“The care and protection system significantly contributes to the trauma and distress

experienced by children and young people.”

 Care and protection system 2

Within Australia each state and territory is responsible for their own care and protection
system (CPS), with NSW this responsibility falls upon the Department of Community Services
(DoCS). The DoCS aims to promote the well-being and safety of all children and young people
within NSW, whilst simultaneously working to develop stronger families and communities. To
achieve these goals DoCS provides a range of services such as child protection, parenting
support and early intervention, foster care and adoption (DoCS, 2009). Whilst DoCS strives to
promote the safety and well-being of children and young people, there is mounting concern that
the CPS significantly contributes to the trauma and distress experienced by children and young
people. This paper will examine this concern by highlighting the core principles that underpin
the care and protection system within NSW, introducing the phenomenon of systems and
institutional abuse and will conclude with a discussion that focuses on the experiences of those
within the CPS.

Within NSW the Children (Care and Protection Act) 1987 and the Children and Young
Persons (Care and Protection Act) 1998 (CYP Act) form part of the key legislation that
underpins DoCS services (DoCS, 2009a). The latter is based on key principles developed by the
United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (CROC) which emphasizes the
importance of family and the best interests of the child (Youth Affairs Council of Victoria,
2004). Therefore, the CYP Act highlights the safety and well-being of the child or young person
as the paramount concern, whilst placing importance on giving the child or young person the
opportunity to express their views, the opportunity to participate in the decision making process,
and the right to be given adequate information to enable participation. Above all any intervention
designed to protect a child or young person from harm must be the least intrusive alternative that
is consistent with the care and protection of the child (DoCS, 2009a). Adherence by DoCS to
these guidelines aims to ensure the experience of care and protection by children and young
people is at best collaborative and as least intrusive as possible.

A major responsibility of the DoCS is the protection children and young people from
harm. Historically, the term child abuse encompasses neglect, sexual, physical, and
psychological abuse or harm, and the occurrence of these in institutions or programs designed to
care and protect is known as institutional abuse. Within the last decade another form of abuse
akin to the care and protection system has been acknowledged, systems abuse. Systems abuse
 Care and protection system 3

refers to preventable harm experienced by children and young people that affects their welfare,
development, and sense of security, and occurs as the result of unsuitable policies, practices, or
procedures within the systems and institutions designed to provide care and protection
(Cashmore, Dolby, & Brennan, 1994). Examples may include multiple foster placements,
separation of siblings, excessive adjournments of court proceedings, and inadequately prepared,
implemented and reviewed case plans (The NSW Child Protection Council, 1990).

In its simplest form the CREATE Foundation (2004) noted that some children
experienced systems abuse due to their lack of participation and consultation in regard to court
processes, deficits in carer and caseworker training in regards to facilitating the participation of
children and young people and inadequate entry into care, all of which negatively impacted upon
the child’s experience of the CPS. The CREATE Foundation (2004a) also noted that of 332
children and young people in care across Australia 15 percent indicated that they did not have a
departmental caseworker, and of those children 22 percent indicated it had been more than a year
since they had a caseworker. This is of particular concern as caseworkers’ are critical within the
CPS to advocate the rights and best interests of the child. As a result children and young people
report feelings of vulnerability as they believe they are placed within the CPS and largely
forgotten (Community Services Commission [CSC], 2000).

Loss of significant relationships and insensitive processes are also highlighted as a

common and distressing occurrence within the CPS (CSC, 2000). The Senate Inquiry (2004)
noted that the current CPS often operates within a crisis response framework, which by
definition focuses on finding a safe place and bed for the child, so much so that other
considerations such as keeping siblings together are not taken into account. However, the
traumatic experience a child or young person may experience when separated from their family
is often further exacerbated by separation with their friends, school, and social networks (CSC,
2000; The Senate, 2004). These separation experiences are further compounded by the
insensitive processes of removal reported by some children and young people in care, for
example, one child recalls “I got taken away before I could say goodbye to my mother, my
teacher, the principal, and my friend”. Separation and lost relationships are preventable and
easily addressed through maintaining telephone or email contact. However, the impact of these
 Care and protection system 4

losses is devastating to the child or young person and adds to the emotional pain experienced by
children placed in out-of-home care (CSC, 2000).

As can be seen the CPS, in having the paramount consideration being the safety, welfare
and well-being of the child, can result in detrimental effects upon the very people the system is
designed to help. But what long term effect does that systems abuse have upon the future of the
children and young people? Cashmore and Paxton (2007) found that children and young people
placed in a single out of home care placement, where that placement accounted for 75% of the
individuals time in care, indicated greater positive attitudes and had better long term outcomes
12 months after leaving care. Better outcomes were found where there is no long delay into
warship, fewer placements in care, stability and security in care and where there was no rejection
by the family or foster carers.

Whilst the ideal is to place a child in a single placement until adulthood, the reality is a
single placement is the rarity and multiple placements the norm. It is unfortunate therefore, to
find a significant relationship exists between the number of placements young people experience
in care and the emotional security they felt. In particular the more emotionally secure young
people had the fewer placements in care, with the most secure group having an average of 2.3
placements, and the insecure group having an average of 9.5 placements in care (Cashmore &
Paxton, 2007). The instability in care is related to mental health disorders such as depression as
evidenced by two thirds of young people placed in care who attempted suicide had a history of
unstable care and three quarters of those who attempted suicide did not have a sense of security.
The long term effects of the CPS is evidenced in education where 42% of care leavers completed
their Year 12 education as compared with 80% of their same aged peers, and in social
relationships where those who reported less security in care were more likely to have limited
social support networks (Cashmore & Paxton).

Discussion of the topic firstly focused upon the direct experience and knowledge by one
class member currently employed by DOCS. It was suggested the research conducted by the
CREATE Foundation (2004, 2004a) and the resultant findings were biased and not a true
reflection of the effectiveness or otherwise of the CPS. The bias was initially interpreted to
suggest the research was focused to negatively portray the CPS and to establish the inadequacies
of the system rather than to provide and objective account. However the bias was clarified to
 Care and protection system 5

show that the research was conducted upon children and young people who had been referred to
care placements and did not account for children not referred to care. The bias became more
evident when it became clear that children referred to care have a case worker who advocate for
the child’s rights and best interests and did not include children who do not have a case worker.

The discussion continued where it was anecdotally reported that only approximately 20%
of all care placements are in DOCS placements with the remaining 80% of placements
outsourced. The outsourcing of placements to private organizations such as Barnados and
Wesley Mission is seen by DOCS as an opportunity to provide appropriate care facilities without
DOCS having to accept the associated care responsibilities. As discussion continued it became
evident that DOCS did not have the resources to fulfill their responsibilities in managing the
CPS. Specifically of the 180,000 placed in care less than 20% remained in a single placement
and that the CPS within New South Wales (NSW) had lower positive outcomes than other
Australian States, specifically Queensland and Western Australia.

Having established the management of the CPS suffered from drastic under resourcing
and procedural inadequacies discussion acknowledged the many and varied non system abuse
factors. Specifically it was accepted that interpersonal conflict between the child and carers,
relationship difficulties between the placed child, the carers and the carers own children would
dramatically influence any positive outcomes of placement. The bonding of the child to his/her
carers along with attachment difficulties the cared for child may have experienced with their own
biological parents, all interplay and served to influence the effectiveness of the CPS.

So does the care and protection system (CPS) significantly contribute to the trauma and
distress experienced by children and young people? It is clear the CPS does contribute to the
trauma and distress not only because of inadequacies in the system itself, but also because of the
emotional trauma intervention itself causes. It is clear that long term negative effects are evident
in some children, and for some of those children the trauma and distress is significant. However
when compared with no intervention the CPS is effective in providing better care and protection
for children and young people (Community Services Commission, 2000), and when considering
the extensive numbers provided safety and care, the CPS does not significantly contribute to the
trauma and distress experienced by the children and young people.
 Care and protection system 6

References

Cashmore, J., Dolby, R., & Brennan, D. (1994). Systems Abuse: Problems and Solutions.
Australia: The NSW Child Protection Council.

Cashmore, J., & Paxman, M. (2007). A Longitudinal Study. Retrieved on 8th September, 2009
from www.community.nsw.gov.au/research_wards_leavingcare2.pdf

Community Services Commission, (2000). Voice of Children and young People in Foster Care.
Retrieved on 8th September, 2009 from http://www.ombo.nsw.gov.au/publication/former
%20csc%20reports/THE%20VOICES%20OF%20CHILDREN%20REPORT
%20final1.pdf

CREATE Foundation, (2004). In Their Own Words…Experiences Of ACT Children and Young
People in Care. Retrieved on 8th September, 2009 from
http://www.create.org.au/content/Reports/

CREATE Foundation (2004a). Being Our Best! A Report on Australia’s Children and Young
People in Care. Retrieved on 8th September, 2009 from
http://www.create.org.au/content/Reports/

The Department of Community Services. (2009). About the Department. Retrieved on 3rd
October, 2009 from
http://www.community.nsw.gov.au/about_us/about_the_department.html

The Department of Community Services. (2009). Key Legislation That Governs Our Work.
Retrieved on 3rd October, 2009 from
http://www.community.nsw.gov.au/about_us/legislation_.html

The NSW Child Protection Council. (1990). PANOC Report: Physical Abuse and Neglect of
Children Committee. Australia: Author.

The Senate, Community Affairs References Committee (2004). Forgotten Australians. Retrieved
on 8th September, 2009 from
http://www.aph.gov.au/Senate/committee/clac_ctte/completed_inquiries/2004-
07/instcare/report/index.html
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Youth Affairs Council of Victoria. (2004). Young People and Child Protection. YACVic’s
Response to Protecting Children: The Child Protection Outcomes Project. Retrieved on
8th September, 2009 from http://www.yacvic.org.au/policy/detail-old.chtml?
filename_num=259370