Managing care

Supervision

The role of supervision

Children and young people who spend more than 90 days in a 12-month period away from the family home need additional planning and support.

At this point, the care must either be provided by or supervised by a designated agency.

This is to make sure that the child’s health, social, emotional and developmental needs continue to be met. It also includes the opportunity for continued skill development and continuous improvement of child safe practice.

Specific requirements applicable to agencies supervising specialised substitute residential care and agencies providing placements requiring supervision are set out in section 8ZA of the Children’s Guardian Act 2019 and the Children’s Guardian Regulation 2022.

We expect that a supervising agency will be in place in the lead-up to a child having been in care for 90 days. Ideally, supervision would be in place from around 60 days so that appropriate supervision is in place once 90 days is reached.

Supervision allows agencies that have been accredited to provide long-term statutory out-of-home care to support specialised substitute residential care providers.

The supervising agency must monitor the number of days a child or young person is in care. To do this they use the placement history function on the Specialised Substitute Residential Care (SSCR) Register and any other records relating to the child’s care.

If a designated agency supervising or providing care for a child becomes aware that the child has been in overnight respite care for more than 90 days in a 12-month period without supervision, they must notify the Children’s Guardian as soon as practicable.

Arranging supervision

When a child or young person has been in care for 60 days in a 12-month period, the Children’s Guardian will notify the principal care agency, or the agency who provides the majority of a child or young person’s specialised substitute residential care.

If the principal care agency confirms that the child or young person is likely to reach 90 days in care, the principal care agency is then responsible for arranging for supervision by a designated agency.

The designated agency must:

• arrange a meeting with all care providers involved in the care of the child or young person before the 90-day timeframe
• draft a supervision agreement which includes roles, responsibilities and review dates prior to the 90-day timeframe
• determine who is the principal care agency if there are multiple agencies providing care
• enter the supervision notification on the SSRC Register within 5 days of supervision beginning
• send all involved a copy of the finalised supervision agreement.

Specialised substitute residential care providers must:

• participate in the supervision meeting and sign the supervision agreement
• ensure the parents of the child or young person are aware of the supervision arrangement.

Responsibilities

Both the designated supervision agency and care provider must:

• participate in supervision meetings
• keep records of supervision meetings, discussions and correspondence
• continue to monitor the number of days a child or young person spends in care so that case planning begins before the child or young person reaches 180-days in care in a 12-month period.

Case planning

Why case planning is important

Children and young people spending more than 180 days in overnight respite care need additional planning and support. This is to make sure their health, social, emotional and developmental needs including skill development, continue to be met. At this point, they may also require their own respite from care.

The requirements of a case plan are listed in section 21 (1) of the Code of Practice and at Schedule 4 to the Children’s Guardian Regulation. The information gathered at intake and outlined in section 12 of the Code, should also be included in case planning considerations to provide a comprehensive picture of the child, their family and their needs, strengths and preferences. The case plan should include things such as:

• likes, dislikes and aspirations of the child or young person and their family
• health, medical, mobility, nutritional, behavioural and personal care needs
• emotional and behavioural support needs
• maintenance of relationships with family and significant others
• long-term care planning
• participation in educational, vocational, social and leisure activities 
• spiritual, religious and cultural support needs
• care risks and appropriate management strategies 
• age-related considerations, including developmental needs and key transition stages (such as transition to high school, adulthood, returning to the care of their parents).

Case planning is a collaborative process facilitated by the provider. 

It involves the child or young person (to the extent of their capacity), their parents (and other relevant family members), care provider and other support (such as schools, support coordinators and health professionals) and the designated supervising agency.

Case plan requirements

Case planning requirements are set out in section 21 of the Code of Practice. In addition to the list above, a case plan must:

• be developed and approved before a child or young person has been in care for 180 days in a 12-month period
• be developed as a result of a formal case conference
• record the views of the child or young person and their parent/s and how they participated
• be signed by the parties involved in developing the case plan 
• be reviewed when the child’s ongoing care and support needs or care arrangements change (or when required) and at least once every 12 months
• be kept by either the main provider or supervising agency until a child or young person has turned 18 years old.

Under section 35 of the Children’s Guardian Regulation, a provider is required to enter the date the plan was prepared and each review date for the plan on the SSRC Register, within 5 days of the case plan (or case plan review) being finalised.

A designated agency must also notify the Office of the Children’s Guardian if they identify that a child has been in care for more than 180 days in a 12-month period so that the Children’s Guardian can monitor compliance by the provider with case plan requirements. 

Information exchange

Chapter 16A of the Children and Young Persons (Care and Protection) Act 1998 allows certain agencies, known as prescribed bodies, to exchange information that relates to a child or young person’s safety, welfare and wellbeing.

Consent is not necessary for the exchange of information under Chapter 16A. However, a child or young person, or their parents and guardians, should be given an opportunity to express views on personal matters. 

About prescribed bodies

Children and young people are safer when agencies work collaboratively and share information to provide consistent care and assess risk.

Chapter 16A of the Children and Young Persons (Care and Protection) Act 1998 enables certain information exchange between agencies that are ‘prescribed bodies.’ Specialised substitute residential care providers are ‘prescribed bodies’.

Other prescribed bodies, set out in Schedule 5 to the Children and Young Persons (Care and Protection) Regulation 2022 include:

• NSW government agencies
• schools
• public health agencies and private hospitals
• children’s services (such as preschools)
• police
• Commonwealth bodies such as the National Disability Insurance Agency and the National Disability Insurance Scheme Quality and Safeguards Commission.

What information can be exchanged?

The legislation allows providers to exchange information relating to the safety, welfare or wellbeing of a child or children if it helps them or other ‘prescribed bodies’ to:

• make any decision assessment or plan or initiate or conduct any investigation or to provide any service, relating to the safety and welfare of the child or children
• manage any risk to the child or children that might arise in the prescribed body’s capacity as an employer or designated agency.

How is information exchanged?

Under Chapter 16A, information may be exchanged:

• in writing - by letter, fax or email
• orally over the phone or 
• in person.

Where information is exchanged orally, a written record of the information exchange must be made and retained on file. This written record must include details of the person information was exchanged with, the steps taken to confirm their identity, and the person who authorised the release of the information.

Record keeping and information management

Maintaining accurate records helps providers deliver safe care, support informed decision-making and meet their obligations under the SSRC Code of Practice and relevant legislation.

Organisations providing SSRC must keep the following records:

• information obtained in the intake, assessment and service planning processes
• details of the services to be provided to the child and the child’s parents
• consents given by the parents of the child
• the responsibilities of the parties involved in providing or supporting SSRC care for the child
• the child’s case plan and each review of the plan
• records about the safety, welfare and wellbeing of children in the specialised substitute residential care provider’s care.

These records must be made available to the Children’s Guardian if requested.

The parents of a child receiving SSRC must be provided with a copy of the following records:

• details of the services to be provided to the child and the child’s parents
• consents given by the parents of the child
• the responsibilities of the parties involved in providing or supporting SSRC care for the child.

The State Records Act 1998 provides further information about record keeping obligations.