I am pleased to present the annual report for the South Australian Department for Child Protection (DCP) for the year 2020-21.

Like many organisations, the COVID-19 pandemic had a significant impact on our operations. As an essential service, we continued to operate during South Australia’s lockdowns in 2020-21. COVID-19 placed additional pressure on all parts of the child protection system, and we anticipate this continuing in the years ahead. As we continue to rise to meet these challenges, DCP has also made significant progress over the last 12 months to deliver on its strategic priorities, which are all about making a difference for children,  young people, families and carers.

The work of child protection is challenging and complex. Every day our department is working with the state’s most vulnerable families to keep children safe from harm, and providing care when children and young people can no longer safely stay with their parents. We recognise that we cannot do this critical work alone. We have led a whole-of-community approach, assertively pursuing new partnerships and strengthening the way we work with our community, non-government and government partners. Together, we are finding innovative ways to respond and deliver quality services that best meet the needs of children and young people in care.

DCP continues to make active efforts to fully implement the Aboriginal Child Placement Principle, which we have embedded as the central framework for child protection decision-making about Aboriginal children and young people in care. As part of this commitment, this year we were thrilled to announce our investment in a community-led process to design options for a dedicated peak body for Aboriginal children and young people in SA. We continue to increase our investment in Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisations (ACCOs) which we know are best placed to deliver better outcomes for Aboriginal children and young people in care. We continue to work hard to embed Aboriginal family and community decision-making and to privilege the voices of Aboriginal children and young people. In DCP, we value cultural identity, and recognise its strength as a protective factor for Aboriginal children and young people in care. We know there is more to be done to close the gap for Aboriginal children and young people.

In continuing to shape our care settings to be therapeutic and best meet the needs of children and young people, we have:

• Invested in initiatives focused on enhancing our practice and providing support to our child protection practitioners
• Launched a Child and Youth Engagement Strategy that will create opportunities for children and young people in care to have their voices heard and deliver decisions that improve the system
• Expanded the Disability and Development Program to offer more support to carers of children with disability and developmental delay
• Continued implementing the Sanctuary Model of therapeutic care and embedding trauma-informed practice across all of our residential care homes
• Recruited an additional 78 primary foster carers above attrition, to make more family based placements available for children and young people in care
• Established new Placement and Support Packages (PaSP) to provide short term, individualised and targeted accommodation and support packages based on specific needs
• Initiated a rolling recruitment response to provide staffing for residential care with an additional 136 child and youth workers commencing in 2020-21
• Designed a new model of Supported Independent Living Services with a stronger focus on supporting young people in care to develop the skills to live independently and prepare for adult life
• Established new specialist disability residential care service models.

Over the past year, other specific areas of focus and activities include:

• Instituting regular engagement with child protection Heads of Industry to address key challenges and opportunities together
• Continuing to embed the Carer Statement of Commitment into every day practice, including enhancing the carer review process
• Creating new opportunities to engage with foster and kinship carers, including through the planning, preparation and development of our Caring Together newsletter
• Fostering partnerships with government agencies to drive cross-sector priorities, including with the Department of Human Services (DHS) to provide support to families at risk of child protection engagement and the Department for Education to support children in care in government schools
• Securing new services and programs offering priority access to children and young people in care through expansion of the Investing in their future initiative
• Supporting the process of review into DCP’s significant incident policies and procedures and acting swiftly to implement recommended changes as part of the ongoing commitment to continuous improvement.

There will always be more to do, and I am grateful for the continued commitment of all those who work in child protection. Specifically, I would like to acknowledge the professionalism and expertise that the department’s staff bring to their work, which is making a difference in the lives of children and young people each and every day. Together with our workforce, I recognise the generosity of our foster and kinship carers who make a tremendous contribution to caring for children and young people, helping them heal from trauma and creating a sense of belonging in their homes, and in the community.

Cathy Taylor
Chief Executive
Department for Child Protection

Our strategic focus

Our organisational structure

Changes to the agency

During 2020-21, there were no changes to the agency’s structure and objectives as a result of internal reviews or machinery of government changes.

Our Minister

The Honourable Rachel Sanderson MP is the Minister for Child Protection. The Minister is responsible for the care and protection of children and young people in South Australia.

The Minister is also responsible for promoting the wellbeing of children and young people, and supporting early intervention where there may be a risk of harm.

Our Executive team

• Chief Executive
• Deputy Chief Executive
• Lead Psychiatric Director
• Chief Financial Officer
• Chief Human Resources Officer
• Chief Information Officer
• Executive Director, Service Delivery and Practice
• Regional Director, Northern Region
• Regional Director, Far North Far West Region
• Regional Director, Central Region
• Regional Director, Southern Region
• Executive Director, Out of Home Care
• Director, Residential Care
• Director, Aboriginal Practice
• Director, Quality and Practice
• Director, Legal Services and Redress
• Director, Commissioning, Performance and Disability

Legislation administered by the agency

• Adoption Act 1988
• Adoption (General) Regulations 2018
• Adoptions (Fees) Revocation Regulations 2020
• Child Protection Review (Powers and Immunities) Act 2002
• Children and Young People (Safety) Act 2017
• Children and Young People (Safety) Regulations 2017
• Children’s Protection Law Reform (Transitional Arrangements and Related Amendments) Act 2017 (administered by Department of Human Services)
• Commission of Inquiry (Children in State Care and Children on APY Lands) Act 2004
• Family and Community Services Act 1972
• Family and Community Services Regulations 2009

Performance at a glance

The Department for Child Protection (DCP) is continuing to deliver positive change under a well-defined strategic reform agenda for the child protection system.

Released in December 2019, DCP led the development of Safe and well: Supporting families, protecting children, which sets out the State Government’s vision for reform of the broader child protection system. In November 2020, DCP coordinated publication of the first annual report against this strategy. The report highlighted the achievements and reforms underway across government for children and young people in care and for families whose children are at risk of entering the child protection system.

At a departmental level, DCP has been pursuing an active agenda through a series of annual action plans detailing how the department will deliver on its 3-year strategic plan. A number of other strategic documents are providing clarity for the department’s staff, key partners and the sector about DCP’s direction in specific areas of focus and action, including:

• The second Aboriginal Action Planin 2020-21 to embed the Aboriginal Child Placement Principle in all parts of the department’s business and child protection practice.
• Every effort for every child, released in January 2020, which continues to direct the department’s 3-year plan to reform the in care system for children and young people. There are actions across 5 priority areas to deliver a needs based system, grow family based care, transform non-family based care, improve transition from care and enhance quality and safety.
• The DCP Disability Access and Inclusion Plan 2020-2024, whichoutlines the steps we will take to improve outcomes for children and young people in care, carers and our workforce with disability, as well as to improve accessibility of the services we both fund and deliver.

Over the past year, DCP has deliberately and actively pursued partnerships with government, non-government and philanthropic organisations to expand the Investing in their future initiative. This includes extending eligibility and adding new services offering priority access for children and young people in care, and who have left care.

DCP and the Department for Education worked closely to better support educational outcomes for children and young people in care. The two departments committed to a joint plan of action to enhance communication, strengthen accountability and streamline access to integral education supports and services.

As the number of children and young people in our community requiring a child protection response to keep them safe has increased, DCP has remained committed to enhancing the system on all fronts. This includes increasing the system’s capacity for family based care as well as building our workforce capacity. The department has implemented the new practice approach in our case work rolled out the Sanctuary model of care as part of our efforts in transforming DCP’s residential care settings and recruited new employees to increase the residential care workforce.

All of this is done with the aim of making a difference for the children and young people who are in care, to be safe, happy and healthy and looking forward to a bright future.

NB Contracted Commercial Care arrangements ceased on 9 October 2020.

The National Redress Scheme (NRS) commenced on 1 July 2018. Between 1 July 2019 and 30 June 2021, DCP received 756 Requests for Information (RFIs) in relation to 357 applicants. Approximately 23% of applicants identified as Aboriginal. Of the applications received by DCP, 206 have received an offer from the NRS. A total of 194 survivors have accepted an offer of redress; and two survivors have sought and received a Direct Personal Response.

Agency contribution to whole of Government objectives

Agency specific objectives and performance

Corporate performance summary

During 2020-21, DCP continued to contribute towards a number of key corporate initiatives, including:

• Increased the number of Aboriginal children and young people in care with a current and approved Aboriginal Cultural Identity Support Tool or Cultural Plan - 92.7% at 30 June 2021, up from 56.6% at 30 June 2020.
• Committed additional funding to convert the successful Family Group Conferencing pilot run by Relationship Australia South Australia into an ongoing program, with further funding also provided to trial a new program for Unborn Child Concerns with a focus on Aboriginal families.
• Established PaSP to provide children and young people with individualised care and placement management services to support transition into longer-term placements.
• Redesigned Supported Independent Living Services to ensure young people are in stable ongoing accommodation when they leave care and reducing the risk of homelessness.
• Recruited an additional 78 primary foster carers above attrition.
• Increased the number of kinship carers supported by ACCOs to provide culturally responsive support to kinship carers of Aboriginal children and young people.
• Negotiated increased priority access services for children and young people in care, or with a care experience, with government, non-government and private sector partners.
• Increased the number of children and young people in care with a current NDIS plan to 23.5% of all children in care at 30 June 2021, up from 19% at  30 June 2020.
• Released the department’s first Disability Access and Inclusion Plan 2020-2024 that sets out actions to improve the experience and outcomes of children and young people, parents, carers and staff with disability.
• Increased procurement from ACCOs from 6.3% in 2019-20 to 7.9% in 2020-21.
• Increased the department’s overall full-time equivalent (FTE) and reduced vacancies, including through a new approach to the recruitment of Child and Youth Workers in residential care.
• Continued to increase staff’s cultural responsiveness through the Aboriginal Cultural Footprint training program.
• Moved to smaller residential facilities, reducing large residential units through divestment and refurbishment including the sale of the Queenstown Community Unit.

Employment opportunity programs

Agency performance management and development systems

Work health, safety and return to work programs

*number of claimants assessed during the reporting period as having a whole person impairment of 30% or more under the Return to Work Act 2014 (Part 2 Division 5)

**before third party recovery

Data for previous years is available at: https://data.sa.gov.au/data/dataset/1f5439d0-0e78-4c34-8c0f-44a820ae07b1

Executive employment in the agency

Data reflects the number of employees under an executive contract as at 30 June 2021, this figure does not include vacancies or persons employed on executive backfill arrangements (non-executive contracts) at this date.

Data for previous years is also available at: https://data.sa.gov.au/data/dataset/51fa28a7-5220-45e0-ab73-92472f1b2c00

The Office of the Commissioner for Public Sector Employment has a workforce information page that provides further information on the breakdown of executive gender, salary and tenure by agency.

Financial performance at a glance

The following is a brief summary of the overall financial position of the agency. The information is unaudited. Full audited financial statements for 2020-21 are attached to this report.

*2019-20 Annual Report transposed the figures for Total Income and Total Expenses

Consultants disclosure

The following is a summary of external consultants that have been engaged by the agency, the nature of work undertaken, and the actual payments made for the work undertaken during the financial year.

Consultancies with a contract value below $10,000 each

Consultancies with a contract value above $10,000 each

Data for previous years is available at: https://data.sa.gov.au/data/dataset/0ec74e12-fdd5-46d5-9341-70f3af068262

See also the Consolidated Financial Report of the Department of Treasury and Finance for total value of consultancy contracts across the South Australian Public Sector.

Contractors disclosure

The following is a summary of external contractors that have been engaged by the agency, the nature of work undertaken, and the actual payments made for work undertaken during the financial year.

Contractors with a contract value below $10,000

Contractors with a contract value above $10,000 each

Data for previous years is available at: https://data.sa.gov.au/data/dataset/e87cca76-bbf0-47c6-a4ab-4bdd6549bddb

The details of South Australian Government-awarded contracts for goods, services, and works are displayed on the SA Tenders and Contracts website. View the agency list of contracts.

The website also provides details of across government contracts.

Risk and audit at a glance

The DCP Internal Audit and Risk team continued to work with all areas of the department in reviewing and updating the strategic and operational risk registers. The DCP risk management policy and framework has been reviewed and updated.

Internal audit reviews have been undertaken in line with DCP’s three-year internal audit plan. This has included reviews relating to Out of Home Care, Finance and Corporate Services and Non-Government Organisation (NGO) Licensing. A revised three-year Internal Audit Plan for 2021 to 2024 has been developed which will provide continued coverage of the key strategic and operational risks.

The Internal Audit Framework/Charter has also been updated to ensure it reflects the current operations of Internal Audit and Risk within DCP.

Fraud detected in the agency

NB Fraud reported includes actual and reasonably suspected incidents of fraud.

Strategies implemented to control and prevent fraud

The DCP Fraud and Corruption Control Framework has been updated to more closely align with the Australian Standard – AS 8001:2008 Fraud and Corruption Control. The framework:

• formalises the processes and strategies for preventing, detecting and responding to actual, alleged or suspected fraud
• contributes to a departmental culture that is aware of the risks of fraud
• ensures all employees are aware of their reporting obligations.

A range of prevention activities are documented within the framework. These are supported by additional control activities to detect and respond to fraud, corruption or other criminality, misconduct or maladministration, including:

• Internal and external audit programs
• Reporting and governance frameworks
• Annual financial controls self-assessments.

DCP has developed a Fraud Risk Register that identifies the key fraud risk areas and the controls and treatments in place to mitigate these risks. This is reported to both the Senior Executive Group and the Performance and Risk Committee.

DCP address any suspected, alleged or proven instances of fraud, corruption or other criminal conduct, misconduct or maladministration by employees or other public officers, including through:

• Investigation by appropriately skilled and experienced personnel who are independent of the business unit in which the alleged conduct occurred
• Reporting to the Independent Commissioner Against Corruption (ICAC)
• Involvement of other authorities such as South Australia Police
• Compliance with the Public Interest Disclosure Act 2018.

Data for previous years is available at: https://data.sa.gov.au/data/dataset/d9725de4-0eba-4241-b51e-d0406dd52b8a

Public interest disclosure

Number of occasions on which public interest information has been disclosed to a responsible officer of the agency under the Public Interest Disclosure Act 2018in 2020-21: 1

Data for previous years is available at: https://data.sa.gov.au/data/dataset/f6b5f1d9-c2bc-44f6-9a26-fb76fb1f6a64

Note: Disclosure of public interest information was previously reported under the Whistleblowers Protection Act 1993 and repealed by the Public Interest Disclosure Act 2018 on 1/7/2019.

Reporting by the Department for Child Protection

DCP’s capacity to report on section 156(1)(a)(ii) and (iii) is in development. As at 30 June 2021:

• The rate of case plan completion for Aboriginal children and young people in care is 97.1%.
• 92.7% of Aboriginal Children and Young People in care have a current and approved Aboriginal Cultural Identity Support Tool.

• As at 30 June 2021, all children and young people in care were allocated to a Primary Assigned Case Worker.
• DCP is progressing the implementation of a new enterprise Data Analytic Tool and internal reporting capabilities which support the monitoring of how many children and young people have had face to face contact with their allocated case worker at least once in each month.
• As at 30 June 2021, 97.7% of children and young people had a current and approved case plan.
• In the period from 1 July 2020 to 30 June 2021, 12 recommendations of the Child Protection Systems Royal Commission were completed. As at 30 June 2021, 222 recommendations were completed in total and 34 recommendations were yet to be completed (noting 4 recommendations were not accepted).
• DCP has reported on section 156(1)(e) in the form of the Safe and well: 2021 Annual Report, which is a comprehensive multi-agency response to the implementation of the Child Protection Systems Royal Commission recommendations available on the DCP website via the following link: https://www.childprotection.sa.gov.au/child-protection-initiatives/system-reform/safe-and-well
• During 2020-21, 952 children and young people were placed with a temporary carer.
• Of these 952 children and young people:
  • 813 children and young people remain in care
  • 139 children and young people are no longer in care.

• Reporting by the Minister for Child Protection

  Act or Regulation	Requirement
  Children and Young People (Safety) Act 2017	Section 15 – Additional annual reporting obligations (detailed below)

  Section 15(1)(a) detailing the role of the Minister, and the extent to which the Minister has performed the Minister's functions, in respect of the operation of this Act for the financial year ending on the preceding 30 June; and

  This annual report details the role of the Minister and the extent to which the Minister has performed the Minister’s functions for the 2020-21 financial year. In addition, the Minister has:

  • Introduced amendments to the Children and Young People (Safety) Act 2017  to strengthen the effective and efficient operation of the Act, and to give effect to changes which received overwhelming stakeholder support. These include amendments to ensure those involved in the administration of the legislation act in the best interests of children and young people, to more fully articulate the Aboriginal Child Placement Principle, and to provide a more streamlined pathway for adoption from care. A full review of the Act will commence in 2022-23.
  • Released in December 2019, DCP led the development of Safe and well: Supporting families, protecting children, which sets out the State Government’s vision for reform of the broader child protection system. DCP is coordinating publication of the second annual report against this strategy. The report highlights the achievements and reforms underway across government in 2020-21 for children and young people in care and for families whose children are at risk of entering the child protection system.
  • Reformed the way the department engages with its government and non-government partners. DCP is developing an industry approach that facilitates partnerships with a continuous improvement focus. This includes reinvigorating partnerships with critical agencies such as the Department for Education to improve educational outcomes for children and young people in care. This new approach encompasses a range of activity, including the establishment of key events such as the triannual Out of Home Care Providers: Heads of Industry Forum and the inaugural SA Child Protection Awards. It also includes the development of a new strategic approach to sector engagement, to address key challenges and opportunities together, which has been well received by providers.
  • Committed to hearing and learning from children and young people in care. To bring this commitment to life, DCP released a new Child and Youth Engagement Strategy 2021-2023, which has been co-designed by children and young people with a care experience. It will support DCP to ensure children and young peoples’ thoughts, feelings and perspectives are at the core of child protection work, and inform policy and decision-making. The strategy’s vision is to ‘build a better child protection system, one that listens and empowers children and young people to have a voice in decision-making’. ‘No Capes for Change’ – a group comprising young people aged 15 to 25 years with a care experience - was actively involved in the development of the strategy.
  • Launched a new Uniting Communities reunification program, called the Newpin program with a joint $18.2 million commitment between the state and Commonwealth governments. The Newpin program involves parents and their children regularly attending a centre-based program for up to 18 months to engage in activities that promote wellbeing, improve parenting capacity and support the development of positive family relationships to support the return of children and young people to live safely with their families.
  • Secured new services and programs offering priority access to children and young people in care through a refresh and expansion of the Investing in their future initiative, including:
    • Established the DCP Scholarship program, including the Catholic Education South Australia scholarship program and new scholarship programs with non-government schools such as SEDA College SA. The partnership with Catholic Education South Australia now provides up to 200 scholarships to primary and secondary-aged children and young people in care across all South Australian Catholic schools.
    • Partnered with the Australian Dental Foundation and SA Dental to provide children and young people in care, and eligible care leavers, with free or low cost dental and orthodontic services.
    • Extended services to care leavers between DCP and the SA Ambulance Service. Eligible young people leaving care have the opportunity, since January 2021, to access free ambulance cover until 21 years of age. While children and young people in care have previously had access to emergency hospital transport at no cost, this change recognises the health, wellbeing and other benefits to supporting care leavers, and aligns with the extension of carer payments for young people of 21 years residing in family based care.
  • Funded SNAICC, the national peak body for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children, to work with South Australian Aboriginal communities, and the Commissioner for Aboriginal Children and Young People and other Aboriginal South Australians to develop options for a SA peak body to represent the interests of Aboriginal children and young people.
  • Recommissioned Family Reunification Services that meets the needs of children and families. To date, 9 service providers have contracts with DCP to enable them to provide reunification services.
  • Continued a 3-year Research Management Framework which has assisted in facilitating partnerships with research organisations and resulted in over 13 new research projects, the completion of 7 projects, and the publication of 10 journal articles on matters that affect young people that are at risk of entering or are in the child protection system.
  • Announced the continuation of the DCP funded Family Group Conference Service as an ongoing program, and plans to trial two other Family Group Conferencing initiatives. Since the $1.6m pilot began in January 2020, the Family Group Conferencing pilot has successfully supported children and young people to remain safely together with their families. Due to the success of the program, the Government has committed $3.7m over 4 years to establish family group conferencing as an ongoing program. DCP has also committed to trailing a new conferencing program for Unborn Child Concerns and an Aboriginal-specific family group conferencing program.
  • Continued to support research that positions our state as nation leaders in child protection practice, building our expertise and capacity to deliver better outcomes for children and young people in care. This includes partnerships with:
    • the Australian Centre for Child Protection at the University of South Australia, supporting PhD scholarships with a focus on supporting new and innovative ways to deliver better outcomes for children and young people.
    • Flinders University to deliver the Privileging Aboriginal Culture and Strength: Building Practice project.
  • Expanding permanency options, which now includes open adoption for children and young people in care. Assessments are underway for a number of children to support their adoption.
  • Developed new programs to better meet the needs of children and young people with PaSP, new specialist disability residential care, Aboriginal Kinship Care Support Program and a new model of Supported Independent Living Services.
  • Secured South Australia’s child protection and wellbeing strategic interests nationally through the Community Services Ministers and Children and Families Secretaries groups. This included:
    • co-leading with the Australian Government the development of Safe and Supported: National Framework for Protecting Australia’s Children 2021-31 and a co-design process with national Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander leaders
    • partnering with the Australian Government and states and territories to deliver the National Strategy to Prevent and Respond to Child Sexual Abuse 2021-30.
  • As an essential service, operations continued through 2020-21, even as South Australia was feeling the full effect of the COVID-19 pandemic. This included sharing information to support our carers and non-government partners regarding restrictions and changes to service delivery.
  • For young people in care with specialised needs, DCP announced a new specialised foster care pilot program in South Australia.
  • Recruited an additional 78 primary foster carers above attrition, to make more family based placements available for children and young people in care.
  • A new approach to the recruitment of Child and Youth Workers in residential care was introduced in late 2020.

  (b) setting out the following information relating to the provision of family support services and intensive family support services to children and young people who are at risk and their families:

  (i) the extent to which such services were provided by, or on behalf of, the State (including statistical data relating to the number of times such services were provided) during the financial year ending on the preceding 30 June;

  (ii) the amount of resources allocated for the provision of such services by or on behalf of the State—

  (A) during the financial year ending on the preceding 30 June; and

  (B) during the current financial year;

  (iii) the extent to which the allocated resources were, in fact, spent on the provision of such services during the financial year ending on the preceding 30 June.

  The following information summarises the delivery of programs/services that relate to the provision of family support services and intensive services to children and young people who are at risk and their families.

  Program/ Service	Description and Summary of Outcomes in 2020-21	Financial Information
  		2021-22 Budget $m	2020-21 Actual expenditure $m	2020-21 Budget $m
  Child and Family Assessment and Referral Networks (CFARN)	CFARN teams work with children and families to provide a coordinated, targeted and culturally appropriate earlier intervention approach to improve the safety, health, development and education outcomes where risk factors exist. CFARN is led by DHS in Northern Adelaide, Southern Adelaide and the Limestone Coast, and in Western Adelaide by Relationships Australia SA (non-government partner). There were 418 clients with 876 associated children serviced during 2020-21.	2.428	2.236	2.386
  Child Wellbeing Practitioners	Child Wellbeing Practitioners deliver services to children and families to improve the safety and wellbeing of children who are identified as vulnerable and/or at risk of child protection within the state’s public-school system. There were 595 families with 1,497 associated children serviced during 2020-21 (excluding country teams). In country teams, Child Wellbeing Practitioners and Family Practitioners were integrated - data is reported separately under Safer Family Services Country Teams.	8.159	7.039	8.034
  Community Services Support Program (CSSP) - Family Support and Early Intervention	CSSP Family Support and Early Intervention services aim to improve child development outcomes in vulnerable families, and to prevent crises or problems escalating within vulnerable families that can lead to family conflict and family breakdown. 2,274 individuals were provided with family support and early intervention during 2020-21.	4.502	4.392	4.393
  Community Support Program (CSP)	The CSP stream is a transitional funding stream for organisations that do not yet meet the requirements of the CSSP. Two organisations were funded through the CSP stream in 2020-21, with both having a focus on supporting families of at-risk children or young people. One program has a focus on provision of information and advocacy (1,512 individuals were supported in 2020-21) while the other provides family support and early intervention (170 individuals received services in 2020-21).	0.297	0.29	0.29
  Family by Family	Family by Family is delivered by a non-government organisation to children and families who are assessed as vulnerable to child abuse and neglect and who are at risk of being involved in the tertiary child protection system. There were 179 families with 367 associated children serviced during 2020-21 by Family by Family. There were 26 families with 55 associated children serviced during 2020-21 by the Virtual Village program, a COVID-19 initiative, which ceased on 31 December 2020.	1.750	1.707	1.707
  Family Practitioners	Family Practitioners deliver a statewide service to children and families where child protection risks have been identified, to support children’s overall safety and wellbeing within the state’s Children’s Centres. There were 470 families with 977 associated children serviced during 2020-21 (excluding country teams). In country teams, Child Wellbeing Practitioners and Family Practitioners were integrated - data is reported separately under Safer Family Services Country Teams.	4.919	3.103	4.813
  Family Preservation Services	Family Preservation Services are delivered by non-government organisations to families to preserve and strengthen family relationships, ensuring children and young people can remain safely in the care of their families. There were 162 families with 399 associated children serviced during 2020-21. Services ceased on 30 March 2021 and were replaced by Intensive Family Services.	0	2.998	3.996
  Intensive Family Services	Commencing on 31 March 2021, Intensive Family Services are delivered by non-government organisations and provides earlier, intensive and targeted support to families involving children aged 0-18 years with multiple and complex needs who have been identified as high to very high risk of entering the tertiary child protection system. There were 59 families with 145 associated children serviced during 2020-21.	11.772	2.966	0
  Northern Adelaide Intensive Support Pilot	The Northern Adelaide Intensive Support Pilot is delivered by a non-government organisation to provide services to families whose children have been assessed by the Department for Child Protection (DCP) as being at imminent risk of having their child or children placed in care. There were 34 families with 94 associated children serviced during 2020-21.	1.340	1.458	1.4
  Safer Family Services Country Teams *	In country teams, Child Wellbeing Practitioners and Family Practitioners were integrated into Safer Family Services Country Teams. There were 461 families and 1,131 associated children serviced during 2020-21 through the integrated Country Teams.	N/A	N/A	N/A
  Strong Start	Strong Start is a government led service in Northern and Southern Adelaide to support first time mothers experiencing multiple complexities in their lives, to create a safe and nurturing environment for their baby. There were 132 families with 144 associated children serviced during 2020-21.	1.388	1.419	1.365
  Targeted Intervention Service	Targeted Intervention Services are delivered by non-government organisations to families to improve family functioning, support the prevention of family breakdown, decrease the occurrence of child abuse and neglect and to reduce the likelihood of children entering care. There were 247 families with 675 associated children serviced during 2020-21. Services ceased on 30 March 2021 and were replaced by Intensive Family Services.	0	4.848	6.465
  Tiraapendi Wodli (Justice Reinvestment Port Adelaide)	As one part of the new Child and Family Support System, this program builds community capacity to reduce Aboriginal family violence and over-representation in youth justice and the child protection system. The Tiraapendi Wodli Priority Action Plan 2019-2021 identifies actions to strengthen local community capacity and deliver improvements across a range of indicators in education, employment, health, justice, and family safety. It also aims to improve the accessibility of government services and strengthen collaboration between government and Aboriginal people. 197 individuals and their families were provided with services during 2020-21.	0.422	0.410	0.410
  Western Adelaide Intensive Support Pilot	The Western Adelaide Intensive Support Pilot is delivered by a non-government organisation to provide services to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families whose children have been assessed by DCP as being at imminent risk of having their child or children placed in care. There were 12 families consisting of 23 individuals and 24 associated children serviced during 2020-21.	0.769	1.006	0.75

  * Budget and Expenditure for the integrated Safer Family Services Country Teams is included under Child Wellbeing Practitioners, Family Practitioners, CFARN (DHS) and Strong Start.

  Section 15(1)(b)(iv) bench-marking the resources referred to in subparagraph (ii) and (iii) against those allocated and spent by other States and Territories in the provision of such services during the financial year ending on the preceding 30 June; and

  The Report on Government Services (ROGS) details this information. It is published in January each year and is available from https://www.pc.gov.au/research/ongoing/report-on-government-services.

  (c) providing any other information required by the regulations for the purposes of this paragraph.

  	Indicators of Performance	Performance 2020-21	Performance Comparison to 2019-20
  Responding to notifications	Total calls made to the Call Centre	66,833	In 2020-21 the number of calls to the Call Centre increased by 2.3% from 2019-20 (65,334). In 2020-21, 80.0% of calls to the Call Centre were answered, a 3 percentage point increase on the 77.7% (50,751) answered in 2019-20.
  	Number of calls answered	53,474
  	Average wait time to the Child Abuse Report Line	11 min 49 sec	The average wait time to the Child Abuse Report Line (CARL) in 2020-21 was three minutes 33 seconds less than 2019-20 (15 min 22 sec).
  	Number of eCARL submissions	41,280	There were 3,784 (10.1%) more eCARL submissions in 2020-21 than in 2019‑20 (37,496).
  	Total number of notifications referred for an alternative response	17,683	Of the 17,683 notifications referred: 9,142 were referred to an   appropriate State Authority 2,047 were referred to another   Agency 6,494 were referred for another   outcome, including family meeting, case management response or internal   service response.
  Child protection responses	Number of notifications	80,175 (18,754 notifications for Aboriginal children and young people)	In 2020-21, there were 4,623 (6.1%) more notifications received than in 2019‑20 (75,552). There were 1,035 (2.7%) fewer notifications screened-in for further assessment and response in 2020-21, than in 2019‑20 (39,508). Of the 2020-21 notifications, 48.0% were screened-in compared to 52.3% screened-in for 2019‑20. Notifications for Aboriginal children comprised 23.4% of all notifications in 2020-21 compared to 23.0% (17,364) in 2019‑20 and 28.0% of screened-in notifications compared to 27.7% (10,314) in 2019‑20.
  	Number of screened-in notifications	38,473 (10,782 screened in notifications for Aboriginal children and young people)
  Children placed on child protection orders	Total children placed on orders	2,728 (925 Aboriginal children and young people)	The number of children admitted to an order increased by 145 (5.6%) compared to 2019-20 (2,583). Aboriginal children comprised 33.9% of children admitted to an order in 2020-21 compared to 33.5% (866) in 2019-20.
  	Children placed on orders for first time	1,013 (335 Aboriginal children and young people)	The number of children admitted to an order for the first time increased by 102 (11.2%) from 2019-20 (911). In 2020-21, 37.1% of children were admitted to an order for the first time, compared to 35.6% in 2019-20. Aboriginal children comprised 33.1% of children admitted to an order for the first time in 2020-21 compared to 33.7% (307) in 2019-20.
  	Total children on a 12-month order at 30 June 2021	550 (187 Aboriginal children and young people)	At 30 June 2021, 60 (9.8%) fewer children were on a Guardianship for 12 months order, than at 30 June 2020 (610). Aboriginal children comprised 34.0% of children on a 12 month order at 30 June 2021 compared to 38.0% (232) in 2020.
  	Total children on an order until 18 years of age under Guardianship of the Chief Executive	3,907 (1,480 Aboriginal children and young people)	The number of children on a Guardianship to 18 years order at 30 June 2021 increased by 254 (7.0%) from 30 June 2020 (3,653). Aboriginal children comprised 37.9% of children on an order to 18 years at 30 June 2021 compared to 36.1% (1,317) in 2020.
  Children in care	Number of children (0-17 years) in care at 30 June 2021	4,647 (1,675 Aboriginal children and young people)	The number of children aged 0-17 years in care at 30 June 2021 increased by 277 (6.3%) to a total of 4,647 compared to 30 June 2020 (4,370). Similar proportions of children are in family based care in 2021 (85.9%). Family based care includes foster, kinship, specific child only and family day care. By 9 October 2020, all children who were placed in commercial properties had transitioned to residential care placements. The number of Aboriginal children aged 0-17 years in care at 30 June increased by 131 (8.5%) in 2021 from 2020 (1,544). Aboriginal children comprise 36.0% of the 0-17 year old in care population at 30 June 2021, compared to 35.5% in 2020.
  Child Protection Reform – Implementing A Fresh Start		Refer to Child Protection Systems Royal Commission reporting on our website.

Number of public complaints reported

*Also included in the total figure of 770 is 7 general enquiries

Note: the allocation of sub-category is driven by the content of the complaint. Therefore these figures relate to the complainants views of the department.  

Public complaints received by Central Complaints Unit, Office of the Chief Executive

Data for previous years is available at: https://www.childprotection.sa.gov.au/documents/report/DCP-Annual-Report-2019-20.pdf

Service Improvements

Compliance statement