Covid impact on families starts to slow

Minister for Children and Youth Justice and Minister for Multicultural Affairs The Honourable Leanne Linard

The latest child safety data shows that demand for family support and child protection services has slowed since the initial onset of the Covid-19 pandemic in Queensland.

While the number of child safety notifications requiring investigation and children requiring out-of-home care rose again, September 2021 quarterly data shows this growth is starting to slow.

Minister for Children, Leanne Linard MP said Queensland’s family and child safety support services continue to prioritise the most urgent cases and deal with increasingly complex family support needs. She thanked Queensland’s foster and kinship carers who continue to support children and young people in need of care.

“Last year we welcomed 1,580 new families which is wonderful. The total number of carer families is now 5,927 compared to 5,680 the year before,” Ms Linard said.

“This includes an increase of almost 100 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander carer families compared to the previous year. This means more First Nations children are being cared for in their communities and culture.”

“I’m pleased to see the number of kinship carer families has also increased, ensuring 46 percent of children in care were placed with kin.’

The number of child safety notifications increased by nearly five percent in the year to September 2021.

“There were more than 26,100 investigations commenced by dedicated child safety staff throughout the state,” Ms Linard said.

“Of investigations with a 24-hour priority, 94 percent commenced on time – a similar result to the same time in the previous year.”

Ms Linard said there was no doubt Queensland families were grappling with several risk factors in the home, including domestic and family violence, drug and alcohol misuse and mental illness.

“Sadly, 43 percent of children coming into care in the 12 months to 30 September 2021 had a parent involved with methamphetamines and, in most cases, this was ice,” she said.

“The number of children in care increased to 11,169 as of 30 September 2021, which is 471 more children in care or 4.4 percent more than the same time last year. The rate of growth is trending downwards when compared with the yearly increases in March and June quarters.”

Caseloads for child safety officers have remained steady at 16.2 per full-time equivalent.

For more data information visit www.csyw.qld.gov.au/child-family/our-performance.

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