Care arrangement matching

The 2013 conceptual framework outlined in the Queensland Child Protection Commission of Inquiry’s Final Report recognised that children in care need more than "stability of placement" to achieve the best outcomes. They also require the continuation of existing, and the establishment of new, enduring relationships.

Existing relationships can be maintained through family contact, community and cultural connections and relationships at school, while new relationships can be formed with carers.

Continuity of care arrangement alone is unlikely to result in permanency. Care arrangements need to meet the child’s social, emotional and physical needs to have the best chance of achieving permanency. Care arrangement matching, where all possible options are explored to ensure the care arrangement reflects the child’s needs and the requirements of the relevant child protection order, is very important.

Including the child, their family and prospective carers in the care arrangement matching process may lead to stability in the care arrangement. This in turn may increase the longevity of the child’s care arrangement and lead to better outcomes for the child.

Care arrangement matching factors need to be included in your care arrangement referral, outlining the child’s or young person’s needs and your and their hopes in a care arrangement. With this information, the PSU is able to better match children and young people to care arrangements and offer care arrangements that will provide for children's and young people’s safety, belonging and wellbeing needs.

The following table outlines various factors to consider for care arrangements.

Care arrangement factor	Child/young person factor	Carer factor
Views and wishes	Consider: views and wishes of the child, their family and community	Consider: views and wishes of carer and household members
Cultural safety	cultural connections community connection traditional language group cultural customs and traditions cultural child rearing practices cultural kin structures	carer's ability to meet and support the child/young person's ongoing connection to culture and to support cultural traditions and child rearing practices carer's awareness and knowledge of child/young person's culture
Type of care arrangement required and case plan goal	respite or long-term care arrangement needed? relationships with previous carers family-based--foster or kinship care residential supported independent living services with Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander carers assessment order reunification long term/permanent care	carer's approval status and the care arrangement type the carer can provide (for example, respite carers) foster carer agreement details (for example, are they approved for 3 children under the age of 12?) level of experience of carer current commitments and availability of carer to meet child's needs age of carers (that is, when seeking a permanent care arrangement for a 4-year-old, consider if the carer's age may affect their ability to provide long-term care) carer's flexibility when goals change carer's ability and willingness to partner with parents and Child Safety to reach case plan goals
Location	keep child within their community for continuity of relationships with their family, school, child care, and community if required to place outside of community, consider a care arrangement as close as possible to support continuity of relationships ideally, a child will be placed within a short driving distance of their family and community, unless it is unsafe to do so	carer's location in proximity to family carer's ability to transport child to current school, child care and community activities
Safety worries	a child/young person presents as a risk to others or other children in the care arrangement present as a risk to the child/young person past incidents of conflict/bullying with children/young people in the care arrangement	carer's capacity to supervise and manage complex behaviours carer's ability to protect child/young person and other children/young people in the care arrangement (that is, develop and implement a safety plan for the household)
Relationships and connection with family	contact and connection with parents, siblings, extended family, friends and their community will be maintained siblings will be placed together	capacity to support and implement contact plan capacity to partner with the parents capacity of carer with siblings in care
Services (for example, Evolve, medical, National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS))	existing services the child accesses such as NDIS potential services the child may require such as Evolve	carer's capacity to access and support child's involvement with current and potential required services
Age and gender	child's age and appropriateness of the care arrangement offered child's gender child/young person's gender and sexual identity	household composition of ages, gender and sexual identities match to other children/young people in the household (for example, a 10-year-old being offered a residential care arrangement with 3 young people is not a good match)
Safety, belonging and wellbeing needs	health education behaviour emotional stability, developmental delays and disability attachment needs and style, particularly for children under 5 years of age complexity of needs	carer's ability and capacity to support identified needs needs of other children in care in the home likely impact of needs on other children carer's experience and skill including completed training carer's ability to connect with the child and suitability of home environment
Past experiences	child protection history, including harm experienced at home and/or in care history of care arrangement changes	Standards of care history-note themes that may impact on carer's ability to provide for the child's needs care arrangement history
Lifestyle and personality	child/young person's personality, interests and hobbies	carer's lifestyle and availability so support child/young person's interests and hobbies

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Supporting family based care arrangements

Published on: 4 May 2022

Last reviewed: 29 November 2021

Date: 29 November 2021
Terminology change - placement to care arrangement
Date: 6 January 2021
Terminology change - placement to care arrangement
Date: 24 December 2020
Terminology change - placement to care arrangement
Date: 9 October 2020
Maintenance.
Date: 29 June 2020
Maintenance.
Date: 19 November 2019
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