- DoCS failing on early intervention: Libs
- The Age
- 04/11/2008 Make a Comment
- Contributed by: The Rooster ( 264 articles in 2008 )
Revelations of thousands of reports of sexualised behaviour by young children highlight a lack of early intervention for families in crisis, the NSW opposition says.
The reports are contained in a submission from the NSW Department of Community Services (DoCS) to the Wood inquiry into child protection.
NSW government agencies received 3,770 reports of children displaying inappropriate sexual behaviour in 2005/06.
They included behaviour such as children exposing themselves in public, mimicking the sexual behaviour of adults and acting out in a sexually aggressive way.
The figures reveal that government agencies are ill-equipped to deal with the number of children who display inappropriate sexual behaviour, News Ltd reports.
Opposition community services spokeswoman Katrina Hodgkinson said it highlighted the government's failure to provide sufficient early intervention for families in crisis.
"After five years of so-called reform and $1.2 billion of taxpayers' money, less than 20 per cent of DoCS' on-the-ground effort consists of early intervention and supporting families in crisis," she said.
"Early intervention (EI) has such a low priority for this government that during the recent estimates hearings, Community Services Minister (Linda) Burney was unable to recall how many EI case workers DoCS had recruited this year."
DoCS provided only 2,200 early intervention places last year following the release of the DoCS annual statistical report for 2006/07 which showed that DoCS' secondary assessment had found that 40,472 children had been harmed or were at risk of harm, she said.
"At maximum capacity the DoCS' early intervention system can handle only 6,100 families, which is clearly not enough to meet the demand," Ms Hodgkinson said.
A spokeswoman for Ms Burney said nearly one-fifth of community services funds were allocated to early intervention services.
"I anticipate this proportion will increase because early intervention is one of the best strategies we have to make inroads into child abuse and neglect in our community," she said.
The government's $260 million Brighter Futures program provided 298 caseworkers for integrated quality children's services, parenting programs and home visiting to 2,800 families and 6,515 children, she said.
© 2008 AAP
The reports are contained in a submission from the NSW Department of Community Services (DoCS) to the Wood inquiry into child protection.
NSW government agencies received 3,770 reports of children displaying inappropriate sexual behaviour in 2005/06.
They included behaviour such as children exposing themselves in public, mimicking the sexual behaviour of adults and acting out in a sexually aggressive way.
The figures reveal that government agencies are ill-equipped to deal with the number of children who display inappropriate sexual behaviour, News Ltd reports.
Opposition community services spokeswoman Katrina Hodgkinson said it highlighted the government's failure to provide sufficient early intervention for families in crisis.
"After five years of so-called reform and $1.2 billion of taxpayers' money, less than 20 per cent of DoCS' on-the-ground effort consists of early intervention and supporting families in crisis," she said.
"Early intervention (EI) has such a low priority for this government that during the recent estimates hearings, Community Services Minister (Linda) Burney was unable to recall how many EI case workers DoCS had recruited this year."
DoCS provided only 2,200 early intervention places last year following the release of the DoCS annual statistical report for 2006/07 which showed that DoCS' secondary assessment had found that 40,472 children had been harmed or were at risk of harm, she said.
"At maximum capacity the DoCS' early intervention system can handle only 6,100 families, which is clearly not enough to meet the demand," Ms Hodgkinson said.
A spokeswoman for Ms Burney said nearly one-fifth of community services funds were allocated to early intervention services.
"I anticipate this proportion will increase because early intervention is one of the best strategies we have to make inroads into child abuse and neglect in our community," she said.
The government's $260 million Brighter Futures program provided 298 caseworkers for integrated quality children's services, parenting programs and home visiting to 2,800 families and 6,515 children, she said.
© 2008 AAP
Source: https://news.theage.com.au/national/docs-failing-on-early-intervention-libs-20081104-5hmc.html
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