South Australian parents getting support they need to keep caring for children with a disability at home
South Australian families are being kept intact thanks to support services to help parents struggling to care for children with a disability.
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Parents who were at risk of losing their children because they were struggling to manage their disability are now receiving support, which has prevented young people from ending up in state care.
The Advertiser is aware of at least 13 cases where children would likely have been removed from their parents over care concerns if disability support had not been found.
Kudos Services, which receives referrals of at-risk families from the Child Protection Department, says it has diverted at least two children from being taken into full-time care.
Child Protection Minister Rachel Sanderson has told parliament that a team within her department had worked with another 11 children over the past 12 months who were at risk of entering state care.
“Their families, without further disability supports, would not have been able to appropriately care for them,” Ms Sanderson, pictured, said.
That team was expanded a year ago from two staff to 11.
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The successes mean families are able to stay together while preventing unnecessary strain on the under-resourced child protection system.
In 2017, the former Labor state government confirmed at least five children had been relinquished by their parents to child protection authorities “due to the child’s disability-related support needs”.
At that time, while in Opposition, Ms Sanderson said she had been approached by parents “at the end of their tether … with no choice but to hand (their children) over” to the state.
Kudos Services chief executive Nicole Keller said many families were still struggling to understand what help was available – through the NDIS or other avenues – and how to access it. “They get too stressed and it gets too hard and so they may relinquish (a child to authorities),” she said.
“It just speaks to the enormous pressure that some families are under. It’s just so demanding and challenging and there is no respite.
“It’s probably been one of those hidden things until now.”
Those families may also be dealing with mental health issues or lack of education, Ms Keller said.
Set up in October last year, Kudos employs about 110 staff to provide speech, physio, occupational and other therapies, and helps families navigate the NDIS bureaucracy.
As of June 30 this year, there were 635 children in state care who had an approved NDIS plan. The department estimates about 30 per cent of children in care are eligible for the scheme, which would be about 1170.
Data released by the NDIS yesterday shows 91 per cent of parents and carers believe the scheme has helped their child develop after just one year of support.