by Dee McLachlan
Were we duped by the media? Even I was persuaded by the hype over the Royal Commission into Institutional Abuse, thinking it was all about the Catholic Church. They were made out to be the prime suspects.
But the statistics tell another story. Only 14.5 percent said they were abused while involved in religious activities, such as attending a church or seminary. While 41.6 percent were abused whilst in Out-of-Home Care. Even though many of those were sent to live in religious institutions, they were still wards of the State. How did it escape our attention that the most dangerous place to be was not your local church, scout camp or school dormitory — it was being under guardianship of the government.
I understand there are children that need to be taken into care, and there are some wonderful foster parents that are found to care for these children. But I do believe there is a very worrying side to the child protection “business”.
It can be extremely dangerous – even lethal — for a child to be placed on a “list” of a family services or child protection department in this country.
And a separate issue is that removing some children from a loving parent has devastating consequences.
The Rise and Rise of OOHC
The rate of child protection services continues to rise, with 1 in 35 children in Australia receiving services of some kind.
Out-of-home care (OOHC) is the care of children aged 0–17 years who are removed from their primary caregivers and placed with alternate caregivers on a short or long-term basis.
Recent statistics show that, as of 30 June 2017, there were 47,915 Australian children living in OOHC. This has increased from 7.4 per 1,000 children at 30 June 2011 to 8.7 per 1,000 children at 30 June 2017.
And it keeps rising. In South Australia, in June 2017, there were 3,484 (0 – 17 years). The following year, June 2018, there were 3,695.
Why the constant rise in numbers?
The Business of “Protection”
The NSW Government (FACS) is investing over $2 billion to protect and support our most vulnerable children, young people and families. What is it spending its money on?
$1.2 billion goes to support Out-of-Home care and permanency, but only $39.2 million to supporting keeping families together. $7 million (over three years) went to support ‘MY FOREVER FAMILY’ to recruit, train and support carers.
I had underestimated the sheer scale of the industry, and the amounts of money being paid out to “care for children.” The list of payments (FACS 2017/18) to various organisations involved runs for 84 pages. And the amounts paid out can be considerable. For example, in 2018, FACS paid out $52 million to Allambi Care Ltd, $35 million to Barnardos Australia, $35 million to Challenge Community Services, and $97 million to Life Without Barriers.
In South Australia I noted an alarming rise in the budgets of the Department for Child Protection Services (DCP). In the 2016/17 financial year the department received $327 million from the tax payers. The next year the figure jumped from $327 million to $520 million.
How many children were involved? There were 3,504 children (0-18 years) in out of home care in 2016/17, and the number of kids rose to 3,734 in OOHC in 2017/18.
$200 million for only 200+ more kids in care. Where did this extra budget go? Most went to employee benefits and expenses, and to supplies and services.
The law states that guardianship is the “least preferred option”, but one has to wonder if there is an incentive to keep this industry financially flush by absorbing more children onto the books — where they become no more than financial assets.
Is it like the housing bubble? The country’s economy seems dependent on house prices ever-rising. The child protection industry most likely works on the same principal — that to keep the industry viable, more kids are drawn into care.
But kids in care are the most vulnerable.
The Abuse of Children in Placement
In January 2015, the ABC reported that the National Children’s Commissioner Megan Mitchell was ‘very concerned’ by figures showing that hundreds of kids in foster care had been abused.
Several hundred children had been abused in 2014, and there were concerns that the number of children in care was at a record high. Ms Mitchell said (in 2014) that “the 41,000 Australian children in care have suffered enough.”
Ms Mitchell also said,
“It is very concerning that the most vulnerable children in our community are subject to abuse at a time when the state is charged with looking after them and removing them from abusive situations.”
And…
“The best thing for us to do is invest in the birth family to ensure that they can care properly for their children…”
But that takes money out of the industry, whereas the financial focus is on “services.” There is no money creation/circulation when kids are sent back home. And what I discovered in the Gumshoe Survey is that the Family/Childrens Court is feeding a hungry judicial system on the side. Of the 79 responders of the survey most lost huge sums of money. Almost 50% lost a home to pay legal and court fees.
Learning From The Royal Commission
In the Royal Commission’s final report, they write:
“The sexual abuse of a child is a terrible crime. It is the greatest of personal violations… It is one of the most traumatic and potentially damaging experiences and can have lifelong adverse consequences. Tens of thousands of children have been sexually abused in many Australian institutions.
“The failure to protect children has not been limited to institutions providing services to children… Our criminal justice system has created many barriers to the successful prosecution of alleged perpetrators… Our civil law placed impossible barriers on survivors bringing claims against individual abusers and institutions. It is remarkable that in so many cases the perpetrator of abuse was a member of an organisation that professed to care for children. Just as remarkable was the failure of the leaders of that institution to respond with compassion to the survivor.”[Emphasis added]
I remind the readers that 41.6% of persons reporting to the Royal Commission were in Out-of-Home Care! One must also take note that these are almost all historical cases, but there were far fewer children in OOHC in the 1980s (for example) than there are now.
One has to ask the question: what would the numbers of victims be if there was a Royal Commission on OOHC now — considering there are nearly 50,000 children in the care of the State?
Some Sums and Figures Don’t Add Up
In general there has been a steady rise in removing children from their parents. This has supported a multi-billion dollar industry across Australia. One might expect an increase in OOHC with the increase in population, but the percentage of children per 1,000 kids removed is increasing too.
There are other aberrations that require investigation. In most states there is a rise in the numbers of “substantiations of abuse,” but in South Australia there was a dramatic decline in 2016. There could be many factors influencing this.
More statistics (from casa.org.au):
- Girls between the ages of 10 and 14 were the greatest proportion of victim/survivors of sexual violence.
- Only about 17% of reported sexual offences result in a conviction.
- Less than 1 in 7 reports of incest or sexual penetration of a child result in prosecution.
The number of investigations and substantiations (of abuse) by child protection services in Australia increased from 48,420 (2011-12) to 60,989 in 2015-16. Of the 60,000, there were 5,559 on sexual abuse.
In the Family Court Survey conducted by Gumshoe there were 79 responders that had reported sexual abuse. Only 2 responders reported that an abuser was jailed.
The Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research (BOSCAR) in NSW found that criminal proceedings were initiated in only 15% of incidents of sexual assault involving child victims reported to police.
Considering the thousands of substantiations of sexual abuse, one would expect many prosecutions. But we never hear of these.
If the prosecutions in sexual assault are so low, on what basis are these kids being removed?
There’s a New Game in Town — Emotional Abuse
Kids can be taken in care as a result of sexual abuse, physical abuse, neglect… or emotional abuse. Most alarming is the high percentage of “substantiation” of Emotional Abuse. Over 20,000 cases in Australia in 2015/16.
The Australian Institute of Family Studies reports that we need to respond to the needs of each child “with flexibility, empathy and intelligence.” They found that the best interests of the child has to be the ‘reason’ for all action taken. But this does not seem to be the case. (We have heard about Rikard Bell’s claim of 2,000 cases.) Is this why there is a reluctance for a Royal Commission — that it might harm the financials of this protection industry?
I noted looking through the financials of the various protection departments that they pay professionals for placement/OOHC “assessments.” Is this to maintain the high emotional abuse stats of 45%? I am sure many of these professionals would be encouraged to report some emotional abuse — easy to accuse a protective parent of, and hard to disprove. (I’ll go into this in greater detail in another article.)
So, are fabricated claims of “emotional abuse” feeding the billion-dollar “child protection business”?
Dee, this video shows EXACTLY what we’re up against. I wonder if I had watched it 2 years ago might I have believed what the social worker is saying? OUTRAGEOUS.
.
If this is the case, that fabricated assessments are being manufactured, these would be considered crimes against children
http://themillenniumreport.com/2017/06/british-prime-ministers-executive-order-permits-pedophiles-to-adopt-children/
second try to post
i quote your item, Diane:
,
“One of May’s arguments for the change in policy was that although pedophilia is on the rise, the number of pedophiles that murder children was “still quite low”.
“Speaking about the proposed changed, leading legal academic Reece said that blocking sex offenders from working with children was also “unfair”.
Timely document Dee.
Can I add some perspective, after ten years in the Child Protection Industry.
Social workers are academics, to wit, and demonstrably, emotionally retarded adults who view the words as a two dimentional construct entirely coloured by ideological shades, and who dislike actual contact with people, especially kids.
If you think I am exaggerating, ask any experienced welfare officer or youth worker.
In 1981 there was a national conference on child protection and fostering and the unanimous conclusion and recommendation was that fostering should be discontinued because it invariably damaged both children and the carers. The mooted alternative was to support the birth parents or, if this was not feasible, immediately have the kids adopted as a family package.
Obviously, this lucrative foster industry decided otherwise,
Meanwhile, both ALP and LNP policies seamlessly destroyed full time jobs, creating 50% unemployment/under-employment and three million homeless. Hows that for market creation for the kiddie industries?
The stolen generation bullshit ensured no social worker would intervene to rescure an Aboriginal kid for risk of being accused of stealing a second generation. Fortunately, Aboriginal senior community worker Sophia Garrkali of Nhulunbuy, has launched the MIKAN project, in which Aboriginal language groups organise OOHC within the extened family. This has expanded to include the community of Galiwinku, and I just delivered a paper whoich will force all departments to examine how Aboriginal family empowment can be achieved with use of languages and culture.
On the subject of foster care… think about factory farms and translate this to fostering houses incorporating shift-working “foster parents”. This is what we are rescuing children from.
Way back in 1975, I had a poster on my welfare office wall that said, BECOME A SOCIAL WORKER… THERE IS BIG MONEY IN POVERTY.
Yet what we experienced then was micoscopic compared to what is happening now.
The solution? Stop destroying families.
First, restore 25% tariffs on all manufactured items and food. This will re-create manufacturing and domestiic food production, together which were the catalyst for 80% of employment in 1973, according to the Australia Tax Office.
Second, sack every expert. There is no such thing.
Third, install Citizen-Initiated Referenda (CIR), which will mean all policy is formulated by an informed electorate.
Fourth, ban Murdoch from Australian media, and Lowy from universities and think tanks, and break up the media monopolies, whilst banning media from election issues and from election campaigns. Make election campaign funding illegal whilst providing every candidate with a standard election platform at public expense.
Replace the ABC with journalists (if any have survived).
Tony ,
Thank you . There is no other way to regain prosperity .
As you have mentioned consistently in your writings .
Our predesecors set it up so well for us , until all wealth was stolen by the corruption greed and trickery of managements .
TONY — YOUR BRILLIANT and WISE reflections are so welcome.
Tony what brilliant ideas. Put people in the child stealing industry, out of a job, but bring back other essential employment to thousands of needy. Will upset the New World agenda tremendously and create revenue for the Government instead of payments out of the taxpayer purse.
Another idea would be to pay mothers to stay at home to bring the children up properly, instead of going to work for $600.00 per week and paying $300.00 per day for child care payments to private businesses. These figures are similar to what I have heard from the grapevine. This would also create many jobs for out-of-work males and young people.
Today I was speaking to a mother and two children of “home-schooling”. Both the mother and children seemed to be quite sensible and well informed.
I would home-school my children considering what I know now.
Yes Tony I too always welcome your knowledge and comments. But here– I need to vent–with respect. It is cathartic and therapeutic. In gratitude.
To me your post today is- a “mono-lingual, mono cultural response from a position of white privilege”. Neither “brilliant or wise” in this instance- from my world view, and lived experience. Think “the stolen generation bullshit” comment did it.
Again lets get to the source–try to hold the “Big Picture.” My stream of consciousness response– “polyfragmented”–but supported by survivors of early trauma related dissociative disorders: torture; programming; experiments and CIA MKultra sub projects [nb Monarch but also many others]. I cite: Fiona Barnett Australia; Wendy Hoffman US; Lisa E-US; Cathi Morgan UK. There are thousands of us.
I ask what do you know about:
Australia and theTavistock Agenda, Dr Rawlings Rees’s [Churchill Hitler Roosevelt] Psychological Warfare Department. Manipulation of the mind of the masses. Steve Mc Murray, MKUltra in Australia, Mary’s “Deliverance”. Dee’s work with sex trafficking-Testimonials, work with Protective parents. Cults- Institutional child abuse -RAMCOA-torture-programming. Reina Michaelson’s , Fiona Barnett, Sarah Moore’s testimony that exposes the truth about the way Australia .
Montague Norman, Nugget Coombs, Warren and Greg Snowdon–.
Beazely- Howard- Herron.
Weaponised Anthropology. Fraud, deceit, torture-genocide with intent–yes here in Australia.
Will stop here with respect to all.
Dianne,
I want to understand your lingo, but for we peasants, would you mind expressing your comment in plain language?
Cathartic.
Therapeutic.
Mona-lingual,
polyfragmented.
and the rest. If you want to communicate, do so please in simple language.
KISS: ‘Keep It Simple Stupid”
Ned, I am going to have an untutored go at those vocab words.
Cathartic — a good cry or yell that helps you get it overwith [watching All Mine To Give]
Therapeutic — it works to your betterment, as antibiotic might get you past an illness
Mono-lingual — Diane thinks Tony spicka the English only (but his grandkids are Aboriginal so i bet he can do a bit o’ the bilingual)
Polyfragmented — courtesy of the British government in the 1940s Diane got extra internal identities (and it wasn’t any fun getting them)
Weaponized anthropoligy. Ah, now that could be in situ type stuff as when you go into a tribe and fiddle with their culture or could be academic where cheatin’ PhDs tell you something has been found to be a human universal when it hasn’t –oops i aint gonna give an example.
I’d like the both of them to duke it out about The Stolen Generation on another day, but here we are talking — I mean Dee is talking — about the money incentive in child protection.
Frankly, she and I are DESPERATE to help the parents who are treatng us like the Best Ombusmen in the Land, so we need all the input we can get from readers.
Phew!
Thanks Mary,
Pollyfragmented caused me great alarm . I had terrible visions of my poor grass parrott being run over by the Victa’ as I did the lawn.
I feel a work of art coming on Ned–they say a picture is worth a thousand words–I agree words are a problem-I will try not to make pretty polly too fragmented so she is still recognisable–that is she still has some sense of identity.
Yes indeed Dee re the concentration on the catholic church (and the RC restricted to the distractions of other “institutions”) to take the fall for evil paedophilia. (Pell was the prize distraction!)
It was part of a reuse to demonstrate a ‘vanilla’ part of the evil to sanction a cover up of a greater worldwide intelligence/blackmail evil. Just think of ex UK PM Heath as an example.
Good try Gillard with your Royal Commission Reuse, but the thinkers know differently and are waking up to the higher PROTECTED levels of bastardry.
Julian Assange is under the custody of Cerco . They run all US and Oz prisons .
They are the black military gestapo made up of mercenaries and war criminals , who were rewarded for their actions in the nineties and since .
He is being poisoned and tortured . He has done no harm , the only reason he’s there is for reporting the truth . Our movie stars , in Canberra , are silent as usual .
What’s with all the politickians young children being highlighted at the ceremony yesterday
in the capital and have you noticed how our leaders eyes dart all over the place ?
Wolves in sheepsfleece , or should I say kangaroo fur . We are led by occult .
Sorry for poor spelling , above should be SERCO .
Dear 56, that’s baaaad news about Serco. But what is your source for the poisoning or torturing of Julian. Is it mere guesswork? I guess they are messing up the briain of Jahar, but i have zilch proof of it.
Mind kontrol tuning .
Here’s how frickin’ jaded I am. I think the 4 people in the TV video above maybe all play-acting. Each carries out his part so perfectly. The result is we see the Family Court situation as really bad and hopeless. Nowhere does the host or the agony aunt say “We won’t tolerate this.”
Picture the 4 of them sitting there reporting on how bikies were going around to all the community veggie garders by night, stealing all the zucchini. You know they would all be saying “Get ’em.”
Folks, the hostess said the case in question was one in which the judge ordered a Caesarian so they could fetch the baby out.
WHAT?????????
It’s not exactly hard to figure out that getting people all fizzed up is part of the game: that Reactionaries energise the very same orbit as Deniers.
https://www.snaicc.org.au/conference/program/
This conference to be held in Adelaide September provides a list of Speakers who could provide information re the Plan- re the Industry. The CEO bio is of interest. June Oscar knows the whole story a colleague of Freda Briggs.
Diane, there seems to have been knowledge of this going on for decades… any ideas how the information is so concealed, e.g. why Freda’s information is not out there?
I lost faith in any conferences years ago. The talkfests in the film industry get people yapping for a bit then it slides back to ‘normal’. I hope this will be different.
Dear Mary
Totally unrelated but to assist you with the latest X22 Report 1880b of Muellers 3hrs old video release.X22 report Spotlight is always well behind, instead look on L/H side of screen and click X22 Report to get David Siz genuine.
First class expose’ Dee. When we get a non Mockingbird Prize/Award. This is shortlist.