A National Comparison of Carer Screening, Assessment, Selection and Training and Support in Foster Care, Kinship and Residential Care
A new report from the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse examines carer recruitment, training and support policies and processes in Australia that aim to enhance the safety of children in out-of-home care (OOHC) and prevent sexual abuse. The research found that considerable attention is paid to the issue of child sexual abuse in OOHC. However, a number of significant barriers to preventing child sexual abuse are identified, including difficulties in attracting and retaining quality foster carers, a limited pool of residential care workers and high staff turnover. Another key issue highlighted by the research was the challenge of providing training and support to carers who live in rural and remote areas.