Reviewing Implementation of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Child Placement Principle Queensland 2020

Introduction

This report reviews the progress of the Queensland Government, through the Department of Child Safety Youth and Women, in implementing the full intent of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Child Placement Principle.

This implementation review is conducted on the basis of the best practice approach set out in SNAICC, 2017, Understanding and Applying the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Child Placement Principle – A Resource for Legislation, Policy and Program Development and SNAICC, 2018, The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Child Placement Principle: A Guide to Support Implementation.

It considers changes in the implementation of the five elements of the Child Placement Principle – prevention, partnership, placement, participation and connection – described in diagram across five interrelated system elements, since the comprehensive baseline analysis SNAICC released in April 2018 (2018 Baseline Analysis).

This review considers implementation efforts from 1 May 2019 to 30 April 2020.

Key findings of the Implementation Review for Queensland 2020

Queensland leads the nation in the proportion of expenditure provided to Aboriginal community-controlled organisations for family support and intensive family support.

Nevertheless, the total expenditure on ACCOs for all child protection and family support related services remains, significantly less than the percentage of children in care who are Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander. Although several initiatives successfully promote participation of children and families in decision-making, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander family-led decision-making is still not offered widely or consistently across all points of child protection. While the data indicates 95% of Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander children have cultural support plans, two-thirds reveal that they do not feel connected to their culture, suggesting a lack of quality planning.

The Family Participation Program (FPP) achieved a sustained increase in kin placements by working with family to identify kin and then referring the family’s identified kin carer to a Foster and Kinship Care (FKC) service in their community. The FKC service then works with the family member and the Department to achieve provisional kin carer approval. However there is still a continued decrease in the percentage of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children placed with kin or other Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander carers. This indicates that there are significant gaps in efforts to place children at higher levels of the placement hierarchy.