Former MacKillop Family Services employee raises the alarm on the dangers of working in residential care

A Geelong woman who worked in maximum security prisons says she felt more at risk working in residential care.

A Geelong residential care worker claims she was unfairly dismissed after falling pregnant. Picture: Brad Fleet

A Geelong woman employed in maximum security prisons for almost a decade says she was at greater risk working in residential care homes.

Sophie Smith (not her real name) also claimed she was not adequately supported by MacKillop Family Services management after she informed them she was pregnant.

She was dismissed just a few weeks later.

MacKillop provides residential care to at-risk young people who have experienced trauma.

Ms Smith said management didn’t mitigate risks to staff who had to deal with an array of incidents, including drug use and children hiding weapons.

“They would tell us to pick up a young person,” she said.

“But we’d say ‘we can’t, he needs to be in a special car because he pulls out the car seat headrest and starts hitting staff with it.

“They knew full well that he was dangerous in the car, and didn’t give us another staff member or a safe car.”

“I worked in the correctional space for years and I felt safer working in maximum security prisons than in residential care.”

Ms Smith said she was assigned numerous unrealistic tasks after disclosing she was pregnant.

She said she was also accused of not reporting incidents that occurred when she was not working.

“When I told them I was pregnant, there was no ‘do you need anything from us, do you feel safe in the homes considering it was a dangerous environment?’” she said.

“One day, I got kicked in the stomach while pregnant.

“I called and said I wanted to go to the hospital, (and) they said ‘that’s fine but we have to send a replacement worker first’.”

But no one came and she had to finish the shift before going to hospital, she said.

“I called so many meetings in regards to getting management to come and work in the houses to see what it’s like and the violence we (staff) were exposed to,” Ms Smith said.

“We were not heard at all.”

Another MacKillop employee said they felt nothing was “actioned” when staff raised concerns about their safety.

Picture: Brad Fleet

MacKillop director Brandon Howard said when a staff member was pregnant, the organisation worked closely with the individual to ensure their duties were appropriate.

“If the worker requests alternative duties, we consult with the worker and their doctor to identify an appropriate role,” he said.

Mr Howard said MacKillop had also co-designed an online portal to provide staff with information to safely manage their pregnancy.

Mr Howard said staff had multiple opportunities to raise any safety concerns.

“Protecting our staff and the young people we care for from physical and psychological harm is our highest priority and is central to providing a therapeutic care environment,” he said.

Mr Howard said all staff were part of multidisciplinary teams that included case managers, co-ordinators and therapeutic specialists.

He said staff were also trained on how to de-escalate volatile situations.

Originally published as Former MacKillop Family Services employee raises the alarm on the dangers of working in residential care