KID HOME TRASHED
TEENAGERS in resi-care have trashed their luxury taxpayer-funded Gold Coast home, forcing it to be closed down while it undergoes repairs costing tens of thousands of dollars.
Photographs show the garage door of the property was wrecked, fences torn apart and walls smashed as angry kids punched holes through the plaster.
A Bulletin investigation in February revealed taxpayers were already being slugged $27,000 a week for each child by profit-hungry agencies which staff the houses.
TEENAGERS in residential care have trashed their luxury taxpayerfunded Gold Coast home, forcing it to be closed down while it undergoes repairs costing tens of thousands of dollars.
Photographs show the garage door of an Oxenford property was wrecked, fences were torn apart and walls were smashed as angry kids punched holes through the plaster.
A Bulletin investigation in February warned about the residential care crisis, revealing taxpayers were being slugged $27,000 a week for a child – one troubled Coast teenager cost $1.4 million annually – by profit-hungry agencies staffing the houses.
New police call-out data confirms the trouble at the homes is not limited to vandalism, with kids going missing and neighbours concerned about violence and noise.
In Upper Coomera alone, police made 244 call-outs to these new suburban homes in 2018.
At Pimpama, there were 100 visits.
The crisis has worsened this year. In the first four months police had 212 call-outs to two residential homes at Oxenford – one of them the property trashed.
Theodore MP Mark Boothman, who obtained the data after complaints to him by neighbours, told the Bulletin: “One has been closed down because of the commotion. It caused tradies to be called to fix the property.
“Most rooms had holes in the walls.
“They (the youths) removed the front door. They smashed the side of the fence. It would go into the many tens of thousands of dollars to repair.
“Are these kids getting the appropriate attention and are the staff getting the adequate protection because they had the training to deal with it?”
In a response to Mr Boothman, Police Minister Mark Ryan confirmed the call-outs were to juvenile care houses funded through the Department of Child Safety, Youth and Women.
“QPS advise that the calls for service cover a range of police actions, including responding to calls for community service, welfare checks and transport or traffic-related incidents,” Mr Ryan said.
Mr Boothman said police, who were under pressure to deal with a crime wave in the suburb, had spoken to him about the unnecessary drain on resources and time.
“The police are frustrated by the call-outs for service. They have to find these kids who leave the homes,” he said.
Child Safety Minister Di Farmer wrote to Mr Boothman after he contacted her office on behalf of Oxenford residents.
She said the children in residential care facilities “have come from the most traumatised background and display the most challenging behaviours as a consequence”.
The residential service provider, HOPE Support Services, had undertaken engagement strategies to support neighbours, including taking residents to lunch and providing telephone contacts.
“I am told regular discussions have occurred between the service provider of this property and Department of Child Safety, Youth and Women officers to ensure strategies and behavioural management plans are in place for the young residents,” Ms Farmer wrote.
Privacy laws prevented Ms Farmer from disclosing specific information but she indicated “appropriate action” had been taken to address the concerns of residents.
To address some of the issues, the Government recently made it a requirement that all residential care workers either hold or be working towards obtaining a relevant qualification and complete new foundations training, Ms Farmer said.
Since July 2018, the department has been running a pilot program with QPS and residential service providers to improve responses and reduce preventable QPS call-outs in six locations.
IN February, the Gold Coast Bulletin lamented the shameful greed of profit-hungry agencies that were stinging taxpayers on average $27,000 a week for each child in residential care.
In one instance, it cost $1.4 million a year to house just one teenager.
Today, we have the revelation that a luxury Gold Coast home has been forced to close after being trashed by children. It will cost the Government tens of thousands of dollars to repair.
Looking at the costs involved in the Government’s Child Safety Department farming out to agencies the care of hundreds of kids deemed too vulnerable to be placed with foster families, one suspects taxpayers are being fleeced. This is despite the screaming need for the children and teens to be safely housed.
We all know high levels of care come at a high price, but these sorts of costs?
How providers can charge up to
$1.4 million a year to look after a single child beggars belief. How taxpayers pay on average $400,000 to $650,000 a year per child is difficult to grasp. How agencies can then turn around and cut the numbers of carers raises questions.
At each spectrum of residential care, we have a problem. It is costing a motza to house and look after vulnerable children, yet statistics show we are going backwards. A former senior Child Safety officer said intervention with parental agreements had dropped to 15 days between visits on the Gold Coast when it should be one to two per week, and police resources were being drained by increased call-outs.
At the other end of the life cycle, the microscope is on aged care. The Earle Haven debacle, in which 71 sick residents were kicked out of their Nerang home last month, has cast a dark light on a vital and growing industry.
People’s lives are at stake. Families, taxpayers and societies seeking peace of mind are being fleeced.
Residential care is not easy, but it is a cornerstone to a good community and we need to get it right. Failing to provide a consistent, stable and inspiring approach to our vulnerable youth today only plants the seed for a seedy tomorrow when these children grow up.
A royal commission is looking into the aged care sector. Three separate investigations are being conducted into the Earle Haven fiasco. The State Government badly needs to review its child safety procedures. It is too costly on far too many fronts.
Let’s hope it is done before someone pays the ultimate price.