I give notice that, on the next day of meeting, I will move —
That this House —
- notes that —
- compared to the rest of Australia, Victoria has the highest number of children being removed from their families with the rate of children in out-of-home care growing by approximately 11 per cent annually;
- without change, there will be nearly 26,000 children in out-of-home care in Victoria by 2026;
- recognises —
- the urgent need for systemic change through embedding strength-based and evidence-based models into child and family services;
- the consistent and increasing evidence of the social and economic benefits of early intervention programs that reduce the need for referrals to child protection and out-of-home care systems;
- acknowledges the importance of —
- reducing the number of children being removed from families through implementing early intervention programs that provide ongoing, sustainable support, especially for vulnerable and socially disadvantaged families;
- well-resourced, discretely-funded child maternal health services that support vulnerable mothers, children and families to ensure a sustainable and collaborative approach; and
- calls on the Government to commit to the long-term financial resourcing of a range of evidence-based programs that increase the focus on early intervention and enhance the quality and capacity of service provision in child and family welfare.
