Children in the Northern Territory are commonly being removed from long-term stable foster homes and reunified with their biological relatives despite fears they are being put at risk of harm, a parliamentary committee has heard.
Inquiry into proposed changes to Care and Protections of Children Act
Representatives from the Foster and Kinship Carers Association gave evidence to the NT Parliament's scrutiny committee, which is examining proposed changes to the Care and Protections of Children Act.
The committee's deputy chair, Clinton Howe, asked the representatives if they were aware of cases where children had been placed in situations where they were potentially at risk of harm.
"I've heard anecdotal examples of carers who have looked after a child from a very young age and then, five, six years later a reunification attempt has occurred, it's failed, the child has come back, the carer has been concerned about potential abuse that has happened, and then again five years later for (another) reunification attempt," Mr Howe said.
"Is that kind of anecdotal example, are we seeing that happen with the current legislation?"
The association's CEO, Amanda Thompson, replied: "Yes, absolutely, we are. That is not an unusual or uncommon circumstance."
Foster carers describe children living in fear
Foster carers told the inquiry there were children who lived in fear of being taken from the stable homes where they had lived for years.
"We have a little girl who screams most nights because she doesn't feel like she's safe," foster carer Steve Atherton told the inquiry. "We put security screens, cameras, we talk to her every night, reassure her as much as we can but still, she's been with us for four years and she's still scared, asking me 'what time the bad people come out at night-time' and it's heartbreaking."
Another foster carer, Jackie Williams, told the committee children wanted to be in a safe and stable home, but their voices were often ignored. "The young people want the stability," she said. "I've had some for 13 years, they're 14, they want the stability, they want to know that that's where they are, that there's nobody coming to take them. They want it."
Support for proposed changes with two-year reunification limit
Ms Thompson said the association supported the government's proposed changes to the act, which seek to explicitly state safety be the number one priority when determining if a child needs to be removed from their parents. The proposed changes would also mean children could be placed into a permanent care arrangement after two years.
"I believe that change is needed," Ms Thompson said. "For example, you've got children that have been in care say six years, 10 years, and they're still looking at working towards reunifications. Reunification should never be off the table, however, I think there should be a time frame because the children are living in a constant anxiety of instability which creates problems with behavioural challenges and issues, and that also then leads to placement breakdown as well."
Independent MLA Justine Davis asked the representatives if it was fair to limit the reunification period to two years, given a lack of early-intervention services and the fact families could be on public housing waiting lists for up to eight years.
But the association's carer assessment manager Denise Higginson said the child's interests should come before those of the parents. "Two years in the scheme of things is not a long time," she said. "But it's all about the child so you can't wait for five or 10 years for parents to do what they need to do. But even when (the legislation) does change, it can always go back to court, the parent can go back to court if they've changed their life around and they've got on track, there's nothing stopping anybody going back and saying 'my circumstances have changed'."
Challenges with early intervention and parental capacity
Ms Higginson also said there were cases where no amount of wraparound services had been effective. "The amount of times families have been involved with intensive support services, time and time again, with no change," she said. "So I think whatever will be implemented needs to address what the issues are, because we've had generations of the same family where you've had parents, then the kids, so whatever early intervention programs are developed, they have been doing early intervention, it just hasn't worked. So it's not a quick fix, it's not throw a few more programs there, because for some families it's not able to be fixed unfortunately."
Labor MLA Dheran Young said he would "disagree with that comment" and that the committee had previously heard evidence about the lack of early intervention services. But Ms Higginson, who previously worked in central intake in the child protection department, said many parents who came into contact with the department suffered from foetal alcohol spectrum disorder. "So it's very hard to be working with people that possibly don't have the capacity for change," she said.
Carers and children need more say in placement decisions
Ms Higginson said the association also supported changes that would give children and carers more say in how a placement proceeds. She said foster and kinship carers had been frozen out of the department's meetings when discussing the welfare and placement of children.
"It was always meant to be the people who knew the child best, and more often than not, well, 100 per cent, the carers are the people who know that child," she said. "So they're even not being invited to meetings to offer advice, let people know what's actually happening for the child. A child never gets invited to a meeting. That's the reality."
