By Trudy Simpson, Staff ReporterTHE CHILD Development Agency (CDA) said last week it had met targets for at least 15 of the 46 recommendations in the Children's Homes Report, released last July, and was making progress with others.
"The agency has met all of these deliverables and milestones save for the assessment and evaluation of all children presently in child care facilities. We are working very hard to mobilise the resources to do this and also to identify new physical space so as to introduce the 'streaming' of clients according to needs and services required," said Alison Anderson, the CDA's chief executive officer.
Ms. Anderson declined to give many details, stating instead that health officials would be holding a press briefing in the last week of January to update the media on the various issues.
PHYSICAL SEPARATION
But the report recommends, among other items, the physical separation of children in need of care and protection; those deemed uncontrollable; and those in state care because they committed crimes.
The report and recommendations came from the four-member Keating committee which probed allegations last year of children being abused, often sexually, and other wrongdoings in several children's homes and places of safety.
It discovered several problems including inadequate monitoring of the facilities by health officials, dilapidated conditions and some forms of child abuse.
QUARTERLY TARGETS
Ms. Anderson said monitoring officers were deployed in the four health regions and that the CDA introduced quarterly performance targets which include visits to homes, and face-to-face discussions with children. There will also be more stringent regulations on the licensing and operations of child care facilities and specific guidelines regarding what is deemed to be in the best interests of the child, said Ms. Anderson.
The CDA has focused on key areas of concern in the development of performance standards and reporting requirements for the child care sector, and the development of protocols and procedures for handling critical incidents and serious cases such as alleged physical/sexual abuse.
