The 2019-20 state budget included several announcements that positively impact child protection in South Australia.
The 2019-20 state budget included several announcements that positively impact child protection in South Australia.
We have benefited from $1.6 million to set-up and commission family group conferences using NGOs from 1 January 2020. This is a key deliverable for our department, allowing us to support family members to plan and make their own decisions that protect children and young people early, without formal statutory intervention.
We will also receive $26.9 million over three years to meet the costs associated with supporting children in out-of-home care. This recognises the number of children and young people in the care system, and will provide us with additional resources to support these children. In the long-term we hope to see numbers of children in care stabilise as the government’s prevention and early intervention initiatives come to fruition.
As expected the department will also need to make a number of savings efficiencies. We would like to assure you that these savings were anticipated and will not impact child protection case managers and investigation workers.