Revelations that children in the foster care out-of-home-care system are being placed in hotels and caravan parks show the urgent need to act to protect our most vulnerable children.
The claims made on the ABC’s Mornings program today highlight the dire state of the system, with huge numbers of case worker vacancies, including 17 in the North West alone, and 900 children not allocated to a case worker.
This is the result of 10 years of chronic underfunding by the Liberal government, which has left the entire system, including workers and foster carers, at breaking point.
Tasmanian Labor has been raising concerns about the government’s handling of child safety for some time, with the move from individual case workers to a group model leaving our children and young people feeling unsupported and at risk.
If we can’t even ensure our vulnerable young people have somewhere safe to stay, how can we protect them from new traumas and abuse?
The Liberals have had 10 years to ensure child safety officers are adequately resourced and children are kept safe but instead we have a system in crisis and rising numbers of children at risk.
For our children’s sake, we can’t afford to give the Liberals 14 years. Tasmanians deserve a better future under a Labor Government.
Sarah Lovell MLC
Shadow Minister for Children and Youth