Metadata for DCJ Caseworker Dashboard

Child Protection service delivery reported in the DCJ Caseworker Dashboard is grouped into three service groups: early intervention and preservation, statutory child protection and out-of-home-care.

Early Intervention and preservation services

DCJ Early Intervention programs fund non government agencies to provide targeted child, youth and family support services to families in need to reduce the likelihood of children and young people entering or remaining in the child protection and out-of-home care systems. Preservation programs support a child to remain with their family. Programs vary between districts.

• Brighter Futures
• Intensive Family Based Services
• Intensive Family Preservation Services
• Youth Hope
• Multisystemic Therapy for Child Abuse and Neglect
• Functional Family Therapy through Child Welfare

Measure – Brighter Futures contracted places for families

Description

This refers to the total number of Brighter Futures contracted places for families in the following financial years:

• 2018-19
• 2019-20
• 2021-21

Brighter Futures provides services to families with at least one child aged under 9 years, or families expecting a child, through intervention and support that will achieve long-term benefits for children. It aims to prevent children entering the statutory child protection system by providing structured home visiting and developing parenting skills in fostering healthy development and resilience; accessing support networks and the universal community services; and manage vulnerabilities to enhance child safety, parenting capacity and family functioning.

DCJ includes this performance measure in the DCJ Caseworker Dashboard from the December 2018 quarter.

Publisher

Department of Communities and Justice

Numerator

Not applicable

Denominator

Not applicable

Data Filters

Nil

Data Limitations

Nil

Data Source

Brighter Futures program

Measure – Intensive Family Based Services contracted places for families

Description

This refers to the total number of Intensive Family Based Services contracted places for families in the following financial years:

• 2018-19
• 2019-20
• 2021-21

Intensive Family Based Services provide relevant supports to Aboriginal children, young people and families, who have an identified vulnerability, which, if not addressed, may escalate to the point where more intensive intervention, including statutory child protection, may become necessary. Services provided include: advice and referral; assessment, case planning and case management; parenting programs and parent support groups; skills focussed groups for young people; counselling; and home visiting.

DCJ includes this performance measure in the DCJ Caseworker Dashboard from the December 2018 quarter.

Publisher

Department of Communities and Justice

Numerator

Not applicable

Denominator

Not applicable

Data Filters

Nil

Data Limitations

Nil

Data Source

Intensive Family Based Services program

Measure – Intensive Family Preservation Services contracted places for families

Description

This refers to the number of Intensive Family Preservation Services contracted places for families in 2018-19.

Intensive Family Preservation Services aim to prevent the imminent separation of children from their family as a result of child protection concerns and to reunify families where separation has already occurred. It is designed to work with families in crisis, when there is sufficient evidence to indicate that the family will respond positively to action under the program. Service intervention consists of a period of twelve weeks of intensive casework and 24-hour on call assistance, followed by a period of up to 40 weeks of continuous, multi-faceted and individually-tailored casework and assistance services.

DCJ includes this performance measure in the DCJ Caseworker Dashboard from the December 2018 quarter.

Publisher

Department of Communities and Justice

Numerator

Not applicable

Denominator

Not applicable

Data Filters

• Quarter

Data Limitations

Nil

Data Source

Intensive Family Preservation Services program

Measure – Youth Hope contracted places for families

Description

This refers to the total number of Youth Hope contracted places for families in the following financial years:

• 2018-19
• 2019-20
• 2020-21

Youth Hope program is targeted at children and young people aged 9-15 years who are assessed as being at Risk of Significant Harm (ROSH) report, or at risk of escalating to the statutory child protection system. The program enables more children and young people to stay safely at home; increase engagement in education; and be able to access appropriate support and resources. Services include proactive case management; structured and supported mentoring; access to the local service system to support children, young people and their families; and joint social activities for the whole family unit.

DCJ  includes this performance measure in the DCJ Caseworker Dashboard from the December 2018 quarter.

Publisher

Department of Communities and Justice

Numerator

Not applicable

Denominator

Not applicable

Data Filters

Nil

Data Limitations

Nil

Data Source

Youth Hope program

Measure – Multisystemic Therapy for Child Abuse and Neglect (MST-CAN) contracted places for families

Description

This refers to the total number of MST-CAN contracted places for families in the following financial years.

• 2018-19
• 2019-20
• 2020-21

The MST-CAN program is a 24/7 home-based treatment model for families with substantiated cases of physical abuse and/or neglect of children and young people aged between six and seventeen years. Services are provided to all family members. The model targets children where a report of physical abuse and/or neglect has been received within 180 days prior to the referral. Although referrals are received for children aged six years and over, all younger and older siblings in the referred child’s family also receive the service. The intervention is provided to the family for a period of six to nine months depending on the needs of the family.

DCJ includes this performance measure in the DCJ Caseworker Dashboard from the December 2018 quarter. A combined number of contracted places for the MST-CAN and FFT-CW programs is reported in the dashboard.

Publisher

Department of Communities and Justice

Numerator

Not applicable

Denominator

Not applicable

Data Filters

Not applicable

Data Limitations

Nil

Data Source

Evidenced Based Programs (FFT-CW and MST-CAN)

Measure – Functional Family Therapy through Child Welfare (FFT-CW) contracted places for families

Description

This refers to the total number of FFT-CW contracted places for families in the following financial years.

• 2018-19
• 2019-20
• 2020-21

The FFT-CW program is a home-based treatment model for families with substantiated physical abuse and/or neglect of a child or young person aged between zero and seventeen years by providing a family therapy-focused model for at-risk families. FFT-CW® addresses the underlying trauma that results in harm to children, young people and families. The intervention is provided to the family for a period of six to nine months depending on the needs of the family.

DCJ includes this performance measure in the DCJ Caseworker Dashboard from the December 2018 quarter. A combined number of contracted places for the MST-CAN and FFT-CW programns is reported in the dashboard.

Publisher

Department of Communities and Justice

Numerator

Not applicable

Denominator

Not applicable

Data Filters

Not applicable

Data Limitations

Nil

Data Source

Evidenced Based Programs (FFT-CW and MST-CAN)

Measure – Multisystemic Therapy for Child Abuse and Neglect (MST-CAN) actual families accepted

Description

This refers to the cumulative number of families accepting service from the MST-CAN program at the end of each reporting period since this program commenced in August 2017.

The MST-CAN program is a 24/7 home-based treatment model for families with substantiated cases of physical abuse and/or neglect of children and young people aged between six and seventeen years. Services are provided to all family members. The model targets children where a report of physical abuse and/or neglect has been received within 180 days prior to the referral. Although referrals are received for children aged six years and over, all younger and older siblings in the referred child’s family also receive the service. The intervention is provided to the family for a period of six to nine months depending on the needs of the family.

DCJ includes this performance measure in the DCJ Caseworker Dashboard from the December 2018 quarter. A combined cumulative number for families accepting services from the MST-CAN and FFT-CW programs is reported in the dashboard.

Publisher

Department of Communities and Justice

Numerator

Not applicable

Denominator

Not applicable

Data Filters

• Month
• Aboriginality

Data Limitations

Nil

Data Source

Evidenced Based Programs (FFT-CW and MST-CAN)

Measure – Functional Family Therapy through Child Welfare (FFT-CW) actual families accepted

Description

This refers to the cumulative number of families accepting service from the FFT-CW program at the end of each reporting period since this program commenced in August 2017

The FFT-CW program is a home-based treatment model for families with substantiated physical abuse and/or neglect of a child or young person aged between zero and seventeen years by providing a family therapy-focused model for at-risk families. FFT-CW addresses the underlying trauma that results in harm to children, young people and families. The intervention is provided to the family for a period of six to nine months depending on the needs of the family.

DCJ includes this performance measure in the DCJ Caseworker Dashboard from the December 2018 quarter. A combined cumulative number for families accepting services from the MST-CAN and FFT-CW programs is reported in the dashboard.

Publisher

Department of Communities and Justice

Numerator

Not applicable

Denominator

Not applicable

Data Filters

• Month
• Aboriginality

Data Limitations

Nil

Data Source

Evidenced Based Programs (FFT-CW and MST-CAN)

Measure – Children who received Early Intervention and Preservation (EI&P) services

Description

This refers to the total number of children who received EI&P services in 2019-20.

It only includes children and young people participating in Intensive Family Preservation, Brighter Futures Program, Intensive Family Based Services (IFBS) and NGO IFBS collection. Children and young people who received services from the FFT-CW, MST-CAN and Youth Hope are excluded in this count.

DCJ includes this performance measure in the DCJ Caseworker Dashboard from the December 2020 quarter.

Publisher

Department of Communities and Justice

Numerator

Not applicable

Denominator

Not applicable

Data Filters

Nil

Data Limitations

There may be some overlap of children and young people participating in IFBS and the other programs.

The figure reported for 2019-20 is estimated only.

Data Source

ChildStory/Corporate Information Warehouse (CIW)

NSW Department of Communities and Justice and Non-Government Organisation Intensive Family Services

Statutory child protection services

State and Territory governments have responsibility for funding and/or providing child protection services in Australia. NSW has its own legislation (Children and Young Persons (Care and Protection) Act 1998) that determines the policies and practices of its child protection system. The Act provides for mandatory reporting of Child or young person at ROSH; conducting investigations and assessments of reports; developing care plans and parent responsibility contracts; removal of children and young persons from primary carers; applying for emergency care and protection orders in Children's Court; and placing children in out-of-home care (OOHC). The Act also outlines permanent placement principles and provides for self-determination and participation in decision-making by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

• Children at Risk Of Significant Harm (ROSH)
• Children seen
• Children assessed face-to-face
• Children re-reported within 12 months of case plan closure

Measure – Children at ROSH

Description

This refers to the total number of unique children and young people involved in ROSH reports during a 12-month rolling period.

The number of children and young people are unique for the reporting period only.

Risk of significant harm status refers to the outcome of the screening at the Child Protection Helpline.  A child or young person is assessed at ROSH if the circumstances that are causing concern for the safety, welfare or wellbeing of the child or young person are present to a significant extent. This means it is sufficiently serious to warrant a response by a statutory authority, irrespective of a family’s consent.

From 24 January 2010, reports to the Child Protection Helpline must meet the threshold of ROSH. Where concerns of harm do not meet the significant harm threshold, the referring agency should offer and coordinate assistance or make a referral to other services, using normal referral networks.

Publisher

Department of Communities and Justice

Numerator

Not applicable

Denominator

Not applicable

Data Filters

• Quarter
• District

Data Limitations

Nil

Data Source

ChildStory - Corporate Information Warehouse (CIW) for the reporting periods after 2017-18

KiDS - Corporate Information Warehouse (CIW) for the reporting periods before 2017-18

Measure – Children seen

Description

This refers the number of unique children and young people involved in ROSH reports who received statutory child protection responses from FACS caseworkers.

After the introduction of ChildStory, there has been a change in the definition of ‘children at ROSH seen by FACS’, with more stringent requirements introduced in 2017/18. There are more steps undertaken by caseworkers to record the work they do to meet the definition of ‘seen’, in particular that a manager must now give formal approval.  Previously, NSW had a differential investigation response whereby an investigation can be undertaken over two stages (stage 1 – information gathering; stage 2 – assessment).

Data for ‘children seen’ are not directly comparable to data on investigations and assessments published previously.

Publisher

Department of Communities and Justice

Numerator

Not applicable

Denominator

Not applicable

Data Filters

• Quarter
• District

Data Limitations

Nil

Data Source

ChildStory - Corporate Information Warehouse (CIW)

Measure – Children seen (%)

Description

This refers to the number of unique children and young people involved in ROSH reports who received statutory child protection responses from FACS caseworkers as a percentage of the number of children and young people involved in ROSH reports in the reporting period.

Publisher

Department of Communities and Justice

Numerator

The number of children and young people involved in ROSH reports who received statutory child protection responses from FACS caseworkers in the reporting period.

Denominator

The number of children and young people involved in ROSH reports in the reporting period.

Data Filters

• Quarter
• District

Data Limitations

Nil

Data Source

ChildStory - Corporate Information Warehouse (CIW)

Measure – Children assessed face-to-face

Description

This refers to the number of unique children and young people who have received a completed face-to-face assessment.

A face-to-face or secondary assessment follows an initial assessment where it has been determined that a child or young person is believed to be at risk of harm and may be in need of care and protection. Secondary assessment is usually conducted by the local Community Services Centre or the Joint Investigation Response Team. The secondary assessment employs the Secondary Assessment Framework.

There are three distinct tools — safety assessment, risk assessment and risk reassessment — used by caseworkers.

• The safety assessment tool is used to determine whether there are any immediate dangers of significant harm to a child and what interventions should be put in place to provide immediate protection.
• The risk assessment is used to classify families into low, moderate, high and very high risk groups to determine the likelihood of future abuse or neglect to a child. This information is used to guide decisions about whether cases should be opened for ongoing services or not.
• The risk reassessment tool is used periodically to assess any changes to the family’s risk level in order to guide decisions about whether the case can be closed or if services should continue.

Publisher

Department of Communities and Justice

Numerator

Not applicable

Denominator

Not applicable

Data Filters

• Quarter
• District

Data Limitations

Nil

Data Source

KiDS - Corporate Information Warehouse (CIW)

Measure – Children assessed face-to-face (%)

Description

This refers to the number of unique children and young people involved in ROSH reports who have received a completed face-to-face assessment from FACS caseworkers as a percentage of the number of children and young people involved in ROSH reports in the reporting period.

Publisher

Department of Communities and Justice

Numerator

Not applicable

Denominator

Not applicable

Data Filters

• Quarter
• District

Data Limitations

Nil

Data Source

KiDS - Corporate Information Warehouse (CIW)

Measure – Children re-reported within 12 months of case plan closure

Description

This refers to the total number of unique children and young people at ROSH reported with a face-to-face assessment and case plan closed with the plan closure reason of ‘plan goal achieved’ who were re-reported as being at ROSH within 12 months of the case plan closed in the reporting period as a percentage of the total number of unique children and young people at ROSH reported in the period.

This measure is used to report on the performance of the ‘Protecting Our Kids’ project of the Premier’s Priority.  The target is to reduce the re-reporting rate of the target group to 34.4% by 2020.

FACS includes this performance measure in the FACS Caseworker Dashboard from the December 2018 quarter.

Publisher

Department of Communities and Justice

Numerator

Not applicable

Denominator

Not applicable

Data Filters

• Quarter
• District

Data Limitations

Nil

Data Source

ChildStory - Corporate Information Warehouse (CIW) for the reporting periods after 2017-18

KiDS - Corporate Information Warehouse (CIW) for the reporting periods before 2017-18

OOHC services

• OOHC children entering

• OOHC Children exiting

Measure – OOHC Children entering

Description

This refers to the number of unique children and young people entering OOHC in the quarter. This includes children and young people re-entering care during the quarter and those entering care for the first time ever.

The types of placements in OOHC includes home based care (in the home of a carer who is reimbursed for expenses in caring for the child); residential care in a residential building whose purpose is to provide placement for children and where there is paid staff).

FACS includes this performance measure in the FACS Caseworker Dashboard from the December 2018 quarter.

Publisher

Department of Communities and Justice

Numerator

Not applicable

Denominator

Not applicable

Data Filters

• Quarter

Data Limitations

Nil

Data Source

ChildStory - Corporate Information Warehouse (CIW) for the reporting periods after 2017-18

KiDS - Corporate Information Warehouse (CIW) for the reporting periods before 2017-18

Measure – OOHC Children exiting

Description

This refers to the total number of children and young people exiting OOHC during the quarter.

There are a number of ways in which a child/young person leaves OOHC. These include:

• A young person reaching the age of 18 years
• The expiration or rescission of the Care Order
• Transition to independent living and after care support
• Restoration to the family
• The granting of a Sole Parental Responsibility Order
• Granting of an Adoption Order, or
• The child or young person moving to another jurisdiction.

FACS includes this performance measure in the FACS Caseworker Dashboard from the December 2018 quarter.

Publisher

Department of Communities and Justice

Numerator

Not applicable

Denominator

Not applicable

Data Filters

• Quarter

Data Limitations

Nil

Data Source

ChildStory - Corporate Information Warehouse (CIW) for the reporting periods after 2017-18

KiDS - Corporate Information Warehouse (CIW) for the reporting periods before 2017-18