SA child protection services can’t keep up with demand from struggling families
Thousands of South Australian families are being sent to government support services for help – only to be turned away with no indication as to what happens to them.
SA News
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Three in every five “high risk” families referred to government support services are being turned away because of under-resourcing, prompting fears children are being left vulnerable.
Last financial year 3882 struggling families were referred to programs under the state government’s Intensive Family Support Service (IFSS), but it could only accept 1397.
It is unclear what happens to those who are turned away, raising concerns that children are being left vulnerable to worsening abuse or neglect while families wait for help.
Parents grappling with issues like substance misuse, domestic violence, mental illness, poverty and trauma can be referred to IFSS by the Department for Child Protection (DCP), in a step before it considers removing children from the home.
When the service, which is run by the Human Services Department, is at capacity a family may be bounced back to DCP or passed on to a lower level non-government organisation which may not be equipped to manage their complex issues.
In a small number of cases a family may refuse to take part, but advocates say most are crying out for help.
Uniting Communities chief executive Simon Schrapel said he saw “many, many families that want to receive support to be able to look after their children, and manage their situation much better, and as a state we need to be able to ensure all those families can get support when they need it”.
He is calling for a huge increase in funding for family support services, to more than $270m.
“The government will say there’s no way the Budget can sustain that but the Budget also can’t sustain the number of kids coming into state care either,” Mr Schrapel said.
Child Protection Minister Katrine Hildyard acknowledged there were “an increasing number of families … experiencing really deeply interconnected, complex, difficult issues”.
Ms Hildyard said the government had allocated an extra $35m to IFSS over four years, including to hire 60 more staff to work with an extra 250 families a year.
Another $13.4m has been committed to holding more family group conferences which are aimed at keeping children safe with extended relatives, rather than taking them into care.
Ms Hildyard noted investment in other areas of government, such as mental health workers in schools, was also supporting families.
But these amounts pale in comparison to the hundreds of millions of dollars spent on caring for children who are taken into state care.
There are at least 4800 children living with foster families, relatives or in state-run homes, up from 3400 in mid-2017.
Latest estimates warn there are about 8500 South Australian families, with 12,500 children, “at high risk” of ongoing contact with the child protection system, and worsening conditions at home.
Opposition child protection spokesman Josh Teague has criticised Ms Hildyard’s handling of her portfolio, saying she “claims to have all the answers but refuses to release crucial detail that’s in the public interest”.
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