Shocking childhoods

The mechanics of this program make it inaccessible to the most vulnerable children. The first hurdle is that to apply for funding, a child must have a place in a childcare centre. The facts are that there are few places available to anyone and a placement involving uncertain funding and a difficult family is unattractive to day-care providers. When a child actually gets a place in a centre, the second obstacle is renewal of the Special Child Care Benefit by the FAO for a further 13 weeks. In our experience few children make it over this hurdle: the FAO only renews funding in cases when it is persuaded that there is a threat of imminent physical harm to the child.

In both cases, the child’s needs are assessed by organisations with limited expertise in child protection - childcare centres and the FAO - so there is no guarantee that the children receiving the funding are the ones who most need it. In fact, our experience tells us they are not.

For vulnerable families, a commitment to the intelligent use of childcare as a key component of child and family support would go a long way to providing relief, support and education.

A fairer and more effective application of the Special Child Care Benefit would see it contingent on referral from a family services or statutory child protection agency and extended to a year at a time in order to offer the consistent, ongoing support and care that is necessary to address the development needs of abused or neglected children.

This would increase the supply of childcare places for children at risk and would make new community childcare providers who are willing and able to include vulnerable children viable.

Alternative models of early years’ education and care also need to be developed. CPS is working to establish a children and parents’ resource centre capable of caring for up to 60 children. To do this it needs:

• assurance of Special Child Care Benefit of 100 per cent of parent fees for at-risk children for the duration of their childcare placements;
• assurance of eligibility of at-risk children to support services and subsidies provided by state and federal government for the duration of their childcare placements; and
• start-up funding support.

This week is National Child Protection Week. The CPS mission is to break the cycle of abuse and neglect in families and improve the life chances and choices of vulnerable children. This week we challenge the government and community to extend their thinking about child abuse and neglect and its consequences for children and the community.

It is essential that we work together to prevent and remediate the damage caused by abuse and neglect. Investing in early childhood education and care for abused and neglected children will build stronger families and communities by giving vulnerable children a better, stronger, start to life. Their future is our future.