Hey Max, that did sound typical of many stories I have heard through people dealing with DoCS. I would run out of words just with situations over the last few months of what I have witnessed happen to children I know of in this system. I don’t think any of the situations (some ongoing and others still being newly created) I could point at DoCS caseworkers and blame any of them.

Management within DoCS and NGO’s would however be at the other end of many accusations that come to mind.

I wonder how the question was put to your girl? It is usually how a question is phrased that will deliver any answer the adult already has in their thoughts. Problem is kids even start believing what they felt required to answer.

Your poor mum, no matter how innocent you know yourself to be having an allegation out there leaves a bad taste.

Yes DoCS needs a lot of fixing, and again OUG seems to have it right. Woods has effectively muddied the waters enough that the public believes something is being fixed.

At this point I have never felt so disappointed by my own gender and their complete disregard of children.

Oh crap: http://www.news.com.au/story/0,,25595677-1242,00.html

Foxy, DoCS needs to be improved. But I do believe the State Government must remain in full control of the states children. NGO’s being accredited compared to DoCS is apples and oranges with a very different service range. NGO caseworkers don’t receive calls, investigate, remove, go through court etc. DoCS exist to enforce Care and Protection and they become the children’s legal guardian.

Right now we have children with NGO services who have no contact with their DoCS caseworkers. So if anything goes wrong with an NGO carer DoCS get the blame ultimately.

NGO’s don’t have the huge numbers and long history that DoCS have, stats are usually interpreted to support whichever agenda an author is advocating.

I don’t think you will find a site that supports DoCS but there are many NGO sites raving about the Woods report, what a surprise.

Dear Jewely,

Yes, you're right there are no websites that
support the Department of Community Services,
apart from their own, of course.

And that should come as no surprise. Afterall,
The Wood inquiry was called in response to
community outrage over the deaths of two
children in NSW. Dean Shillingsworth, a two-year
old boy was found folded into a suitcase, floating
in a lake in Sydney's southwest, then 7 year old
girl, Shellay Ward was starved to death in her home
in Hawks Nest, north of Sydney. She weighed just
9kg - 12kg less than an average girl her age.

DOCS had been aware of problems with the Wards.
Complaints led DOCS taking the youngest of the
four Ward daughters into foster care, but they left
the other three children with their parents.

Shellay had never been to school, and her older 13 and
15 year old sisters hadn't attended since 2005.

DOCS staff complain of being suffocated under huge
caseloads, and piles of paperwork generated by
mandatory reporting requirements.

It sounds like the report by Judge J. Wood QC, is quite
fair. The Wood report says the non-government sector has
"smaller and less formalised management structures,
and has a greater capacity to implement reforms and
innovative services more quickly than government
agencies."

They certainly could not do a worse job
than the NSW Department of Community Services.

It gives one example of overloading of government
workers, saying the private agency Barnardos provides
services to 214 children, compared with DOCS in
Cambelltown, "which alone was reponsible for 615
children."

The report also says that the number of children in
out of home care is expected to rise to 19,495 by 2012.

In contrast, numbers are falling in Victoria and
Queensland, both of which have overhauled their welfare
systems to give more responsibility to the private
sector.

Perhaps, that's where the answer lies.
A combination of both government and private sectors -
because overloaded government caseworkers are obviously
not able to do the job, and haven't been able to do
it for years, and that's to the
detriment of all concerned.

Foxy do you want less formalised management in charge of children?

You Foxy are clever, go past the cases DoCS have got wrong and children they should have bought in to care and haven’t.

Focus on the kids already removed and in foster care and the recommendation of Justice Woods that these children become part of private organisations. DoCS staff do not benefit from children in care. The people running and employed be NGO’s will.

Consider what it means for private companies, never ending supplies of children aka funding. A Long Term child will have a projected income up to 18 years old.

NGO’s also have no squeaky clean record when it comes to foster children and the types of carers on their books. If you read more stories about children being abused in care you will see that although the word “DoCS” is in the headlines the children were placed and forgotten by the NGO’s also.

Reality is the NGO’s agree to take a kid, place them with their carers who they pay more because they charge DoCS more per child.

If greater numbers of children/work are expected then you don’t dismantle what is in place and move children sideways in to private industry at huge tax payer expense, you fix what you have.

Trust me Foxy, from little children I have seen NGO’s take; they showed none of the compassion of the DoCS caseworkers. Same as DoCS, some nice, some not. The kids left to this game of chance.

Numbers aren’t falling, the stats were moved. Taxpayer pays more for the same service but the children are not supported or contacted by their legal guardians.

The caseworkers working for NGO’s (for much greater salaries that they charge DoCS for) should be working for DoCS.

Woods recommend changed mandatory reporting requirements so you wont hear about so many of the abused children now. Phew aye.

“They certainly could not do a worse job than the NSW Department of Community Services.”

Yeah they can and already do, I have witnessed it. Which particular NGO are you talking about?

My story [in another thread] about DOCs is true.
I have a worse one, its in my post history and every word true.
And I will never understand why, but my job brings me into contact with many victims of DOC,s
Mothers, fathers, and children.
I had no choice but not to put every thing into print in my story about a father raping his child.
But that man flogged his children, in drunken rage every weekend, he had help, his wife told the kids what happens at home stays at home.
She did leave after the rape, one year after.
A whole community begged DOC,s to act.
Back to the post history thing.
IF ONE WORD is untrue, just one,I am worthless.
Years ago , my niece in my custody and mums,went bad seemingly over night.
Age 12 one day in Sunday school next in makeup and out till 2am.
We said she must not mix with older kids, not have makeup and got some councelling for her and us.
This child went to DOC,s took advice from her friends and asked to be removed from our home.
She was, she moved into a private home, living with the nephew of a DOC,s worker.
Had a sexual affair with this much older youth.
In time the Man no longer worked for DOC,s she came back home, but 25 years have past, she never recovered from her bad start in life.
Have no doubt ten thousand story,s about the wast red tape and neglect the killed DOC,s can be found.
And remember my story is true, not helped along to help my views just a dreadful true story.
22 years in a government department tells me some great workers, none could be better, are useless when most are there only for the money.
In DOC,s as much time is spent harming the innocent as helping those in need and even more wasted in doing nothing.

there's..a lot of stuff..people can say..to muddy..the waters..[jewel]..[but search out..about..facts you know]

see how kevins/wife cleaned up 47 million..[when john howrad privatised un-em-ploy-ment..'services'..[see the expanse of private prisons...see how old people..[nursing homes]..is a nice privatised lurk..[80,000 a year for housing..[one]..old people]

there are people out there..willing to lobby for govt-services to go private..[for the assured govt payments]...this privatisation provides for profit from govt businness...tax payer money is guarenteed..[as your realising]...many will come up..with horror stories about docs...[but unions have sold us out before]

for some there is nothing..we can do to prevent people..making money from taking govt services and privatising them..[for private gain..[i dont know the truth of peoples stories..[but i do know this privatisation is a nice cash cow...

the proof off that is plain to see..how come govt allows private schools/hospital;s/prisons..[and still gives them govt cash]

govt/we..used to own..the loading docks/..used to own airports/..used to own roads/..used to own prisons...now private buisness/owns them[but the real cash-cow is getting govt money..to do the same job]..without the govt oversights...its basic corperate welfares...

just ask mrs;rudd..how proffitable it is to find jobs..govt used to find for free..[or check out..how much private/prisons/shares are on the stock market..[prisoners working for slave-wage and a prison-bed are great for the bottum line..[just ask china

your beginning to think..[dont be fooled...some will say anything to make their private gain sound a great idea...see how the recomendaTIONS..mainly lead to yet another privatisation..[its guarenteed income for up to 16 years

[and if you stuff them arround..maybe for life..as they become fully disfunctional,..or breed more disfunctionally/istitutionised/children[noting their parents all ready are in the system..[so too their kids..and when disfunction..becomes private income..[who trusts big buisness..not to reap the last penny govt has to pay...

its like putting a bounty on kids..one kid equals 16 years of income..just like ware-housing one old person means $80,000 per year..to the private old people housing./industry..[nursing home]..businness

kids are worth fighting over..[let other's fight over money]
your doing it for love..[but realise the only reason many others are doing it..is for the cash]...3 full-time kids =[plus 1000?]..better than baby sitting for pennies right

Dear Jewely,

According to the website of the NZherald.co.nz
under the subject heading of 'Foster Care.' :

"At the NSW Department of Community Services, commonly
known as DOCS, scandal and controversy have long
weighed as heavily as its case workers' ever-increasing
workload."

In NSW one in seven families - and one in 15 kids - are
reported to DOCS.

Research suggests a child is abused every 15 minutes.
It doesn't do much good however, no matter how 'caring,'
the case workers may be - if nothing is done about things!

In 2003 former Premier Bob Carr effectively acknowledged the
organisation was in crisis when he committed an extra 1000
frontline staff and over A$1 billion to fix the system.

But this years' annual report by the NSW Ombudsman Bruce
Barbour confirmed DOCS was still plagued by major and
persistent failings.

The argument that DOCS "appears to be the cheaper provider,"
of welfare services... "is misleading as it does not adequately
reflect the number of unallocated cases and the poorer
quality of casework which inevitably occurs when a caseworker
is faced with a greater number of children and young persons,"
says the Wood report.

Jewely, I think we're going to have to agree to disagree on
this issue.