Audit ordered after Queensland kids ditch foster care

A full audit has been ordered by the Queensland government to discover why almost 800 vulnerable children in state care are leaving arranged housing placements to tough it out on their own, as unlicensed providers flood the system.

The Queensland Crisafulli government has ordered an urgent audit of children in state care.

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A full audit has been ordered by the Queensland government to discover why almost 800 vulnerable children in state care are leaving arranged housing placements to tough it out on their own, as unlicensed providers flood the system.

The Crisafulli Liberal National Party government has ordered an urgent gathering of the names, ages and locations of 780 children in the Department of Child Safety's foster, residential and kinship care programs but have chosen to leave and “self-place” elsewhere, putting themselves at risk of homelessness or dangerous situations.

The shocking statistic comes as the 17-month Commission of Inquiry into the state’s “broken” Child Safety System begins on Wednesday, charged with examining the $1.12bn taxpayer-funded residential home care system as part of a sector-wide analysis.

Minister for Child Safety Amanda Camm said it was essential that vulnerable kids are identified to provide them support and keep them safe.

“Allowing one vulnerable child to self-place in Queensland is unacceptable to me, let alone 780 young people,” Ms Camm said.

“That’s why I have ordered a full audit of the kids in care who are self-placing, what support they are receiving and where they are.

“It is vital we have an understanding of how we can better support these vulnerable children to get their lives back on track and, if they have a youth justice crossover, ensure we are doing all we can to better protect the community.”

Minister for Child Safety and the Prevention of Domestic and Family Violence, Amanda Camm. Picture: Steve Pohlner

A separate review of the contracting processes used to secure residential care providers has also been ordered to uncover why the state has an over reliance on for-profit, unlicensed operators in the sector.

Only 36 of the state’s 146 residential care providers are licensed, meaning they are closely monitored by the department and bound by the Child Protection Act.

The state’s 110 unlicensed providers are largely those in the for-profit sector, and received $474.3m in state government funding last financial year.

While they are required to hold a blue card, these operators are not subject to legislative suitability requirements or performance reviews.

Ms Camm said it was essential to discover why through service delivery checks had not been conducted over the past decade.

“The fact the government had nearly no oversight of unlicensed providers, or recourse to ensure they are delivering positive outcomes for vulnerable children is a clear system failure,” she said.

“The residential care sector is a billion-dollar industry built on the back of vulnerable children with taxpayers’ money.

“It is critical there is oversight and these organisations know that if they do not perform, the government will act.

“It is critical we take the necessary steps to fix issues when they are uncovered to ensure children are being adequately taken care of.

“This Commission of Inquiry is about accountability, both ministerial and departmental. We need to understand how these system failures happened, so we can ensure they do not happen again.”