Out-of-home care in Victoria, 2002
The number of children and young people in out-of-home care in Victoria in 2001-2002: 8,628
Percentage of out-of-home care clients in residential care: 11% over the past four years
Percentage of out-of-home care clients placed in kinship care:
2001-2002: 19%
1997-1998: 12%
Percentage of new clients being placed in kinship care: 62%
Percentage of foster care clients having four or more case managers over a 30-month period: 63%
Compliance rate with Aboriginal Child Placement Principle for Indigenous clients: 56%
Number of children and young people placed in home-based care for the first time in 1997-1998: 1,802
Percentage of those clients who had more than one placement in period to end of June 2002: 75%
Percentage of those clients who had four or more placements in period to end of June 2002: 32%
Average number of weeks spent in each placement: 61
Percentage of break down of attempted reunifications: 38%
Percentage of successful restorations with parents with no subsequent return to care up until end of June 2002: 30%
Percentage of successful restorations occurring within two months of first placement: 27%
Average time for successful restoration: 71 weeks
Average time that children and young people placed in home-based care spent in care during five-year period to end of June 2002: 60%
Total cost to government of placements for this cohort over the five-year period: $120 million
Average cost per client: $67,000
Source: Public parenting: A review of home-based care in Victoria, Department of Human Services, Victorian Government, 2003.