'Unacceptable': Queensland government launches emergency audit to find hundreds of children missing from state care
The Queensland government has launched an emergency audit to find more than 700 vulnerable children missing from state-sanctioned residential care as fears grow they may be homeless or living with dangerous people.
The Queensland government has launched an emergency audit to find hundreds of children missing from the state-sanctioned residential care system.
More than 12,000 children are currently in Queensland's residential care system through foster, residential and kinship care programs, but out of this figure 780 children have made the decision to leave state-care and "self-place" in a location unknown to the government.
The Crisafulli Liberal National Party government is now working to gather the displaced children's names, ages and locations as fears grow they may be homeless or living in dangerous situations.
It is understood when children choose to self-place, they lose access to government-backed support services and case management, making it hard to track their location.
Child Safety Minister Amanda Camm said the self-placement of children was "unacceptable", adding it is essential for those missing from the system to be identified.
“Allowing one vulnerable child to self-place in Queensland is unacceptable to me, let alone 780 young people. That’s why I have ordered a full audit of the kids in care who are self-placing, what support they are receiving and where they are,” she said.
“It is vital we have an understanding of how we can better support these vulnerable children to get their lives back on track and if they have a youth justice crossover.”
Ms Camm said a "clear system failure" was behind the state's growing number of unlicensed operators in residential care who are not bound by strict child protection laws, nor monitored or audited by state authorities.
https://www.skynews.com.au/australia-news/unacceptable-queensland-government-launches-emergency-audit-to-find-hundreds-of-children-missing-from-state-care/news-story/24f7c57790f6fb1cdc5d2aa40d2dc134