"Whilst acknowledging the need to direct further financial support for foster carers, the budget continues to be built on a premise that the number of children in State Care will continue to escalate,” said Mr Schrapel. 

“With South Australia’s rates of removal and of children in care already significantly above the national average, the State budget needed to address the real ‘elephant in the room’. That is how to stem the flow of children being removed from their families, communities and culture,”  

“Tentative steps to increase supports for families with children at risk of entering the child protection system are a totally inadequate response,” 

“While some additional funding for targeted intensive family support services and an expansion of family group conferencing services are welcome, they fall well short of what is needed,” 

“If South Australia wants to avoid the future economic impact of even greater numbers of children in out of home care, it needs to get serious about its investments in families,” 

“We will not achieve a turn-around in the wellbeing and safety of our children with the wholly inadequate investments currently on the table.”  

In Uniting Communities recently released 6 Point Plan for Change for South Australia’s Child Protection System, the call was made to quadruple the current level of family support and reunification funding. This would require something in the vicinity of an additional $200M pa to be invested.