Table of contents:
Graphs
Number of children living away from home in home-based care, Queensland, as at 30 June 2007 to 2011
| Year | Children living away from home |
|---|---|
| 2007 | 5627 |
| 2008 | 6284 |
| 2009 | 6649 |
| 2010 | 6783 |
| 2011 | 6983 |
Proportion of children living away from home, by age group, Queensland, as at 30 June 2007 to 2010
| Year | 0 to 4 | 5 to 9 | 10 to 14 | 15 to 17 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | 26.9 % | 27.5 % | 28.9 % | 16.7 % |
| 2008 | 26.8 % | 28.7 % | 28.6 % | 15.9 % |
| 2009 | 26.1 % | 29.7 % | 28.3 % | 15.9 % |
| 2010 | 24.8 % | 30.2 % | 28.5 % | 16.6 % |
| 2011 | 24 % | 30.8 % | 28.6 % | 16.5 % |
Proportion of children living away from home, by primary placement, Queensland, as at 30 June 2011
| Year | Home-based care | Residential care services | Other |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 86.60548183 % | 7.67704328 % | 5.71747489 % |
Number of children in out-of-home care, by Indigenous status, as at 30 June 2007 to 2011
| Year | Indigenous | Non-Indigenous | All children |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | 1749 | 4223 | 5972 |
| 2008 | 2085 | 4585 | 6670 |
| 2009 | 2481 | 4612 | 7093 |
| 2010 | 2686 | 4664 | 7350 |
| 2011 | 2850 | 4752 | 7602 |
Tables
| Description | Annual | Quarterly |
|---|---|---|
| LA.1: Children living away from home, by Indigenous status, Queensland | Excel | Excel |
| LA.2: Children living away from home, by primary placement and Indigenous status, Queensland | Excel | Excel |
| LA.3: Children living away from home, by sex and age group, Queensland | Excel | Excel |
| LA.4: Children living away from home and whether subject to a protective order, Queensland | Excel | Excel |
| LA.5: Children living away from home, by relationship to carer, Queensland | Excel | Excel |
| LA.6: Children living away from home, by child safety zone, Queensland | Excel | |
| LA.7: Children living away from home, by region, Queensland | Excel | Excel |
| OHC.1: Children in out-of-home care, by primary placement and Indigenous status, Queensland | Excel | Excel |
What is living away from home?
In conjunction with ongoing intervention, the department sometimes needs to remove a child from their home to ensure their safety.
A child may be removed from their home during the investigation and assessment phase, or during ongoing intervention, to work towards either reunification of the family or long-term stable care for the child. Removing a child from their home is a means to provide safety, support and a therapeutic environment.
When a child is placed in the custody or guardianship of the chief executive (Director-General) of the department, it is the department's responsibility to find an appropriate placement for the child.
The department uses various placement services for the children in its care including home-based care (foster, kinship and provisionally approved carers) and residential care services.
Wherever possible, the department seeks to place a child with extended family (kinship carers) in order to maintain family connections.
Children may also be living in other locations such as youth detention centres, mental health facilities, hospitals, as well as independent living arrangements.
When placing an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander child in out-of-home care, a culturally appropriate placement is sought in accordance with the Indigenous Child Placement Principle.
Why this topic is important
Some Queensland families are unable to provide a safe, secure and caring environment for their children. When this becomes apparent, the department must act to ensure that the response provided is in the best interests of the child or young person. If necessary, this can result in children and young people being placed away from home.
Trends
Over the last five years, the number of children and young people living away from home increased by 24.2 per cent from 6,493 as at 30 June 2007 to 8,063 as at 30 June 2011. This increase occurred across all age groups.
Of the 8,063 children living away from home as at 30 June 2011, 30.4 per cent were placed with kin, 56.2 per cent were placed with other home-based carers, 7.7 per cent were placed in a residential care service and 5.7 per cent were in other locations (including hospitals, Queensland youth detention centres and independent living). This is consistent with previous years.
As at 30 June 2011, there were 3,052 Indigenous children living away from home compared to 2,893 as at 30 June 2010, an increase of 5.5 per cent. Indigenous children comprised over one-third (37.9 per cent) of all children living away from home as at 30 June 2011.
Indigenous children are significantly more likely to be living away from home than non-Indigenous children. At a rate per 1,000 children aged 0 to 17 years, 43.6 Indigenous children were living away from home, compared with 4.9 non-Indigenous children as at 30 June 2011 (2001 to 2010 population data used for rates is sourced from the Office of Economic and Statistical Research). The higher rate for Indigenous children has been a consistent trend over the last five years.
Children in out-of-home care
Data for the measure 'children in out-of-home care' is provided in Table OHC.1 . In accordance with nationally agreed reporting definitions, this measure includes only those children placed in foster care, kinship care, provisionally approved care or a residential care service.
The number of children in out-of-home care as at 30 June 2011 has risen since 30 June 2010 from 7,350 to 7,602 (an increase of 3.4 per cent).
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