Table of contents:
Graphs
Number of approved carer families, by carer type and Indigenous status, Queensland, as at 30 June 2012
| Carer type | Indigenous | Non-Indigenous | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Foster carers | 315 | 2648 | 2963 |
| Kinship carers | 230 | 798 | 1028 |
| Provisionally approved carers | 33 | 101 | 134 |
Tables
| Description | Annual | Quarterly |
|---|---|---|
| CF.1: Carer families, by carer type and Indigenous status, Queensland | Excel Excel | Excel Excel |
| CF.2: Carer families, by carer type, Indigenous status and child safety zone, Queensland | Excel Excel | |
| CF.3: Carer families, by carer type and region, Queensland | Excel Excel | Excel Excel |
| CF.4: Carer family commencements, by carer type and Indigenous status, Queensland | Excel Excel | Excel Excel |
| CF.5: Carer family exits, by carer type and Indigenous status, Queensland | Excel Excel | Excel Excel |
What role do carers have?
Approved carers play a key role in the child protection system, providing out-of-home care for children when separation from their family is required to ensure their safety.
The approval of carers is prescribed by the Child Protection Act 1999 and the Child Protection Regulation 2011. There are three types of approved carers:
- foster carers - approved to care for any child or young person in the custody or guardianship of the chief executive (Director-General) of the department
- kinship carers - approved to care for a specific child or children who are members of their extended family, or with whom they have a pre-existing significant relationship
- provisionally approved carers - applicants wishing to become approved as kinship or foster carers who initially receive a provisional certificate of approval. An applicant will only be issued with a provisional certificate when they have been provisionally assessed as suitable to care for a particular child, and when it is not possible or in the child's best interests to place the child in the care of a foster carer, kinship carer or licensed care service.
Why this topic is important
In Queensland, there is a critical need for more foster and kinship carers to allow the department and community fostering agencies to better match the needs of children with suitable carers.
An increased pool of foster carers will ensure more long-term, successful and rewarding placements for children who are unable to live with their own families.
Trends
From 31 August 2009, enhancements to the Integrated Client Management System (ICMS) took place, including an audit and cleansing of carer records. This included closing down those records where a carer was no longer caring for a child, or the approval was no longer valid. As a result, carer families data reported for 30 September 2009 and onwards are not comparable to previous years.
As at 30 June 2012, there were 4,463 carer families (3,133 foster carers, 1,196 kinship carers and 134 provisionally approved carers). Overall, this is an increase of 8.2 per cent since 30 June 2011 in the total number of carer families (4,125). Of these 4,463 carer families 15.1 per cent were Indigenous (673) and 84.9 per cent were non-Indigenous (3,790).
The ratio of children and young people in home-based out-of-home care to the number of carer families was 1.6 as at 30 June 2012.
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