Children in care

What is out-of-home care?

Out-of-home care is a service provided by the Department of Human Services and various community service organisations to provide care to children who cannot live with their own families. Children may need to live in an out-of-home care placement for a variety of reasons and for different periods of time. Most of these placements involve the Department's Child Protection and Family Support services.

There are two program areas established by the Department of Human Services.

Home-based care

Home-based care is the current term used to describe care for a child or young person provided in a carer's own home. Home-based care includes:

• foster care
• shared family care
• adolescent community placement
• specialised home-based care
• one-to-one home-based care
• innovative home-based care
• kinship care
• permanent care

Carers are supported by a variety of community service organisations who are contracted by the Department of Human Services to provide home-based care services.

Residential care

Residential care refers to a program of supported accommodation for children and young people who are:

• unable to live with their families
• clients of child protection
• may not be appropriate for home-based care services due to behaviour, significant needs or attachment issues

Community service organisations primarily manage residential care services on behalf of the Department of Human Services and are responsible for recruiting and supporting their paid staff.