$65m for children at risk case management system

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2459 Ken DaviesBy ERWIN CHLANDA
 
Territory Families CEO  Ken Davies (pictured) provided further details about a planned new case management system for children at risk that will cost $65m over five years.
 
Speaking at Wednesday’s meeting about juvenile detention issues Mr Davies said there are 1060 children in his care, 800 of whom are school aged.
 
The program called “Safe, Thriving and Connected” is included in the $229m response to the recommendations of the Royal commission into children in custody.
 
“On any given day, even though they are in the care of the Chief Executive, I don’t know whether they are attending school or not,” Mr Davies told the meeting.
 
“We don’t have a system that allows us to push a button and check whether they are involved, or attending school. It is a manual transaction process.”
 
He said “one of the big investments” is going to be a five year process is developing a case management system that talks to the non-government sector, that talks to the Health Department, talks to the Education Department so we can properly work with families and get in early when they are at risk.
 
“That’s just one part of the Royal Commission recommendations. It’s a big investment. That’s a $65m project.”
 
We have asked Mr Davies who is going to do what in that program and will the work go to interstate consultants?
 
 
UPDATE 5.22pm
 
Mr Davies provided the following additional information:
 
The project you refer to is the Client Management System Alignment program which is a new platform to manage cases and share information and will replace the aged Community Care Information System (CCIS).
 
The system will be named the CARE System.
 
The Client Management System Alignment database is a $66.9 million over five years project that was one of the recommendations from the Royal Commission into the Protection and Detention of Children in the Northern Territory’s Implementation Plan.
 
The Plan called Safe, Thriving and Connected: Generational Change for Children and Families outlines how whole-of-government action in collaboration with the community sector and families will deliver generational change for children and families in the Territory.
 
The new system will enable greater integration, co-ordination and information sharing across government agencies working in the areas of family support, care and protection and youth justice.
 
Delivering child protection and youth justice case management within one integrated system with provide the Northern Territory with a collective, holistic view of children and families with increased opportunities for early intervention and diversion.
 
A five year timeframe is necessary to deliver the full system, including data exchange capability and integration with other Government data sources including police, justice, health, housing and education.
 
The tender for the design of new system opened in November 2018 and shortlisting and evaluation of proponents is underway.
 
All proponents are required to have local commitment to ensure investment in the Territory ICT industry.
 
 
 

4 COMMENTS

  1. Rather odd that government has truancy officers, out sourced carers and or Territory Families carers who can’t communicate absence directly with Territory Families Central Intake who have the ability to refer to case workers. Endless Possibilities? Not for children in care in the NT.

  2. Problems start at home. Law and order problems plague Indigenous families. Taxpayers are fed up funding endless schemes.

  3. Not much more than $12,000 per child per year. Which will trickle down to around $1000 on the ground.

  4. All this money and nothing will change until what needs to be done is done.
    Kids are not going to grow strong or healthy without role models and sadly these kids in question don’t have one.
    So the answer is get them good role models, any way possible.

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