It recognises the wealth of knowledge that carers accumulate and the variety of factors that can lead to their decision to stop being a carer, such as health issues, age, the young person in their care turning 18 or difficulties navigating the child protection system.

The Carer Exit Survey has been reviewed and been updated to capture responses from respite carers, to record the relevant Department for Child Protection office that held case management responsibility and to ascertain carers’ willingness to be contacted, at a future date, to explore resuming their caring role.

These changes will ensure that:

• carer feedback can be collated relevant to local offices for identification of any systemic issues
• consent has been gained to maintain engagement with carers as a potential cohort of carers interested in resuming an active caring role into the future.

Family based kinship and foster care service providers receive survey results relating to their own carers, while the Department for Child Protection collates information from across the sector to look for commonalities and trends. This approach aims to help improve the way we work together and inform the information, support and training that is made available to carers.

The updated exit survey, the information sheet for carers and the document outlining the exit interview process is available for Service providers on the Service Providers section of the Department for Child Protection website.

Resources for Service Delivery | Department for Child Protection.