Residential Care At Kiah Hostels example essay topic

Kummara Association Inc. have serious concerns in relation to the responsibility of the nominee and the potential liability of the nominee in relation to Section 130 of the Child Protection Act 1999. Under the current funding arrangements for Kiah Hostel sponsored by Kummara Association Inc. the nominee is unable to meet the imposed responsibilities as an individual to ensure that under Section 130 of the Act that: (a) the standard of care provided by the service complies with the statement of standards. The Commission for Children and Young People Act 2000 and the Child Protection Act 1999 states clear expectations about the delivery of quality services, including accountability mechanisms and quarterly reviews to monitor service delivery in relation to residential care services. It is a matter of urgency for Kummara Association Inc. that a sustained and comprehensive investment into Kiah Hostels is considered. In particular, to provide funding for rostered workers, relief staff and to recruit appropriately trained workers. The investment would ensure that the Licensee and Nominee can deliver the appropriate standards of care under Section 130.

Kiah Hostels therefore requires a sustained period of investment in financial, human capital, worker support and training resources into the agency in order to re-build the capacity of the centre. KIAH HOSTEL IS THE ONLY INDIGENOUS RESIDENTIAL IN BRISBANE CITY REGION Kiah Hostels has had an enduring and significant role in working with the Department of Families and AICC A (IFACSS) to protect and care for young Indigenous children who are in the care of the State and living away from their families. Kiah Hostels is the only provider of out of home care Indigenous children in this Region. Over the last quarter of a century, since 1977, Kiah Hostels have cared for and protected over 500 Indigenous children. These children were the most vulnerable and powerless members of the community with extremely high support needs and were cared for without the ancillary support and specialist services urgently needed by these children. The introduction of appropriate and meaningful child protection policies and legislation has highlighted the deficiencies in the existing service system for Indigenous children at Kiah Hostel.

The under resourcing of Kiah Hostels out-of-home care and the funding of support staff for the services is beyond doubt linked to the quality of provision of care at the residential care centre. Indigenous workers in the care system play a vital role and are imperative that they be given reasonable workloads and training opportunities. The large number of Indigenous children in care continues to cause concern, while the numbers have risen, the quality of support provided is manifestly inadequate. Kiah Hostels is currently under-resourced, poorly supported and is in the early stages of re-organisational development following a change of sponsor, moving residence, and moving through licencing procedures.

The hostel has only been able to continue to offer residential care to Indigenous children because of the goodwill and commitment of the house parents and Department of Families and IFACSS staff. The Indigenous houseparents at Kiah Hostels have had a workload of 365 days per year, 24 hours per day with no respite or support workers for the last 22 years. Their accumulated long service leave and respite leave, if taken, would leave the care centre closed for a 9-month period. There is no funding for relief staff or on-costs in the current budget after a small top-up was withdrawn by Aboriginal Hostels when reserves were mistakenly interpreted as surplus funds. There has been an intolerable workload on the house parents / carers, and the situation has become unmanageable for the Nominee and the Licensed organisation and has a direct bearing on the quality of care at the centre. The current notifications surrounding standards of care offered at Kiah has had an extremely detrimental effect on the working relationships between Indigenous workers, that is, the Department of Families, IFACSS, Kiah Hostels, and Kummara Association Inc.

We all work in the child protection field and are all concerned with watching over Indigenous children and thus often seek to apportion blame to others when the system collapses. It is not possible to undertake quality out-of-home care practice using a generalist approach and specialist support workers in the centre are an integral component of quality service for all children not just Indigenous children. Kummara Association is committed to continuing to offer residential care that is high quality, small scale and integrated into the community and the broader service system. One of the major challenges in out-of-home care for Kiah Hostel and the Department of Families and IFACSS is in collaborating and finding ways to meet the needs of Indigenous children with extreme challenging behaviours. There has been limited opportunity for Kummara to develop a skills base and staffing infrastructure to benefit Indigenous children since the change of sponsorship in July 2001.

It does not take much to imagine the damaging synergy that results from the placement of children in the restricted space of a rented family group home. With workers on duty by themselves, is it any wonder that children are victimized by their peers and that workers are severely stressed by their constant exposure to physical and verbal abuse. Indigenous children have been placed in residential care because other settings had not been able to manage their challenging behaviours and / or extremely high needs. We argue that there is a range of factors that make out-of-home / residential care work, for example and immediate collaborative commitment to the following issues: "infrastructure! V permanency of location "hAd equate resources and planning "h Clear philosophy underpinned by good research and professional supervision "h Leadership and trained professional staff "h Shared commitment across agencies "h Participation of children in decisions that affect their lives "h Assessment of children who will benefit from residential care "h External evaluation "capacity to change as needs and environment change. Residential care is generally considered only after multiple foster care failures and as a last resort.

Placement breakdowns and the number of placements some Indigenous children experience is not unusual in the history of children prior to coming to Kiah Hostel. If the only clients placed in the residential care at Kiah Hostels are all high needs there is a high probability of some failures. Kummara acknowledges that there is an attendant implication for program development, case management, funding, staff qualifications and specialist training in this statement. We also note that the implication for the Department is the need to address issues of equity in funding so that the objectives can be attained. The demand for residential care for Indigenous children has exacerbated difficulties presented by systemic and service delivery weakness. Good practice has been compromised and Indigenous children have been left vulnerable by a poorly performing system of care and support.

WORKING WITH DEPARTMENTAL AND OTHER AGENCIES We are seeking a way forward so that we can all ensure that Brisbane's Indigenous out of home care service is able to respond to the needs of Indigenous children and young people and improve their life in collaboration with Department of Families, Indigenous Family and Child Support Services and Kiah Hostels. Although resourcing both financially and in human capital is a major component of the needs and issues facing Kiah Hostel, there is also an immediate need for collaboration in attending to the systemic issues. How a child enters care, where they are placed, the quality of the care they receive, how many placement changes they have, whether or not they keep in touch with their family or friends, whether they are loved or wanted, and what happens to them are often determined by what is available at the time and the efforts of individual Departmental workers or carers. There is often extremely high pressure placed on carers, FSO's and IFACSS staff with their positions not being back-filled when on leave, this situation results in children in residential care often not seeing any support staff for significant periods of time. The systemic abuse of carers is through inappropriate matching of children, pressure to take too many high-needs children, a lack of appropriate resourced support, and training and financial assistance. The Indigenous carers are very vulnerable where they bear a disproportionate level of caring for children without adequate support.

This proposal does not seek to lay blame or cast doubt on the motivation of those that have been involved in the decision-making affecting the residential care system at Kiah Hostels over time. We seek to work together to comprehensively address the systemic weaknesses that are clearly evidenced by the current situation. The resultant tensions between Department staff, IFACSS staff and Kiah Hostel carers have contributed to a negative cycle of poor communication and strained working relationships which may be reflected in negative client outcomes. WORKING TOGETHER WITH INDIGENOUS CHILDREN In respect to Indigenous children in care of the Department of Families and Indigenous Family and Child Support Services aged 0-12 years "hIndigenous children and young people are two times as likely to be subject to a proven notification than non-Indigenous children. "hIndigenous children and young people are five times more likely to be on a child protection order than non-Indigenous children. As of 30 June 2001, 22% of children on Child Protection Orders were Indigenous. "hIndigenous children are four and a half times more likely to be placed in out of home care. As at 30 June 2002, 33.1% of Indigenous children were placed with non-related, non-Indigenous carers.

This is not in accordance with the Child Placement Principle which indicates a decline in compliance with the legislation. Kummara Association Inc's (Watching over the Children) [the sponsoring body of Kiah Hostels] objectives are to support the system's capacity to provide culturally appropriate short-term placements to support the Child Placement Principle (CPP). We are continuing to work towards building a support and care system that provides a safe, stable care environment for Indigenous children that is responsive to meeting their changing needs and aspirations, and maximises their capacity to access life opportunities. This includes meeting the physical, social, emotional, cultural and educational needs in a care system underpinned by excellence. The needs of Indigenous children and young people in care are becoming more complex with Indigenous children in care being identified as having higher than average needs, often having very high to extreme levels of needs.

To achieve excellence of care outcomes we need to collaborate with Departments, IFACSS and others to build capacity within a depleted system and to empower workers, carers and vulnerable children in order to significantly improve the quality of life for Indigenous people. One of the most important shared functions of an integrated partnership would be training and recruitment issues. Without these valuable partnerships, appropriateness, effectiveness and efficiency are rhetorical. The irony, of course, is that Indigenous children have little or no voice in this process. Residential care provides a humanitarian response to the immediate needs of Indigenous children. It can also serve as a springboard to other services as Indigenous workers take advantage of this time to actively engage with Indigenous children.

Children are not little adults, they have particular needs that are different and as result require special considerations within the child protection system. The following principles were approved by the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child and were ratified by the Australian Government: ! Kin the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the United Nations has proclaimed that childhood is entitled to special care and assistance! K (Preamble) In all actions concerning children, whether undertaken by public or private social welfare institutions, courts of law, administrative authorities or legislative bodies, the best interests of the child shall be a primary consideration. (Article 3: Subsection 1) In circumstances where children are taken into out-of-home care they need a greater sense of security than is possible now in an inadequately resourced alternate care system.

Kummara is concerned that our continued provision of services under current funding conditions is not sustainable and will contribute to breaching our duty of care. Social equity policy and funding programs are provided to equalize opportunities for Indigenous children living in poverty or at risk. Our organisation argues that we have a choice, we can advocate and provide appropriate financial support that Indigenous children need for success in life or we can avoid doing so, in which case we will pay later as we try to pick up the pieces of their developmental failure. One of the major disabilities facing Kummara Association Inc. in relation to Kiah Hostel is the poor / inadequate infrastructure. The hostel has been operating from substandard conditions for 23 years and has recently been relocated into a rental premises on a short term lease. This situation does not create a stable environment for workers or children involved with Kiah, nor does it allow the licensee to undertake medium or longterm restructuring in relation to treating children in an equal way and providing Indigenous children and their families with access to an acceptable level of essential services.

A key issue of equity and development for Indigenous children is therefore directly related to the responsiveness of government. Equity is a key principle in the way the system is meant to operate and we should be able to use the principle as an organising device for providing Indigenous organisations with budgetary power and the fore the ability to provide a decent standard of service. Kummara Association Inc. (Watching over the Children) formally requests that the budget for Kiah Hostel be reviewed as a matter of urgency and have appended below the minimum requirements in relation to staffing for a service that can achieve the standards of care as required under the Legislation. KIAH HOSTEL COMBINED HOUSE PARENT / ROSTERED WORKER MODEL (Type of funding sought) RECURRENT 2002/2003 (1/10/2002-30/6/2003) 2003/2004 2004/2005 TOTAL FUNDING SOUGHT $610,552.00 Inclusive of non-recurrent Infrastructure & training component $736,862, 00 $758,968.00 (Staffing requirements) House parent / rostered worker combined model Staffing requirements are for 3 shifts per day with full time staff with 2 people each shift, including awake supervision - 21 shifts per week. Manager / House Parents to be inclusive of maintainence, cleaning, cooking and transport management and other placement planning responsibilities.

Relief shifts one weekend per month and five weeks per year annual leave. Provision to be increased in funding for long service leave entitlements and respite leave accrued over 22 years. Provision for training and professional Supervision. Youth Workers to be inclusive of awake supervision, reporting, handover, advocacy and other requirements. Provision in budget for relief staff. Four positions (4) with pool of staff to manage training, relief etc.

One weekend respite leave per month. Sessional workers. Administration Trainee to undertake administration and financial reporting on monthly basis to be supervised by Financial Manager Kummara Association Inc. Provision for relief staff and supervision. Sessional workers Social Worker, Psychologist, Occupational Therapist and / or other support as determined using Brokerage funding for services. Professional supervision of carers, management of training requirements and other duties as required.

Table 1.1 BRISBANE CITY REGION RESIDENTIAL CARE SERVICES DATA Facility Sponsor Area Office No Target Group Funding 2001/2001 Model Kiah Kummara F. Valley 7 0/12 years 1/7/02 to $191,764 House parent RAPT Uniting Care Inal a Chermside Mt. Gravatt 4 0/14 years 515,678 Rostered Worker St. Vincents Sisters of Mercy Pine Rvs Ipswich F. Valley Caboolture 8 (4) (4) 15-18 years 874,248 Rostered Worker Alexander Silky Oaks Wynn um Redlands F. Valley 6 10-18 years $237,782 House Parent Source: Mapping of Alternative care Services in Queensland Joint Initiative of the Child Protection Service System Improvement Project, Department of Families and Peak care Qld. Table 1.2 BRISBANE CITY REGIONS RESIDENTIAL CARE SERVICES DATA COMPARISON OF COSTS PER LICENSED CAPACITY / FUNDING PER YEAR Kiah Hostel 30 June 2002 $27,395 per child placed RAPT 30 June 2002 $128,920 per child placed St. Vincents 30 June 2002 $109,280 per child placed Silky Oaks 30 June 2002 $39,630 per child placed KIAH HOSTEL PROPOSED BUDGET COMBINED HOUSE PARENT / ROSTERED WORKER MODEL Budget Format 2002/2003 2003/2004 2004/2005 Income (7 days/24 hour) - House Parent / Rostered Workers Awake Supervision Model Source Amount Amount Amount Families funding 619,102.00 634,067.00 662,353.00 Other! Non Recurrent 74,000.00 Nil Nil Building Infrastructure Unknown Total income 693,102.00 634,067.00 662,353.00 Expenditure Item Amount Amount Amount Re-Establishment Phase Non-Recurrent Advertising Development Policy / Procedures Recruit Staff Staff Training and Induction 40,000 Capital Costs Non-Recurrent Fittings Computer, Printer, Modem & Software Desks, Filing Cabinets, Stationery and Telephones Furnishings 34,000 Current Capital Costs Infrastructure Purpose built Residential Care Facility Departmental IFACSS Kummara Assoc Total Capital Costs Non-Recurrent $74,000 ++ Nil Nil Recurrent Expenditure Salaries Managers 1.5 positions SACS Level 7.3 Support Workers x 4 positions SACS Level 5.3 On Costs: Superannuation Relief Staff Leave Liabilities etc. V 1 position Traineeship SACS Level 1.1 progressing to Level 1.3 23,500.00 24,600.00 25,700.00 Brokerage Support Services! V 4 hours per week per child Psychologist / Occupational Therapy / Social Work Tuition / Other Services including Professional Supervision 25,000.00 25,000.00 25,000.00 Auspice Fees x 024% Nominee, Acquittal and Financial & Audit Services 26,625.00 27,125.00 27,650.00 Vehicle Expenses Leasing Maintenance etc.

10,500.00 10,820.00 11,150.00 Operating - Recurrent 233,520.00 227,125.00 239,896.00 Total expenses $619,102.00 $634,067.00 $662,353.00 Per child placement Cost $88,443.00 $90,581.00 $94,261.00 In combined House Parent / Rostered Worker model KIAH HOSTEL - BACKGROUND Kiah hostel became a Residential care facility for Aboriginal and Islander children at 156 Agnew Street Norman Park, under the auspice of the Catholic Archdiocese of Brisbane, in the latter half of the nineteen seventies. Funding came from the Queensland Children's Services Department and Aboriginal Hostels Limited. At first, a Catholic Sister ran it, but the Kiah Coordinating Committee decided that having Indigenous houseparents was more appropriate, and an indigenous family moved in to care for the children. In late October 1979, Teena and Murray Vogt commenced as houseparents. At the time, the Department licensed Kiah for ten children, and there were mostly teenagers in residence. Glue sniffing was a big problem with the clients, along with alcohol, and there was continual offending, especially breaking and entering.

These critical incidents resulted in the local people advocating to have the Hostel closed. After a serious assault by some of the teenagers under the influence of alcohol etc., the Hostel was left with only two children in care, with no more to be taken without the permission of the Minister. During this time, some repairs and the upgrading of the kitchen were done, to make the place more habitable, as it was quite run-down, and covered in graffiti. The Committee, after discussions with the Houseparents, then made the decision to focus Kiah's work on Indigenous children from 0 to 12 years of age. Because it was generally made up of people with commitments to numerous organisations, the Kiah Coordinating Committee had difficulty maintaining a focus while things were running well, because except in crisis times they had other priorities. The Brisbane Aboriginal and Islander Catholic Council, which was running the St. Martin's Hostel for indigenous Teenage boys at Sankey Street, was approached to take over the committee role for Kiah.

The Catholic Council was never an incorporated body. There were power struggles, and eventually the only people left were those whose interest was in Kiah Hostel, rather than Catholic business, so the Council folded. Kiah was left with a support group, loosely known as the Kiah Committee, but with no real structure, rules or elections. Of course, along the way there were many good, committed people, whose focus was the well-being of Indigenous children in care, and without whom Kiah could not have continued. When the Churches in general began to realize that in sponsoring organisations, they were responsible for the funding, the Catholic Church moved Kiah funding into accounts with their Archdiocesan Development Fund. The Director of Centacare became the person to whom Kiah staff and Committee were answerable, and who provided support.

Later discussions were held regarding the possible change of auspice to an Indigenous organisation. As Kiah was operating with a surplus, being the reserves for holiday leave and long service leave, for a number of quarters, Aboriginal Hostels Ltd. decided to withdraw their offer of ongoing top up operational funding. This meant that more Departmental funds were required for accruing of leave commitments. In 2001, Kummara Association Incorporated agreed to take over the auspice of Kiah Hostel, and this was effected on July 1st of that year. Since the hostel was operating from Catholic Church owned premises which had been criticized by the Children's Commission as being sub standard, and the Department of Families provided funding for relocation and ongoing rental, Kiah and Kummara staff began looking for new premises. On August 15, 2001, Kiah began renting a six-bedroom brick two-storey house at 73 Lodge Road, Wooloowin.

With a great deal of input by the Kummara staff, Kiah struggled through the Department's new licensing process, at the same time, and is now the holder of a Residential Care License, valid until December 2004, subject to ongoing supervisory conditions. This process required major reviews of policies and procedures, management and administration systems to ensure the Organisations meet the requirements of the legislation. This process was extremely resource intensive and placed extreme pressure on a voluntary staffed agency, Kummara Association Inc., in the absence of additional resources to support these activities. The implementation and monitoring of legislation has had a major impact on Kiah Hostels! | ability to fulfil their obligations.