8. Regulation of care
Purpose
This procedure outlines the process for approving carers who can provide a child with a safe and acceptable standard of care, when Child Safety intervention with a child and family requires that a child is placed away from their parent's care.
The purpose of regulating foster and kinship carers, including provisionally approved carers, is to ensure that an individual who provides care for a child placed with them by the Child Safety, is suitable to care for the child and continues to meet suitability requirements for the duration of their approval.
Key steps
- Pre-application
- Assessment
- Approval
- Renewal
What ifs - responding to specific regulation of care matters
Standards
- Consideration is given to placing the child with kin, as a first option.
- All persons must be considered 'suitable persons', prior to being issued with a certificate of approval as a foster or kinship carer or provisionally approved carer.
- Applications for approval, or renewal of approval, are decided within legislative timeframes.
- Personal history checks are undertaken by the CSU for all applicants and adult household members.
Practice skills (Key areas for reflection)
- Have I accessed all sources of relevant information in undertaking the assessment?
- Have I applied the five elements of the child placement principle during engagement, assessment and review processes, where relevant?
- Did I include in my assessment report relevant, factual and concise information, including evidence and professional opinion, which supports the recommendation for approval or refusal of an application?
- Have I undertaken the assessment in an open, accountable and transparent manner and treated the applicant fairly, with courtesy and respect?
- Have I addressed issues of concern with the applicant during the assessment process?
- How did I facilitate the applicant's participation in decision-making?
Authority