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Qld child services 'fails' foster carers

Cheryl GoodenoughAAP
Queensland's child safety department is the most difficult aspect of fostering, one couple says.
Camera IconQueensland's child safety department is the most difficult aspect of fostering, one couple says.

A Queensland couple who opened their home to abused children say the child safety department is so broken they would discourage anyone else from becoming foster parents.

James and Emma (not their real names) say staff rarely follow documented procedures and the system is so bad it's only a matter of time before more children get hurt or killed like toddler Mason Lee.

One child they fostered for more than three years was returned to her family - where she'll be sharing a bed with an elderly female relative - with less than one week's notice.

The foster parents weren't consulted, even though the child safety department's documentation states carers have the right to take part in decisions and have their opinions inform decision-making processes.

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"We're supposed to advocate for these children, but the case workers just bulldoze over us," Emma says.

Other children who have been in their care for even longer now fear being taken away like the girl they regarded as their sister.

Some of the kids James and Emma have fostered were only just discharged from hospital because of injuries inflicted by adults.

They say caring for children, even those who have lived in traumatic circumstances, has been the easy part.

It's dealing with the child safety department that's made fostering so difficult for them and their biological children.

"All of us just want to take these children who need a stable home and help them," Emma says.

"But the price is just too high, the stress is too high."

Their comments come just days after a coroner found Queensland's child safety department failed in its duty to protect Mason Jet Lee from serious harm in the months before the 22-month-old died.

Deputy state coroner Jane Bentley said that if any of the child safety officers tasked with looking after Mason had done their job in the weeks before his horrific death, he might still be alive.

In response to the findings, the minister responsible for the department, Di Farmer, said three independent reviews into the department had been held since Mason's death, with significant failings identified and improved.

But James says it's the lack of compliance with the procedures already in place that's the problem.

"What's written in their systems would work if staff followed those procedures and were kept accountable," he told AAP.

Emma says child safety officers often make decisions on a whim.

In one case she says they ignored police who feared a child would be at risk if returned to a parent.

"Children are being put back in harm's way without due thought," she told AAP.

"We are well aware the children will go back (to their families) under the right circumstances, but that's not what we are seeing," James said.

He says they have been advised not to make a formal complaint against case workers, while a foster care agency warned they could face defamation charges if they lodged a complaint about a child safety officer.

"It's hard to speak out because you are worried they will take kids away."

Staff turnover among case officers is high, with James and Emma having dealt with more than 20 in about eight years.

Staff don't take minutes at meetings, which may involve numerous stakeholders, and when taking over new cases are often unfamiliar with the details of children in care.

They don't feel the need for an inquiry, instead appealing for the government to put more checks in place to ensure compliance and accountability.

The state government has indicated it will consider all recommendations made by the coroner in the Mason Lee findings, including improving out-of-home care for at-risk children.

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