Decisions about your child while they’re in care

A care and protection order from the ACT Childrens Court usually changes who has parental responsibility for your child while they are in care. This means who is legally responsible for making daily and long-term decisions about your child’s care.

Who’s responsible for your child?

A care and protection order will say who's responsible for making decisions about your child.

Sometimes the Court:

• gives this responsibility to the Director-General of the Community Services Directorate in the ACT Government
• asks the Director-General to share it with you or another person.

The Director-General has the final say on most decisions.

Decisions about your child’s daily care

Child and Youth Protection Services makes decisions about your child’s daily care for the Director-General. This includes decisions about:

• where your child lives
• who your child will have contact with
• temporary care of your child by someone else (for example, if your child attends a friend’s sleep over)
• everyday activities such as your child having a haircut or what they wear
• daily care for school (for example, excursions), training and employment.

We give these responsibilities to your child’s kinship or foster carer. The carer becomes legally responsible for making the daily decisions and must obey your child’s Care Plan.

If your child’s care and protection order includes shared long-term care responsibility

We must consult with you about:

• health treatments for your child that involve surgery or immunisation
• your child’s long-term education, training and employment
• a passport for your child
• administration, management and control of your child’s property
• religion and observance of racial, ethnic, religious or cultural traditions.

We may ask you, or your child, what you think. This does not mean we must do want you want.

Looking after your child

Your child could live with someone in your family (called kinship care), an approved carer (called foster care) or in residential care.

Kinship care

Kinship carers are people in your family who can give a safe home for your child. They have parental responsibility while your child is in their care.

For Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander children, a kinship carer may be someone in their cultural community.

You can suggest a person from your family to look after your child. We will look at all kinship care options before we consider a carer your child does not know.

Read more about kinship carers.

Foster care

Foster carers are checked, pre-approved, and trained before they can look after a child.

In the ACT a foster care agency ACT Together makes sure someone is a suitable carer. They will work with your child’s foster carer to:

• organise your child’s contact arrangements
• arrange appointments for your child
• manage most of your child’s Care Plan.

If you have questions about your child’s care, ask Child and Youth Protection Services (CYPS) first.

Read more about foster carers.

Residential care

If kinship or foster care is not an option, your child will live in residential care.

Residential care is normally for children older than 13 and is not for a long time.

Residential care has a few children living together in a house with staff onsite 24 hours a day.

We check all residential care staff to make sure they can care for your child and keep them safe.

What children can expect while in care

Children and young people have a right to feel safe and cared for.

The Charter of Rights for Kids in Care explains:

• children and young people's rights
• what they can expect from the people who are looking after and working with them in care.

Your child’s Care Plan

We make a Care Plan for all children on a care and protection order or a Voluntary Care Agreement.

Your child’s Care Plan covers all aspects of your child’s care including:

• your child's needs – how they will be met and whose job it is
• your needs and your family's – how they will be met and whose job it is
• an agreed date to review the Care Plan.

Developing your child’s Care Plan

We develop Care Plans in partnership with people involved with your child.

We will consult with:

• your child – if they are of appropriate age and understanding
• each person with daily care responsibility for your child
• you – as their parent you have the right to be consulted
• anyone involved in implementing your child’s Care Plan
• an Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander Service if your child identifies as Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander.

All these people can make suggestions for the Care Plan.

We must consider these suggestions. We cannot include all suggestions in the plan. We will consider what is in your child's best interests.

You should attend all meetings so you can have your say and talk about your child’s Care Plan.

You will get a copy of your child’s Care Plan. You can ask for an updated copy at any time.

Your child’s care team

Your child will have a care team while they are in care.

You will meet with the care team often to talk about your child’s needs.

At care team meetings

People at the meeting may include:

• you
• your child
• your child’s carer
• your child’s class teacher, counsellors and support services.

You should attend these meetings to have a say in decisions about your child’s future.

The goals of the meeting are to:

• talk with you, your child, carers and any other person with parental responsibility
• review your child’s progress in care
• share information about your child’s needs and wishes
• update your child’s Care Plan (if needed)
• plan what needs to happen in the future to help your child.

A care team meeting will cover your child’s:

• health
• education or employment
• identity
• contact and relationships with family and significant others
• social wellbeing
• emotional wellbeing
• behaviour
• self-care skills
• cultural plan if your child identifies as Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander
• transition planning if your child is 15 years or older.

A care team meeting will also cover:

• your skills and capacity to care for your child
• the skills and capacity of your child’s carer to care for your child

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