Breaking the Cycle: Why Early Intervention is Key to Child Protection Reform
Opinion Piece | Dr Lisa J Griffiths, CEO, OzChild
Dr Lisa J. Griffiths, CEO of OzChild and Founding partner of Allies for Children shares her thoughts about a path for child protection reform, focusing on further investment into early intervention that will allow more Australian children to grow up safely with their families.
Photography of Dr Lisa J. Griffiths, Chief Executive Officer of OzChild. Lisa is dressed in an orange top. Lisa is looking at the camera and smiling
Few would argue that the current state of the child protection system demands our urgent attention.
Overburdened and facing significant demand, the system frequently falls short of its promise to safeguard children. Nationwide, increasing numbers of foster carers are leaving due to bureaucratic hurdles and escalating living costs, with an 11% decline in foster carers over the past five years. This has led to a growing reliance on residential care and High-Cost Emergency Accommodations (HCEAs), which are known to result in poorer outcomes for children and young people.
Source: AIHW Child Protection Australia 2021–22. Graph shows the national residential and foster care % change from 2016-2022, with the rate of children in residential care increasing by 53% and the rate of children in foster care declining by 11%.
To truly protect children and enhance their long-term outcomes, the solution is not just about increasing the number of foster carers, improving residential care quality, or providing lower-cost and safer emergency accommodation—although each aspect plays a necessary role in a reimagined system.
It is critical that we increase investment in early intervention, provide more comprehensive wrap-around support for families when a risk is identified, and support the fundamental rights of children to be raised by their own parents.
Unfortunately, there remains a disproportionate investment in crisis support rather than early intervention. In 2022-23, national spending on family support services, intensive family support services, protective intervention services, and care services amounted to $9.4 billion. 63% ($5.9 billion) was directed towards crisis-end out-of-home care and placement services. The annual cost for each of the 45,000 children in care as of June 2023 varied across jurisdictions, ranging between $79,992 and $161,914, with residential care costs ranging between $561,246 and around $1.1 million per child[i]. With alarming costs reported of up to $2 million per child per annum for HCEA[ii]s, the economic case for interventions that divert children away from crisis-end supports is crystal clear. Sadly, the social and personal costs for these children are far higher.
Pie graph shows proportion of national spend in 2022-2023: 63% towards care services and 37% on early intervention.
Vulnerable families continue to be disproportionately impacted by the economic climate, with insufficient resources to manage the mounting pressures, affecting their mental health and capacity to care for children. This includes a significant proportion of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families who also battle systemic racism and colonial legislative systems, exacerbating their risk of involvement in the child protection and criminal justice systems, and resulting in the removal of their children at 11 times more than their non-Indigenous counterparts [iii].
Simple supports, such as the additional income support payments afforded during the pandemic, allow many families to live above the poverty line and address a range of financial challenges that create perceptions in child protection systems that children are neglected. By ensuring sustained financial support and addressing systemic inequities, we can prevent many unnecessary removals and better protect our children. However, income support alone will not address the diverse array of challenges that place children, young people and families at risk of contact with the child protection system.
The 'Safe and Supported' framework calls for a focus on systems and services prioritising resourcing, strengthening, and supporting families to stay safely together. First Nations leaders are tirelessly advocating for more community-led early intervention responses to ensure Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children grow up connected to kin and culture, with holistic supports available for all family members. This approach should not be unique to First Nations children; it should be adopted for all Australian children and families.
Many of my Allies for Children colleagues and other leading child welfare organisations are pioneering the implementation of evidence-based early intervention programs that are transforming the lives of children and young people. Often, these programs are self-funded, supported by philanthropic contributions, or receive short-term instead of sustained government funding, hindering their long-term implementation.
What does reform look like?
When championing reform – we can look at our U.S. counterparts who have seen success through the Family First Prevention Services Act (FFPSA), a significant piece of U.S. legislation enacted in 2018 to reform child welfare systems. The primary goal of the act is to prioritise family preservation and prevention services to reduce the need for out-of-home care placements. This act enables states to lodge their prevention and preservation plan and costs which are matched through Federal funding, allowing states to use federal funds for evidence-based services, such as mental health treatment, substance use prevention, and in-home parenting skills, aimed at keeping children safely with their families.
Pleasingly, over the past few years, we have witnessed growing collaboration between state governments, the sector, and the community, with governments increasingly adopting an evidence-informed approach to investment within the industry. This momentum must be sustained. Together, we must collate and analyse valuable outcomes data to inform and optimise government spending. We must advocate for policies and funding allocation towards programs and services that strengthen families, address root causes, and foster long-term positive outcomes for children and young people. By employing child-centric, strengths-based interventions that mitigate risks and bolster protective factors, we empower more parents with the essential resources and skills required to maintain the integrity and safety of their families.
The children we are responsible for safeguarding cannot afford for us to delay increased investment in early intervention. The cost of inaction is far too great, and the stakes are too high. By investing more in comprehensive, family-centred supports and prioritising early intervention, we can shift away from the crisis-based approach that currently defines our child protection system. Together, we can deliver on our promise to protect and nurture the next generation and realise benefits for future generations.
Dr Lisa J. Griffiths, founding partner of Allies for Children Australia and Chief Executive Officer of OzChild shares her thoughts about child protection reform, focusing on further investment into early intervention that will allow more Australian children to grow up safely with their families.
[i] https://www.cfecfw.asn.au/community-services-performance-summaries-2024/
[ii] https://www.nsw.gov.au/media-releases/nsw-government-announces-urgent-action-to-repair-broken-foster-care-system
[iii] According to the latest Family Matters Report, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children in Australia are nearly 11 times more likely to be removed from their families and placed in out-of-home care compared to non-Indigenous children. This alarming statistic underscores the urgent need for comprehensive reform in child protection systems to address the underlying causes of this disparity, such as poverty, systemic racism, and lack of access to essential services (SNAICC – National Voice for our Children) (Indigenous Justice Clearinghouse) (SNAICC – National Voice for our Children).