The Queensland Government made a series of improvements to the state’s child protection system to help families care for their children. These improvements were recommended by the Queensland Child Protection Commission of Inquiry and were implemented through the Supporting Families Changing Futures Reform Program.
Our second evaluation focused on outcomes achieved through the reform environment to date.
There is no question that a lot of activity has occurred in the course of implementing the reforms. The question is whether the best type of activity has occurred, and whether it has occurred in the best way for children, young people and their families. At present, outcomes data is limited or not available, so we cannot determine this. The data that is available, including the perspectives of stakeholders, indicates there has been limited (if any) improvement in the areas that need it the most.
Something needs to change. We are not suggesting another inquiry—what is needed is a shared child and family policy agenda that endures and provides certainty for the child protection and family support system and sector, and for the children, young people and their families who rely upon it.
The policy agenda must be developed with the direct and active involvement of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, frontline workers, and children, young people and their families. The child protection and family support system needs to measure what matters, share these measures, and evaluate individual programs and services at appropriate times to drive continuous improvement.
Our evaluation reports can be found below. Our overall evaluation findings are described in the Measuring what matters report. There are also three reports describing the results of ‘deep dive’ studies into areas of significant reform investment in more detail. These reports should be read in conjunction with Measuring what matters:
- Deep dive #1—Investing in family support services: Has it reduced demand on the child protection system and improved outcomes?
- Deep dive #2—Respecting the workforce: How did the Queensland Child Protection Reform Environment impact the frontline Child Safety workforce?
- Deep dive #3—Learning from evaluations: What have we learned and how has the child protection system responded?