Children shouldn't be a bargaining chip as the department of human services just dont like farthers how true this is

vulnerable children the losers from law changes the loser are the honest parents who doc dhs child protection cause to lose the child with there lyes and false reports in a law of court misleading information to the good parents like fathers who have no rights in a court of law this is dam rite discusting

Crystal Moon has experience of the child protection system. Pictured with son Luke and grandmother Helen Aldersey. 

It's about time we got angry, says Crystal Moon.

Removed from her alcoholic and drug-addicted mum to live with her gran at the age of four, Ms Moon has seen the state's child protection system at its ugly, flawed worst. 

She's furious that kinship carers, like her grandmother Helen Aldersey, often don't get enough support to cope with the traumatised children in their care.

Her grandma struggled alone to handle her volatile granddaughter, and it is only in recent years that they have healed the rift.

"She needed to be able to debrief and get skills and understand me in order to help me," says Moon.  

She is also angry that changes to child protection laws, which come into force on Tuesday, mean parents will only have 12 months (or 24 in exceptional circumstances), to show they can care for their children or have them placed in permanent care.

She's furious that kinship carers, like her grandmother Helen Aldersey, often don't get enough support to cope with the traumatised children in their care.

Her grandma struggled alone to handle her volatile granddaughter, and it is only in recent years that they have healed the rift

"She needed to be able to debrief and get skills and understand me in order to help me," says Moon.  

She is also angry that changes to child protection laws, which come into force on Tuesday, mean parents will only have 12 months (or 24 in exceptional circumstances), to show they can care for their children or have them placed in permanent care.

For Ms Moon, having a relationship with her troubled mother and the possibility of later reunification, was essential.

These changes will be retrospective, meaning they will affect families with children in out-of-home care. Once permanent care orders have been made parents can seek to have them revoked, but those working in the area say this is rare. 

Ms Moon spoke to 200 concerned social workers, lawyers and child advocates who gathered at a forum organised by the Law Institute of Victoria and others on Tuesday to express disquiet over the law changes.  

Law Institute of Victoria spokeswoman Fleur Ward, who acts for children in the Family court, said the changes take Victoria back to the days when wards of the state suffered without judicial or independent scrutiny.

Mandatory time frames are draconian and protect the court from acting in the best individual interest of the child, Ms Ward said.

Parents might take two or three years to address problems, but are then able to resume the care of their children, she said. 

"The power to remove children permanently is comparable to the power to incarcerate – the responsibility is huge."

The law changes come in response to the damning Cummins report in 2012, which found it took, on average, over five years for a vulnerable child to be placed on a permanent care order. 

The law changes reduce the role of the Children's Court and give greater power to the Department of Health and Human Services and its overstretched child protection workforce. 

It is a system already under pressure: recently The Age revealed almost 3000 Victorian children suspected of being abused or neglected had not been assigned a caseworker by the end of June.

The changes will have a particular impact on Aboriginal families, who are over-represented in out-of-home care, said former Family Court justice Alastair Nicholson.

In 2012-13 aboriginal children were almost 15 times more likely to be in out of home care compared with non-aboriginal children.

Mr Nicholson told the meeting the changes have the potential to create another Stolen Generation, noting the lack of judicial review or court ability to direct the contact children have with families. 

The state's newly-appointed Children's Commissioner,  will oversee a review of the changes in six months, but advocates say damage could be done to children and their families in that time.  

The Department of Human Services says it will not affect the number of children in out-of-home care or lead to an increase in the number of adoptions. 

Last week the Minister for Families Jenny Mikakos announced an additional $2 million would be available to help families whose children are at risk of going into out-of-home care, including services like counselling.

"We need to strike a balance in giving families help to stay together, but ensuring children are in the best care possible and not left in a state of uncertainty.

For all the members that were foster children!

Here a young boy who was placed in state custody because the mother spanked him with a belt after he pulled out a butcher knife on her. The child was diagnosed bi-polar, adhd and odd and placed in a group residential home. He was put on numerous anti psychotics and has severe ticks with head twitching constant eye blinking and sniffing from the drugs they placed him on. He cannot hold his hands still as he tells his mother about escaping and running away from the facility. He was missing for almost 3 hours before he was found. This video breaks my heart <\3

https://www.facebook.com/699529546724539/videos/1148100151867474/
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A load of crap and are trying everything to take my daughter child protection is full of Corruption all over Australian have your say dont be affraid speak out

they have been hassling us for more than a year comming to our door without our knowleage.my husband was unlawfly accussed because his ex planted childporn and called the cops(they didnt check her out).the lawyer told him its ether plead guilty or go to jail.the whole system is fuked.i rang the dhs up and told them he isnt and for the billionith time close the case already they seached our house more than 10 times and there still looking for something to get my husband on which they wont find cause he isnt 1.i was left trying to get my point across this dhs workers thick skull which took more then 5 mins of them milipulating my words,trying to make me say shes at risk and hes a pedo(im not that stupid lol) and at the end said ok ill put in her file she isnt at risk.i hope they dont try anything cause my daughter isnt too smart and has my genetic condition which im pretty shore is minor autism.

DHS CHILD PROTECTION THEY DESTROY BONDS WITH YOUR CHILD AND TAKE A CHILD ILEGALLY AND EMPLOY CORRUPT WORKERS AND INCOMPETED WORKERS PLEASE HAVE YOUR SAY

Hi l tell you a story where my little boy had been abused by his mother l went to the vic police and told them he had been punched in the mouth and locked in a room and he said to me that he was scared of her as l have this on video l was told by dhs that l fabricated the story sat just gone l broke my ankle and had to go into hostpital for a three day period on monday they went to court and took out paper work to go and get my boy and put him into the mothers care they did this behind my back and lyed saying that l was not looking after my son and not able to look after my son so l have not heard any thing about this matter as before this matter l was told that l suffering from mental issue and was drinking and taking drugs as l did a urine test and it came back clean and dhs still took my little boy on false protent as l realy hold concerns of his safty asmy hands are tyed on this matter l have written to the obsman and seeking to go class action on this mob also the name of the protective worker appears with doc as l found all this infomation on this site and now he is working for dhs as the name is very unusel in many ways and there could not be two of him so time to shame sam roulstone who is now working at colac dhs

Storming School bus to remove 3 of our 4 children (breaching the childrens privacy), False and misleading information used to gain warrent for removal of the children, False information in regards to fathers criminal record, False and misleading informati... Armidale NSW Mellisa Daskey/ Nellie McDonald/ Kirstie Lomas/Sam Roulstone/Anna Vlasof/Laurie sevel/ NSW Minister for DoCs Department of Community Services/ Human Services New South Wales

Department of human services letting children sleep in cars as this is a low act as a perth mother is forced to sleep in a car with her children how low can the department go

https://www.facebook.com/9NewsPerth/videos/1174750272537131/

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