Improving care and post-care for children and young people

Care Services Investment Reforms and other initiatives

We have reviewed our investment in care services, to determine the effectiveness of existing investment and to provide options for future commissioning of services supplied under the Child Protection (Placement Services) Investment Specification.

This has included considering alternative options recommended by the Queensland Child Protection Commission of Inquiry, such as the transfer of carers (Recommendations 8.4 and, 8.5, 8.6), professional foster care (Recommendation 8.10), boarding schools (Recommendation 8.11) and therapeutic care.

The aim is to revitalise the child protection system so it is flexible and responds to the individual needs of children and young people in care, including their care, protection, medical, educational and therapeutic needs.

Queensland Care Services Outcomes Framework

Care services are a key component of the child protection system to enable children and young people to be safe and reach their full potential, regardless of their situations.

We are working in partnership with service providers to build a more robust system that focuses on achieving meaningful outcomes for children and young people in care.

To guide the collaborative approach between government and non-government services, the Queensland Care Services Outcomes Framework (PDF, 1.2 MB) Queensland Care Services Outcomes Framework (DOCX, 2.2 MB) has been developed to establish a foundation in caring for children and young people and meeting their individual needs.

The framework aims to:

• establish a shared vision in identifying and measuring outcomes for children in care
• promote integrated and coordinated responses to the needs of children in care
• recognise the diversity and uniqueness of children's needs in care.

The framework is structured around five domains for achieving or improving life outcomes for children and young people. These domains are:

• Safe and nurtured — children and young people feel cared for and nurtured in stable environments, safe from abuse, neglect, violence and harm.
• Connected — children and young people are positively connected to family, culture and community and have a sense of identity and belonging.
• Achieving — children and young people attend and engage in their education, meet developmental milestones, engage in and benefit from recreational activities and develop independence and life skills.
• Healthy — children and young people are physically, emotionally and mentally healthy and lead an active and healthy lifestyle.
• Resilient— children and young people feel confident and have social skills, coping skills and the ability to manage adversity.

We are working with service providers on how their everyday work with children and young people in care aligns to the Framework. This action learning approach will enable services to test and refine the measures for ongoing quality improvement.

Increasing placement options for children and young people in care

We are working on a range of initiatives to increase placement options with key focus on:

• increasing foster and kinship care through, for example, programs which support connections to kin, community, and culture, alternative family based care, finding kin, carer assessment and training, and tailored support programs
• accessing supports to stabilise placements such as the National Disability Insurance Scheme, Evolve Therapeutic Services and the Navigate Your Health
• ensuring investment performance through individualised placement and support and investment guidelines
• maintaining quality of care through our Child Safety Licensing team.

Permanent care for children and young people

My Home

All children and young people deserve to live in a safe and supportive home where they are valued and cared for. In building a new child protection and family support system in Queensland, we are working to reduce the number of children and young people in the tertiary system. However, for children and young people who are unable to safely return to their family of origin, stable, safe, secure and long term care options need to be provided. My Home is a care option for children and young people who need long-term care and where reunification with family is no longer possible.

People who express interest, are assessed as suitable adoptive parents, or who have committed to an adoption assessment, can become a permanent foster carers and provide a loving, nurturing and stable home where the child or young person is considered as a member of the family.

Children under 6 years of age and subject to Child Protection Orders until they are 18 years old (or a decision has been made to apply for a Child Protection Order until they are 18 years old) will be placed with suitable permanent foster carers. My Home also enables us to consider whether the permanent foster carers will be the child's legal guardians under a Long-Term Guardianship Order to the carers. This provides the security and stability of living permanently with a family without ongoing intensive involvement from the department. Providing a permanent, stable home life allows children to form trusting and secure attachments to their carers, develop to their full potential and feel a sense of belonging with family and community.

Strengthening support for children and young people in care

Hope and Healing Framework for residential care workers

The Hope and Healing Framework for Residential Care sets the foundations for caring for, and working with, young people in care in a therapeutic and trauma-informed way, acknowledging their lived experience of trauma, abuse and neglect.

The former Department of Child Safety, Youth and Women worked with PeakCare Queensland Inc to develop and deliver 10 Hope and Healing e-learning modules available on PeakCare's website. All residential care staff and their direct supervisors employed by licensed residential care services must complete the training prior to commencing unsupervised direct care work with children and young people. PowerPoint versions of the modules are available to ensure availability of the training for remote services which have limited internet access and to enable training in group settings.

Master class on understanding positive behaviour support and managing high risk behaviours for residential care staff

The department has partnered with PeakCare Queensland Inc to design and make available master class modules to support residential care staff in the care they provide to young people with complex behavioural needs.

The four master class modules align with departmental policies and procedures and best practice in therapeutic care with focus on trauma informed care, understanding positive behaviour support, prohibited practices and managing high risk behaviours.

Cultural capability has been prioritised to ensure content is culturally safe and supports First Nations children and young people and their connections to family, community, cultural and Country.

Unlike the 10 Hope and Healing Framework e-learning modules, completion of the master class modules is not mandatory but residential care staff are encouraged to complete them to support ongoing learning in providing care to young people. The master class modules are available on PeakCare's website.

Minimum qualifications standards for residential care workers

The Minimum Qualification Standards (PDF, 1014 KB) (MQS) have been implemented to strengthen the capability and skills of the residential care workforce in supporting children and young people in care.

From 1 January 2019, all residential care staff and their direct supervisors employed by licensed residential care services must:

• hold, or be enrolled in working towards, a recognised relevant qualification. Staff may be enrolled as part of their recruitment process with the residential care service provider but must be enrolled prior to commencing any unsupervised direct care work
• for those staff currently enrolled, obtain the qualification within the timeframes determined by the relevant training authority, and
• complete the online Hope and Healing for Residential Care training prior to commencing unsupervised direct care work.

The MQS Information Sheet (PDF, 1014 KB) provides further details regarding, for example, preferred and recognised qualifications and the assessment process for services seeking staff qualifications to be recognised as aligning with the MQS.

Implementation of the Hope and Healing Framework and the MQS delivers on the recommendations of the Queensland Child Protection Commission of Inquiry to improve life outcomes for children and young people living in residential care.

The Queensland Government is committed to providing services that better support the safety, wellbeing and best interests of Queensland's most at-risk children and young people.

Incident management and reporting for non-family based care

Service providers must have internal policies and procedures to:

• identify risk factors and early warning signs of incidents occurring. Previous trauma experienced by the child or young person should be understood, with recommendations and plans put in place to support early intervention and to prevent incidents occurring or escalating.
• identify, assess, manage and respond to incidents
• report incidents, if required. Broadly, incidents which should be reported to the department relate to extraordinary events, actions or changes in a child or young person's circumstances. These may include circumstances which impact or have the potential impact, their safety, wellbeing and best interests or the safety, wellbeing and best interests of another child or young person in care and/or significantly disrupt a care service's capacity to provide care to a child or young person.

To complement services' required internal policies and procedures, the department has an Incident reporting guide for residential care services (PDF, 513 KB) and the Incident management for residential care service guidelines. (PDF, 271 KB)

In emergencies, call 000. If services believe matters require attention, but do not require police attendance, they should contact Policelink 131 44.

Joint agency protocol to reduce preventable police call-outs to residential care

The Joint agency protocol to reduce preventable police call-outs to residential care services was implemented on 1 January 2019 to reduce the criminalisation of children and young people living in residential care. Children and young people in residential care reported unnecessary exposure to police, and that they were being criminalised, as a result of police being called in response to actions that would not be treated as criminal in a family home.

The Protocol, informed by the voices of young people with lived experiences, was developed collectively between the then Department of Families, Seniors, Disability Services and Child Safety, the Queensland Family and Child Commission, the Queensland Police Service, the Queensland Department of Health, the Office of the Public Guardian and non-government representatives.

The Protocol aims to improve support for children and young people living in residential care by addressing the concerns that result in unnecessary police involvement and providing more appropriate responses and strategies. Services' internal policies and procedures should align with the Protocol, and should be reviewed and updated, as necessary, to reflect the Protocol's intent. Practice should be trauma-informed and responsive to the needs of children and young people in care and improved staff capability, learning and development should be promoted.

Improving health outcomes for children and young people in care

Evolve Therapeutic Services

Evolve Therapeutic Services (ETS) supports children and young people who present with severe and complex mental health support needs and who are subject to active child protection intervention.

ETS is delivered by Queensland Health through 12 Hospital and Health Services across 16 sites to provide mental health intervention services as planned, coordinated therapeutic and behaviour support to children and young people in care to improve their health and wellbeing.

ETS does not replace the services offered by children or young people's usual care provider.

In an emergency, call 000 or attend your nearest hospital emergency department.

Navigate Your Health

Navigate Your Health provides children and young people with improved access to health checks, referrals and health care coordination support.

The Navigate Your Health model is informed by the National Clinical Assessment Framework (NCAF) for children and young people in care. The NCAF was developed to guide the improvement of the range and consistency of responses to meeting the health needs of children and young people in care across Australia.

For children and young people in care, the Navigate Your Health model delivers on recommendation 7.7 of the Queensland Child Protection Commission of Inquiry to (in conjunction with Queensland Health) ensure that every child in care is given a comprehensive health and developmental assessment.

The Navigate Your Health model is supported by dedicated Nurse Navigators who take a lead role in supporting children and young people referred to the program. Nurse Navigators work across Child Safety Service Centres and in partnership with General Practices, Hospitals, Aboriginal Medical Services and other community health centres, as required. Children and young people subject to an interim or finalised Child Protection Order granting custody or guardianship to the chief executive can be referred to the program by Child Safety staff.

Children and young people who receive case management support by the following Child Safety Service Centres are eligible:

• Brisbane and Moreton Bay region: Chermside, Alderley, Cannon Hill, Mt Gravatt, Inala and Forest Lake.
• South East region: Logan Central and Loganlea.
• Far North Queensland region: Cairns and Edmonton.

Navigate Your Health does not replace the services of the children or young people's usual care provider.

In an emergency, call 000 or attend your nearest hospital emergency department.

Strengthening support for young people when they leave care

Under the Child Protection Act 1999, the Queensland Government is responsible for ensuring support and assistance is available to assist young people, aged 15 to 25 years, in their transition from care to adulthood.

Extended Post Care Support (EPCS)

In June 2022, the Queensland Government announced a historic funding commitment for young adults leaving care to ensure they are better supported to transition from care.

Three EPCS initiatives came into effect on 1 July 2023:

1. New services being rolled out across Queensland to deliver culturally appropriate, proactive and practical support to young adults leaving care from their 18th birthday up to their 21st birthday.
2. Extension of the care allowance for young adults who continue living with their former carer or guardian from 19 up until their 21st birthday. The care allowance is paid to the young adult's former carer or guardian (carer) to meet the everyday living costs of the young adult and is paid at the full base rate.
3. Financial support of up to $16,000 per year being available to young adults leaving care to live in their own housing arrangements as independent adults. The financial support is available from their 18th birthday up until their 21st birthday and will assist in meeting their everyday living costs. Support is available for young people turning 18 and transitioning to adulthood after 1 July 2023. This support will be available up until the young adult's 21st birthday.

The new EPCS services are funded to complement and not duplicate the supports already available in the service system. They will sit within the continuum of support available to young people and young adults from 15 up until their 25th birthday.

EPCS services will work directly with young adults to assist with finding a safe and affordable place to live, establishing or maintaining connections with family, culture, Country and community, applying for a job or enrolling in a training course or taking young adults to appointments to meet their health and wellbeing needs.

Next Step Plus

Building on the success and learnings from the former Next Step After Care Program, the redesigned Next Step Plus commenced on 1 April 2020.

The Next Step Plus program's vision is that all young people are resilient and supported and develop the skills, capacity and capability to be the people they want to be.

The Next Step Plus program will assist young people from the age of 15, who are in care, to develop the skills and knowledge to live independently; and to ensure those who have left care are able to receive additional support and services should they require them.

Queensland EPCS and Next Step Plus Providers

Transition and Post Care Support Program

The Transition and Post Care Support (TPCS) program was established in response to the needs of young people with complex disability, mental health, high-risk behavioural and/or Youth Justice involvement at significant risk of homelessness as they transition from care.

TPCS is supported by funding from the Commonwealth Government's National Agreement for Social Housing and Homelessness until June 2029.

There are 12 Child Safety Transition Officers in Queensland and an additional two non-government TPCS programs running in the South East and Brisbane & Moreton Bay regions. Transition Officers can start supporting a young person in care from 15 years of age and post-care up until age 21. Services are prioritised for those young people who are most at risk of homelessness as they transition to adulthood or who are experiencing homelessness post care.

Transition Officers provide direct support to young people, as well as their Safety and Support Networks, to ensure they will be safe, well supported, connected to community and culture, involved in fulfilling activities and maintaining healthy relationships with others.

This is achieved by:

• establishing a trustful working relationship with a young person to assist their transition to adulthood planning and journey
• assisting the young person's Safety and Support Network to create and achieve all goals in a transition to adulthood plan
• ensuring the young person is involved in, prepared for and planning their own transition from care
• working directly with the young person to develop the independence and practical skills they need for young adulthood
• establishing and maintaining community links with appropriate services and supports.

Sortli

Sortli (short for 'sort out your life') is a free mobile app to help young people think about their future life and plan for transition to independence.

Sortli was developed by young people who have already left the care system and are living independently as well as professionals who work with young people in care.

As Sortli covers come sensitive topics, it is not suitable for young people under 15 years of age.

Find out more and download the app.