Types of care
Government care, NFP care
The majority of placements in WA are managed directly by the Department for Child Protection and Family Support.
In WA about one in ten children are placed in services managed by not-for-profit (NFP) organisations.
The choice of whether a child goes to government or NFP care is made by the Department.
Types of care
There are four main types of out of home care a child under a protection order may be placed in:
- Foster care
- Extended family or relative care (kinship care)
- Group home
- Special care
Foster care
In foster care the child lives with a family who may have children of their own or may have other foster children in their care.
The foster family receives support and a subsidy, either from the NFP agency that has licensed them or the Department.
Extended family or relative care
This option places the child with relatives, often grandparents, and is most often used for the placement of Aboriginal children.
Group homes
Group homes accommodate children in groups of four in houses supervised by paid carers, who live in. This is often a temporary placement for children needing a higher level of care and sibling groups.
The proportions of each type of care
As at 30 June 2012 the WA Department for Child Protection reported the following distribution of care placements.
| Type | N | % |
| Parent/former guardian | 335 | 8.9% |
| Foster care with relative | 1,468 | 38.8% |
| DCP non-relative foster care | 1055 | 27.9% |
| Funded foster care | 322 | 8.5% |
| DCP residential | 126 | 3.3% |
| Funded residential | 238 | 6.3% |
| Family/friend | 174 | 4.6% |
| Independent living | 5 | 0.1% |
| Prospective adoptive placements | 15 | 0.4% |
| Other | 42 | 1.1% |
| Total | 3,780 | 100.0% |
