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Every caseworker has a manager and they work together to make decisions. If DCJ has decided that your child is not safe, your child will not be able to stay with you.
The caseworker will work with you and your family to try to find someone safe in your family or community to look after your child. If that is not possible, the caseworker will look for a person called a foster carer. This is someone who has been assessed, trained and approved to give care to children when needed.
If no family, community members or foster carers can look after your child, they may be looked after by a service provider in a safe place such as a home with other children.
The caseworker will explain to your child, in a way that is easy to understand depending on their age and development, about why they need to stay with someone else. You are able to lead this conversation or be a part of this conversation if you would like to.
The caseworker will also give you a document that explains your child has been removed and the reasons why. Keep this document and take it to your lawyer.
If DCJ removes your child from your care, our priority is to work with your family to get your child home when it is safe to do so.
For Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander children, your DCJ caseworker will apply the Aboriginal placement principles. The aim of the Aboriginal placement principles is to make sure that if possible and safe, Aboriginal children are placed with their family or kin, local Aboriginal community or wider Aboriginal community and culture. The priority is to work with you and your family to get your child home when it is safe to do so.
An Aboriginal child has a right to be raised on Country with their family and culture. The Aboriginal placement principles recognise the importance and value of family, extended family, kinship networks, culture and community in raising Aboriginal children. The principles prioritise:
DCJ may place your child in non-Indigenous care and off country as a last resort.
DCJ can remove your child from your care if your child is at immediate risk of serious harm. This means the caseworker is very worried that your child could be hurt, is not safe, or is not being cared for.
DCJ can also assume the care of your child if your child is at risk of serious harm and it is not in the interest of your child to be removed from the place where they currently are. This means that DCJ take care responsibility of your child in their current location like a school, hospital or relative’s house.
If you have a Family Action Plan for Change, there are other options DCJ can look at to prevent a child from needing to come into care. This includes:
These options are not always going to be enough to change the decision about your child being taken into care, but you can ask the caseworker about them.
If your child is removed, DCJ then needs to go to the Children’s Court where a magistrate decides if DCJ made the right decision.
You should get legal advice straight away if this happens. The caseworker can tell you how to contact a lawyer who works in the local Children's Court. Contact the lawyers to find one that is available, and you feel comfortable with.
DCJ also works with NSW Police if there is a serious risk to the safety of your child, your child is seriously hurt or there is a serious risk to the safety of staff. There is also a team of DCJ caseworkers who work with specialised Police in responding to children. This team is called the Joint Child Protection Response Program (JCPRP).
Caseworkers have a responsibility to respond to allegations of criminal offences and must report serious offences to the police. Examples of serious offences are drug trafficking, serious assaults, sexual assaults, murder and manslaughter, stalking or intimidation and aggravated burglary.
Learn more about what happens if your child is taken into care.
If DCJ removes your child, it is the caseworker’s goal to work with you to make your home safe so your child can return home. Ask the caseworker about what changes need to happen and what you need to do. In the two weeks after your child comes into care, the caseworker will also write a report – called a Summary of the proposed plan for the child or young person – to let the Children’s Court know what changes need to be made for your child to come home safely.
Talk about this plan with your lawyer and any support workers to help you know what you need to do.
When a child is brought into care, changes are made about who can make decisions about your child. This can depend on the way that your child is brought into care.
If you have agreed to a temporary care arrangement and DCJ has assessed that this will give your child enough safety and time for things to change, you will keep parental responsibility for your child. Your child’s carer will also have the ability to make some decisions. This could be things like deciding when to take them to the doctor or dentist, and taking them to school, swimming lessons, the hairdresser and other services.
Another option is that the caseworker could make an application to the Children’s Court for the government minister responsible for children and families to have parental responsibility for your child. This means that, by law, you will not be able to make decisions about your child’s life. This can happen if:
Learn more about the court process.
After your child is removed by law, DCJ has to assess and make a recommendation to the Children’s Court about where your child will continue to live within:
The options include:
being under the parental responsibility of another suitable person like another family member of kin.
06 Aug 2024