New research shows an additional 4,500 Victorian children could enter the out-of-home care system by 2026 as a result of COVID-19, increasing the total number of children potentially in out-of-home care in six years’ time to 27,500 children.
Leading child and family agencies are calling on the Victorian Government to provide additional, sustained investment in effective early intervention programs, to reduce the number of children experiencing harm and entering the child protection and out-of-home care system.
“Even before the pandemic, the child protection system was broken, causing devastating outcomes for children and young people. Now, COVID-19 is pushing even more families to breaking point, which could see thousands more children potentially enter out-of-home care as a result,” Berry Street CEO, Michael Perusco, said.
In 2018-19, there were more than 47,000 children involved with the child protection system in Victoria – around 3 per cent of all Victorian children – and nearly 12,000 children are living in out-of-home care.
