Kelly Vincent – 5RPH interview on child protection reform
15/04/2015
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Male announcer: On 1197AM 5RPH and digital radio its Question Time; a discussion with the decision makers.
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Hans Reimer: And we welcome once again Dignity for Disability MLC Kelly Vincent to Question Time; Good evening Kelly.
Kelly Vincent: Hi Hans.
Hans Reimer: Last week Coroner Mark Johns brought down his findings in relation to the tragic death of the four year old Chloe Valentine; what does Dignity for Disability make of these findings and recommendations.
Kelly Vincent: Well Hans, Dignity for Disability is obviously deeply saddened by the case of Chloe Valentine and deeply concerned about the dysfunction in Families SA that is not always resulting in the best outcome for the State’s children, and we’re also worried about how many other children could possibly be at risk or find themselves in a situation similar to that which poor Chloe Valentine found herself in, and of course there are particular risks involved where other children and perhaps slightly older children and other people as well, who have disabilities that might alter their method of communication for example, that can put particular vulnerabilities on people as well, because the system is not set up to deal with that of diversity, so we’re worried about the number of other children that might currently be in that situation and that’s why we want to see some swift action to try and prevent this kind of horrible situation from occurring in any other child’s future.
Hans Reimer: Well what sort of action can be taken in this area?
Kelly Vincent: Well Hans, on the same that the Coroner handed down his recommendations arising from the Chloe Valentine case, Dignity for Disability wrote to Parliamentary Counsel to ask them to draft a Bill to align the Children’s Protection Act with the recommendations that he made, from a legislative view point, and they are namely that a person who has a previous serious conviction, in particular relating to the harm or death of a previous child will have any further children forcibly removed from them. Now the Coroner has recommended that the parent have the option to apply for a variation of that decision, or a reversal of that decision, and we think that should be a possibility, but what we have to remember here is that unfortunately, in all cases in fact, the safety of a child is more important than keeping that family together for the family’s sake, and it’s unfortunate but true that not all families can provide a safe environment for children, so it’s important that we make sure that the primary objective of the Children’s Protection Act is spelled out, an that is to protect children, so to try and take children away from situations where they might be born into a family that is not going to care for them, and also to make sure that cumulative harm over time and over several incidents is taken into account as well. But also, of course, we need to see as well as logistical change a more conducive, productive, and functional culture in Families SA that actually works for the benefit of children as paramount. So as well as the legislative changes that we’re seeking under this Bill, which we hope to have drafted in about a week’s time, we need to see some other policy changes as well from the Government side.
Hans Reimer: Over the years there have been a number of these sorts of issues being brought out in the media, there’ve been children living in squalor, and of course the Chloe Valentine case, do you think there are broader lessons to be learnt from this case and others?
Kelly Vincent: Look, unfortunately I do, it’s just incredulous really, isn’t it Hans, that in 2015 we are still finding children and families living in the kind of situations that you’ve described, and the fact that this continues to happen I think speaks to the fact that there must be a cultural problem, and that not enough is being done to reverse these situations, so there’s certainly a need for better trained and resourced social workers and staff within Families SA and to makes sure that the resourcing is such that social workers and other Families SA staff are not so overburdened and overworked that they can’t give the adequate focus to the kid of cases we’re talking about. So I think that will be paramount. Ultimately Hans, it comes down to recognising a somewhat cliché but very true statement that children are the future and we need to recognise them as human beings in their own right rather than the possessions of a parent or family, and of course some people are unwell, they could be, even if they’re not unwell, manipulative and selfish and do not have the best interests of the child at heart and so we need to ensure that there is adequate resourcing to monitor families and to remove children from situations where they could be in danger, but we of course also need to look at how we better set up things like foster care and adoption to make sure that’s an adequate option as well because we can’t just move children from one bad situation to a slightly less bad situation, we need to make sure that all options are adequately resourced and available
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Hans Reimer: Dignity for Disability MLC Kelly Vincent, thanks once again for joining us on question time.
Kelly Vincent: That’s a pleasure, Hans. Thank you.
Male announcer: Be listening at the same time next week for Question Time; a discussion with the decision makers on 1197AM 5RPH and digital radio.
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