Substitute Care Services

About this Item
Speakers - Symonds The Hon Ann; Dyer The Hon Ron
Business - Questions Without Notice

SUBSTITUTE CARE SERVICES

The Hon. ANN SYMONDS: Will the Minister for Community Services advise the House of the move by the Department of Community Services to seek expressions of interest for intensive substitute care services?

The Hon. R. D. DYER: I readily acknowledge the lengthy and sustained interest of the Hon. Ann Symonds in substitute care services for children. I can advise the House that as at lunchtime today the Department of Community Services had received 40 inquiries from agencies interested in contracting to provide care for children and young people who need intensive services. That interest follows a small advertisement in the Sydney Morning Herald last Saturday seeking expressions of interest from agencies interested in providing intensive substitute care services. The level of interest makes a mockery of the claim by some of the agencies which are unwilling to renew their contracts that the level of funding on offer is insufficient to support young people at an acceptable standard.

Four of the existing agencies - Marist Community Services, St Saviour’s Neighbourhood Centre at Goulburn, Stretch-A-Family, and Centacare Group Home at Wagga Wagga - have all indicated to the department that they will continue to provide services under new contracts. Many of the inquiries resulting from the advertisements have come from highly respected smaller agencies which already provide these types of services. Some service providers and agencies have contacted my office and advised that they would happily provide the services for the funding offered by the department. Many small agencies in this State provide care for children and young people with far less funding from the Government.

The agencies that do not want to renew their contracts have alleged that the level of funding offered to them by the department is less than the funding allocated for the placement of young people from Ormond and Minali youth centres. That is absolutely incorrect. Planning at this early stage indicates that the placement of these young people is estimated to cost between $40,000 and $69,000 per annum. That is potentially as much as $30,000 cheaper per person than the offer made to the contracted agencies. Most of these young people are in care for crisis or short-term placements, and
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comparing the cost of their care with that of children in the intensive services is like comparing chalk with cheese.

Recent media suggestions that the department’s call for expressions of interest is competitive tendering is ludicrous. What would they have the department do? These services have refused to negotiate further with the department. The Government has about 40 children and young people in its care and the services have threatened to hand them back and refuse to provide the services for the funding on offer. The Government has a responsibility to find alternative services for these young people. What else should it do: leave them on the streets?

This dispute is about the care of a group of children who are vulnerable and at risk. The department has offered approximately $69,000 per child per year for their care. Obviously some agencies share my view that this is a reasonable level of funding. As I said in the House last week, unlike my predecessors opposite I have a real commitment to the children and young people in our care. I will ensure that the department develops appropriate placements for each child. I respect the commitment of the agencies that are unwilling to negotiate individually with the department, and their quest to provide the highest quality care for children. However, I must provide a whole range of services which are both fair and equitable to all children and to all service providers from within a finite budget.

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