A new program is keeping at-risk children out of the child protection system

A new program is keeping at-risk children out of the child protection system and at home with their families.

More than 90 at-risk children have been able to stay with their families instead of entering the child protection system by taking part in a new ­program.

So far, 46 families with a collective 98 children who were suspected by authorities to be at risk of harm at home, have taken part.

Of those, 95 children have been able to remain with their families, while three needed further intervention.

Keeping families together is better for children’s wellbeing and less ­expensive. Housing and caring for a child in state-run homes or emergency accommodation can cost as much as $540,000 a child.

Child protection minister Rachel Sanderson. Picture: Kelly Barnes

The average cost – including for those who live with ­relatives or foster parents – has risen to about $115,000 a child.

Families are referred to the $1.6m Family Group Conferencing program by the Child Protection Department in cases where parents are willing to participate.

Since it began in January, the conferencing program has brought together 394 people, including children, parents, grandparents, extended relatives or kin, family friends, support service or school workers and department staff.

They have worked with ­Relationships Australia SA, which is running the two-year pilot program, to develop plans to keep children safe at home.

The families involved come from metropolitan Adelaide, Ceduna, Eyre and Yorke ­peninsulas, Spencer Gulf, the Murraylands and Riverland and the APY Lands. About 40 per cent are Aboriginal.

The program is based on models used in England and New Zealand.

Relationships Australia SA’s Sarah Decrea said it ­provided an opportunity to ­address concerns before they became critical and a child may need to be removed from their family.

“Feedback shows our communities want more family group conferences because they bring together a range of people to do the right thing for children,” she said.

Child Protection Minister Rachel Sanderson said the program had “a strong focus on enabling Aboriginal family and community members to identify strategies to keep children … safe with family and kin”.

Ms Sanderson, pictured, has previously noted the “three main reasons that children are removed from their families are … domestic violence, drug and alcohol abuse and mental health (concerns)”.

There are more than 4450 children living in state care, including 1678 with foster parents and 2136 with extended family.

Each year, between 600 and 800 children are put on a child protection order for the first time. The Child Protection ­Department has long faced calls to focus more on early ­intervention programs.