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BJSW Advance Access published online on May 12, 2008
British Journal of Social Work, doi:10.1093/bjsw/bcn058
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© The Author 2008. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The British Association of Social Workers. All rights reserved

Infants in Australian Out-of-Home Care

Albert Z. Zhou and Marilyn Chilvers

Albert Z. Zhou is a statistician at the Economics, Statistics and Research Directorate in the NSW Department zof Community Services (DoCS), Australia

Marilyn Chilvers is a statistician and economist, and is the Executive Director of the Economics, Statistics and Research Directorate in the NSW Department of Community Services (DoCS), Australia

The views expressed in this paper are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official positions of the NSW Department of Community Services

Correspondence to Albert Z. Zhou, Economics, Statistics and Research, NSW Department of Community Services, Locked Bag 4028, Ashfield NSW 2131, Australia. Email: albert.zhou{at}community.nsw.gov.au


  Abstract

This paper presents findings from a study examining the out-of-home care (OOHC) experiences of children aged less than one year (infants), based on data collected by the NSW Department of Community Services (DoCS), Australia. The purpose of the study is to develop a profile of infant children in OOHC and to better understand why so many young children require OOHC services and their experiences with the child welfare system. Using administrative data, we employ both descriptive and multivariate analysis to explore how child, child maltreatment history and system factors are related to the placement of infants in care. Our results are in line with research conducted in the USA and UK. The most notable finding is the high child protection reporting rate and high entry rate by infants and by Indigenous infants in particular. The tendency for infants to stay in care longer than other children, coupled with a high entry rate to care, has and will continue to have a significant impact on the child welfare system and its consequences. The implications for development of policy and early intervention programmes are discussed.

Keywords: Infants, out-of-home care, child protection


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