CHILDREN IN CARE — WHEREABOUTS UNKNOWN
208. Hon NICK GOIRAN to the Leader of the House representing
the Minister for Child Protection:
I refer to the answer to my question
without notice 3, asked on 15 February 2022, in which the house was informed
that one child in the care of the CEO of the department had been reported to WA
Police as missing.
(1) Has that child been found?
(2) For how many days has this child
had their whereabouts recorded as ''unknown''?
(3) How many
children are in the care of the CEO whose whereabouts are currently recorded as
''unknown''?
(4) Has the
department formally reported any child in the care of the CEO to WA police as a
missing person on more than one occasion?
Hon SUE
ELLERY replied:
I thank the honourable member for
some notice of the question.
The
term ''whereabouts unknown'' may lead to the assumption that
every child with a placement type of ''unknown'' is a missing
person, not in contact with caseworkers and unable to be supported by
Communities.
(1) Yes.
(2) The child was recorded in a placement
type of ''unknown'' for 19 days.
(3) As of 22
March 2022, five children are recorded in a placement type ''unknown''.
Three of those children are in contact with
the department and two have been reported to the Western Australia Police Force
as missing.
(4) Yes.