25 November, 2016
Themes from Nyland #14
The team from the Guardian’s office have analysed the 850 pages and 260 recommendations from The life they deserve: Child Protection Systems Royal Commission Report[1]. We have extracted some themes and priorities to allow us to critique the government’s response, judge the improvements over time and to shape our own work. Following is a description of the issues and a short list of things to watch for in the reform process. The first 13 in the series are available.[2] We will post the rest over the next few weeks. [3]
Commissioner Nyland was particularly critical of the support provided to young people during and after their transition from care at age 18. She presented data that showed proper transition planning had never been provided for more than one third of young people exiting care. Where it had been provided, she said, it had been delivered by under-qualified staff and the support services available were rendered inadequate by a lack of coordination and cooperation between services.
Young people…report receiving limited career planning and little information about what training and employment options may be available to them. All too frequently, young people approach the age of 18 without a clear understanding of how they will access adult services and accommodation.
The Commissioner recommended a change in legislation to oblige the Minister to continue to provide assistance to care leavers up to the age of 25.
Such assistance should specifically include the provision of information about services and resources (especially financial grants and assistance for care leavers); financial and other assistance to obtain housing, education, training and employment; and access to legal advice, health services, counselling and support.
Services funded by government and delivered by non-government organisations should start working with young people well before 18 and continue through the transition period and into adult life. Analysis of current post-care services usage could be used as an indicator of areas of need.
The Commissioner also recommended a review of the South Australian service model to align it with the principles and practice of the National Framework for Protecting Australia’s Children, Transitioning from out-of-home care to independence: A nationally consistent approach to planning, commonly known as the National Approach[4].
The Commissioner recommended that a re-invigorated Rapid Response process also be reviewed to extend the range of priority services for young people up to age 25 and that home-based carers be funded to continue supporting care leavers where they were engaged in school, trade or tertiary training until that qualification was completed.
Independent living programs, she said, needed to be made more flexible about the ages at which young people could be admitted and leave and post-support programs should be more generously resourced to meet the unmet need. The Commissioner also pointed out the opportunity for Housing SA to develop new housing models more suitable to the needs of care leavers.
Recognising the central role of smartphones in the lives of many young people, she recommended the development of a smartphone app. to provide readily available information about the range of services available to them during and after transition from care.
The Commissioner also recommended changes to allow care leavers to see and make copies of documents held by the organisation that had provided services for them more easily.
As reform progresses we look forward to seeing:
- amendments to the Children’s Protection Act 1993 to require the Minister to provide or arrange assistance to care leavers aged between 18 and 25 years
- definition of a range of information services and practical supports to be provided for young people post-care including financial, housing, education, health care, education and training, employment and legal advice
- payments to home-based carers continued past 18 while young people in their care pursue education and training
- review of the service model for care leavers to align with the National Approach
- greater age-flexibility in the provision of independent living programs
- expansion of the priority services provided under Rapid Response to care leavers up to age 25
- provision of intensive case management assistance to care leavers identified as particularly vulnerable
- greater resourcing of post-care services
- changes to facilitate care leavers’ access to documents about them from carers and organisations that had provided services to them.
Please join the discussion on child protection reform via the reply box below.
[1] Unless otherwise noted all quotes are from The life they deserve: Child Protection Systems Royal Commission Report,
[2] See also posts on Coordination and Collaboration, The voice of the child , Emergency care , Residential care Home-based care, Therapeutic care, Aboriginal children, Education , Stability and certainty in care, Responding to abused or neglected children, Children in care with disabilities, Children from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds and Children in care in regional SA.
3 This is not intended to be a précis of Commissioner Nyland’s report which provides a very clear and readable summary. Because of the Guardian’s mandate, this analysis will tend to focus on issues for children in out-of-home-care.
4 Council of Australian Governments (COAG), Protecting children is everyone’s business: National framework for protecting Australia’s children 2009–2020, Canberra, 2009.
One Response
The Child Protection Party supports the suggested changes. We are particularly interested in the additional services which should be offered those leaving care but we are also skeptical about the political will to implement these recommendations. We hope that the your organisation will hold the Government to account if they fail.
Regards,
Tony Tonkin