VPRS 16650 Child Protection Case Files, Multiple Number System, Statutory Client Information System, SCIS, [Children, Youth and Families Division]

Full description

This record series document the activities carried out in the administration and application of regulatory and legislative requirements associated with the provision of welfare services for children and young people in Victoria. The records document the individual case history of children and young people under the age of eighteen, who were admitted to the care, custody and control of the State.

The Department of Community Services (VA 2633) was responsible for the control and supervision of children and young persons in need of care and protection, including wardship, foster care, adoption, protection of infants, child employment, child migrant welfare, and refugee minor programs.

This series documents the Department's requirement to register and respond to reports relating to the welfare of children and young people. The files record the case history of a child who received child protection services.

Information recorded includes:
- Notification/s and investigations leading to intake,
- Client Identifier (ID) and personal details,
- Family details including addresses, names and relationships,
- Transcript of interviews and meetings,
- Requests for reports and assessments,
- Management and action plans,
- Reports of in-home monitoring of the child and family,
- Applications for the transfer of custody of the child under a court order and subsequent custody orders,
- Reports from Out of Home Service Providers and /or carers,
- Medical reports,
- Incident report copies,
- Other progress or situational reports.

Prior to 1989, there was only one form of custody i.e. wardship and any child taken into protective custody became a ward of the state. The Children and Young Persons Act 1989 changed the range of protective custody orders that could be applied including:

- an order requiring a person to give an undertaking,
- a supervision order,
- a custody to third party order,
- a supervised order,
- a custody to Secretary order,
- a guardianship to Secretary order, or an interim protection order.