the National Standards it will be important to take account of all feedback and, in some cases, share or spotlight feedback. Please advise KPMG if you do not wish to have your feedback used publicly.
- Bromfield, L., & Osborn, A. (2007), 'Getting the big picture': A Synopsis and Critique of Australian Out-Of-Home Care Research, Australian Institute of Family Studies, Melbourne,http://www.aifs.gov.au/nch/pubs/issues/issues26/issues26.html(Opens in a new tab/window)- accessed December 2009.