Devastating final report from NSW Advocate for Children and Young People leads to call for an end of housing children in motels with shift workers
Young people living in motels amid Government care crisis highlight grim realities
Sydney, Australia: Adopt Change welcomes the final report by the Advocate for Children and Young People Zoe Robinson into the NSW child protection system, which has called for an end to alternative care arrangements (ACAs).
ACAs are used when foster or kinship care options are not available for those in out-of-home care, often resulting in children and young people spending months in substandard motels being watched by shift workers.
As part of ‘Moving Cage to Cage: Final Report of the Special Inquiry into Children and Young People in Alternative Care Arrangements’, Ms Robinson interviewed youths to gain an understanding of their experiences within the system, which included serious neglect and sexual abuse.
The participants were as young as 10 years old and gave heart-rending accounts.
According to one, “It’s pretty s*** when you can only get a motel for a week and then have to move to another motel, and it’s just the same cycle. Just keeps happening.”
Another said, “I was sexually assaulted in a hotel that I was staying in, not by a worker but just by a person, another person. I was 12.”
According to Adopt Change CEO Renee Leigh Carter, these revelations are both shocking and dishearteningly familiar.
“To those of us who work within the child protection sector there is nothing surprising within the report, and that in itself is an issue,” says Ms Leigh Carter.
“It is distressing to see the extent of the problems we witness every day; that these horrific encounters are part of the daily struggle these young people face. We are talking about vulnerable children, those who have already had a very tough start to life, who deserve far better than they are currently receiving. Children deserve to grow up in a home with access to supports and therapeutic care to heal from their trauma – not to be shuffled from room to room, or ‘cage to cage’ as they have described it.”
Ms Robinson left no doubt as to her conclusion after examining the ACA system. “Children and young people placed in ACAs are at significant risk of experiencing negative short and long-term impacts, which can lead to further complexities as they grow and develop,” she writes.
“In my view, the use of ACA accommodation should not be continued, and there needs to be an immediate focus on transitioning away from these types of arrangements as a matter of priority.”
The report made five core recommendations:
- Minimise the use of high-cost emergency accommodation and provide more stable, long-term placements for children.
- Improve access to essential services such as education, health and psychological support for children in care.
- Ensure children are involved in decision-making processes regarding their placements.
- Enhance support and training for foster carers to reduce turnover and improve care quality.
- Ensure funds are used effectively and reduce reliance on emergency accommodation.
Ms Leigh Carter insists these are a highly achievable set of goals and emphasises the need for better supports for carers of children and young people as an alternative to the current over-reliance on the high-cost crisis model of care.
“We constantly hear from carers how much the cost-of-living crisis and limited supports are affecting their ability to continue opening their homes to children in need.
In NSW we are working with carers through our My Forever Family NSW Government funded program to garner carer family input into how to better support the children in their care and carer roles so that we can sustain carer homes and ensure it is a viable role for new people to open their homes to children.
Rather than continuing to throw money into the high-cost alternatives, we must ensure that carers are well supported to look after children and young people to enable these kids to stay in family-based care and heal from their trauma,” concludes Ms Leigh Carter.
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Available for interview:
Adopt Change CEO Renée Leigh Carter
For all media enquiries and interviews please contact:
Nick Cook | media@adoptchange.org.au
0410 570 262
About Adopt Change
Adopt Change is a not-for-profit organisation with a mission to support and educate families and communities in caring for displaced children (including those in foster care or orphaned) to achieve our vision of a home for every child that is safe, nurturing and stable so that children can grow, learn, play and thrive.
We provide support resources, training, education and programs to work towards achieving this goal.
Website: www.adoptchange.org.au
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