- Foster carers' funding cut after report criticises DOCS
- By Caroline Overington
- The Australian
- 23/09/2008 Make a Comment
- Contributed by: The Rooster ( 264 articles in 2008 )
THE Foster Care Association was stripped of its annual funding just weeks after making a submission to an inquiry into child welfare that described government social workers as disrespectful, rude, dismissive bullies.
The submission, obtained by The Australian, was made on behalf of more than 2000 foster carers, who take abused and neglected children into their homes, and who are supposedly supported by social workers from the NSW Department of Community Services.
The association says DOCS should leave the foster care sector to non-government agencies such as Burnside or Wesley. It says DOCS staff have upset and antagonised foster carers and threatened them with the loss of children who had been in their care for years.
The submission is among hundreds received by the Wood inquiry into child welfare services, which was called in the wake of several high-profile cases of neglect, including the death of a two-year-old boy whose body was found in a suitcase floating in a lake.
The Australian has reported that the inquiry, headed by retired judge James Wood, plans to keep 90 per cent of the submissions confidential. Many are highly critical of DOCS.
Mr Wood recently requested a change to the reporting time, which means his highly anticipated report will now be handed down on December 31, or New Year's Eve, at the height of the summer holiday season.
The Australian reported yesterday that DOCS in July stripped the Foster Care Association -- a 20-year-old organisation that prides itself on acting in the interests of foster carers -- of $300,000 annual funding, forcing the group to abandon its headquarters, its regular newsletter, and a telephone crisis line.
The decision came just weeks after the association emailed 2000 foster carers on its database and asked them to provide personal accounts of their experience in foster care.
After reading these accounts, the association declared that DOCS should "withdraw entirely from the direct provision" of out-of-home or foster care services. It says "all responsibility" for out-of-home care services should be transferred to non-government agencies.
It says DOCS has been unable to "act completely independently and impartially" when reviewing the work of its staff. And it claims DOCS has not met the standards of out-of-home care, and that resources have been "redirected to sustain its own operations". It accuses DOCS of spending more on its own foster care operation than on non-government agencies, "resulting in duplicated effort and uneven and at times inequitable distribution of funds".
"The department is not an effective manager of (foster care)," the submission says. "In particular, the department on the whole does not have a co-operative and collaborative relationship with many carers."
It says the relationship is not built on "respect and trust".
"The relationship is often frustrating, distressing and combative." It says the culture within the department discourages mutual respect between foster parents and departmental case workers.
"Case workers are frequently rude or dismissive. Carers are often bullied by case workers."
The submission, obtained by The Australian, was made on behalf of more than 2000 foster carers, who take abused and neglected children into their homes, and who are supposedly supported by social workers from the NSW Department of Community Services.
The association says DOCS should leave the foster care sector to non-government agencies such as Burnside or Wesley. It says DOCS staff have upset and antagonised foster carers and threatened them with the loss of children who had been in their care for years.
The submission is among hundreds received by the Wood inquiry into child welfare services, which was called in the wake of several high-profile cases of neglect, including the death of a two-year-old boy whose body was found in a suitcase floating in a lake.
The Australian has reported that the inquiry, headed by retired judge James Wood, plans to keep 90 per cent of the submissions confidential. Many are highly critical of DOCS.
Mr Wood recently requested a change to the reporting time, which means his highly anticipated report will now be handed down on December 31, or New Year's Eve, at the height of the summer holiday season.
The Australian reported yesterday that DOCS in July stripped the Foster Care Association -- a 20-year-old organisation that prides itself on acting in the interests of foster carers -- of $300,000 annual funding, forcing the group to abandon its headquarters, its regular newsletter, and a telephone crisis line.
The decision came just weeks after the association emailed 2000 foster carers on its database and asked them to provide personal accounts of their experience in foster care.
After reading these accounts, the association declared that DOCS should "withdraw entirely from the direct provision" of out-of-home or foster care services. It says "all responsibility" for out-of-home care services should be transferred to non-government agencies.
It says DOCS has been unable to "act completely independently and impartially" when reviewing the work of its staff. And it claims DOCS has not met the standards of out-of-home care, and that resources have been "redirected to sustain its own operations". It accuses DOCS of spending more on its own foster care operation than on non-government agencies, "resulting in duplicated effort and uneven and at times inequitable distribution of funds".
"The department is not an effective manager of (foster care)," the submission says. "In particular, the department on the whole does not have a co-operative and collaborative relationship with many carers."
It says the relationship is not built on "respect and trust".
"The relationship is often frustrating, distressing and combative." It says the culture within the department discourages mutual respect between foster parents and departmental case workers.
"Case workers are frequently rude or dismissive. Carers are often bullied by case workers."
Source: https://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,24387897-5006784,00.html
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