Residential Care Facilities

In reply to Ms SANDERSON (Adelaide) (24 July 2015). (Estimates Committee B)

The Hon. S.E. CLOSE (Port Adelaide—Minister for Education and Child Development, Minister for Higher Education and Skills): I have been advised of the following:

By 20 May 2015, an additional 177 FTE had been recruited, trained, and deployed across the Residential Care Directorate.

An additional 66 new employees were recruited in June/July 2015. These staff have completed their induction training and are now deployed across the Directorate.

Since September 2015, an additional 14 employees have been recruited, completed induction training and been deployed across the Directorate, making a total of 257 new staff.

A quarterly recruitment process for child and youth support workers and child and youth workers has been instituted in 2016. The first recruitment process commenced in February 2016 and is estimated to be finalised by mid-April with new workers commencing the six week induction training in May 2016.

The second recruitment process for child and youth support workers and child and youth workers will commence in May 2016.

Additionally, a recruitment process to recruit more senior child and youth workers and supervisors has commenced with applications closing on 1 April 2016.

All new Residential Care Directorate employees who do not already hold a Certificate IV in Child, Youth and Family Intervention must complete the qualification in the first 12 months of their employment as a mandatory employment condition.

Employees also hold qualifications in behavioural science, children's services, psychology, education, mediation, counselling and social work.