Information about the team that oversees statutory out-of-home care and adoption services in NSW.
What we do
We oversee statutory out-of-home-care (OOHC) and adoption services in NSW, helping to keep children safe when they're unable to live at home.
To provide OOHC and adoption services in NSW, agencies must first be accredited by the Children's Guardian. We recommend the criteria that designated agencies and adoption service providers must meet, in order to be accredited.
We assess agencies’ policies, procedures and practices against the accreditation criteria, to decide if they are suitable to be accredited. We then monitor agencies’ ongoing compliance with accreditation criteria over the course of their accreditation cycle.
We also administer the Carers Register and Residential Care Workers Register, which help agencies to ensure that the people who provide direct care to children and young people are safe and suitable.
Accreditation scheme
The purpose of the accreditation scheme is to ensure designated agencies and adoption service providers meet mandatory practice requirements in delivering services to children who cannot remain in the care of their parents. The accreditation scheme also allows the Children’s Guardian to take action if an agency is not meeting mandatory practice requirements or is not fulfilling its obligations under the children’s care legislation.
The OOHC Directorate has 4 key roles in regulating the OOHC and adoption sector:
- determining whether agencies are suitable to be accredited
- monitoring agencies’ ongoing compliance with the Code of Practice and children’s care legislation
- investigating compliance with the children’s care legislation
- administering the Carers Register and the Residential Care Workers Register
Directorate structure and teams
| Accreditation and monitoring team | Carers and Residential Care Worker Register monitoring team |
|---|---|
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