| Overview |
The arrangements have been introduced following the finalisation of a new Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) - An agreed process for responding to a child or young person in the care of the Chief Executive Officer of the Department of Communities (Communities) who is unaccounted for or missing with WA Police and the need to align definitions and processes for 'unaccounted for' and 'missing' children. The Department of Communities (Communities)
should develop a safety plan to minimise harm to the child or young person if their or others actions and/or behaviour may result in risk when their whereabouts is unknown
Where the child or young person is believed to be in immediate danger (e.g. a victim of an abduction or imminent serious harm) or has absconded from secure care, the carer, case worker or Secure Care Worker with current responsibility for the child or young person at the time they leave, should call Police on '000' for an urgent police response.
Where a child or young person has left their care arrangement and their whereabouts are unknown, the risk assessment is broken down into one of the following categories:
| Category | Sub-category | Definition | | 'Unaccounted for' | | the child or young person’s whereabouts are
unknown however there are no serious concerns for their welfare and no
suspicion of criminality surrounding their absence | | | 'Unaccounted for' – in contact | the child or young person is in contact with
their case worker or Residential Care Worker but their whereabouts are unknown.
The Department is working with them to increase safety.
| | | 'Unaccounted for' – not in contact | the child or young person is not in contact with their case worker or Residential Care Worker, however, reliable sources (such as a member of the safety network) confirm they are not missing and not at serious risk.
| | 'Missing' | | there are serious safety concerns or suspicion
of criminality surrounding the child or young person’s disappearance. In these
instances, Police must be contacted
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A child or young person may also be in a 'self-selected' arrangement where their whereabouts are known. For further information regarding children who self-select please refer to Casework Practice Manual entry 3.4.21 Self-Selected Living Arrangements
Note: CEO refers to the Chief Executive Officer of the Department.
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| Rules |
| If a child or young person in the CEO's care is identified as 'unaccounted for', you should take reasonable steps and make diligent efforts to locate the child or young person and support them to return them to their care arrangement if it is safe and practical to do so.
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When a child or young
person is regularly ‘unaccounted for’ due to choices they have made, that put
themselves at risk, a safety plan should be developed. The purpose of the
safety plan is to minimise risk to the child or young person while they are
away from their care arrangement.
Consider placing an alert on Assist that explains both the risk and the
agreed safety plan for ease of reference – see section Recording the alert
in Assist below
Where a child or young person has left their care arrangement, you know their whereabouts, but you have serious safety concerns, you can still request WA Police assistance by calling '000' if urgent or 131 444 if serious but non-urgent.
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| Process Maps |
Process Flowcharts - Communities Flowchart - Missing Child or Young Person Located Flowchart - Unaccounted for Child or Young Person Located
Flowchart - Case Workers and Crisis Care
Flowchart - Residential Care Workers
Flowchart - Secure Care Workers
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Information and Instructions- Determining whether a child or young person is ‘unaccounted for’ or ‘missing’
- When you assess that a child or young person is “unaccounted for”
- When you assess that a child or young person is ‘missing’
- Making reasonable and diligent efforts to locate an “unaccounted for” or “missing” child or young person missing.
- Informing the child or young person’s carers and/or parents/ or significant others
- Recording the alert in Assist
- Seeking assistance from the public to locate a missing child or young person
- When the child or young person is located
Determining whether a child or young person is ‘unaccounted for’ or ‘missing’ If a child or young person in care is regularly 'unaccounted for' and engages in high-risk behaviour, including placing themselves at risk, you will need to develop a safety plan with their 'care team'. The purpose of the safety plan is to consider foreseeable risk and minimise risk to the child or young person while they are away from their care arrangement. Safety planning is a proactive, dynamic, structured and monitored process and safety plans should be updated accordingly. For further information, refer to Chapter 1.2.6. Safety Planning.
There may be occasions when a child or young person has left their care arrangement and the Safety Plan is not followed or the identified risks are not accounted for; in these instances, the Risk Assessment Tool in related resources must be completed. The purpose of this tool is to support case workers (or Crisis Care if after hours) and Residential Care Workers to assess and record relevant information to determine if a child or young person is either 'unaccounted for' or 'missing', record relevant information for WA Police if they are 'missing', as well as recording relevant information when a child or young person is located or returns.
The Risk Assessment Tool is also completed by OOHC Providers for children and young people who are unaccounted for or missing whilst in their care. OOHC Providers send the completed tool and recommendation to the case worker (or Crisis Care if after hours).
Residential Care responsibilities
Where a child or young person cannot be located, you have concerns about the risks to them and there is no safety plan or other arrangements that accounts for their absence, the Residential Care Worker must complete the Risk Assessment Tool and make a recommendation around whether the child or young person is 'unaccounted for' or 'missing'.
If the child or young person is determined to be 'unaccounted for' by the Residential Care Worker, a copy of the Risk Assessment Tool should be sent to the case worker (or Crisis Care if after hours) and if needed, make contact with the case worker (or Crisis Care if after hours) to discuss. If the case worker (or Crisis Care if after hours) needs to discuss this, they will contact the Residential Care Worker directly.
For repeated or recurring 'unaccounted for' events it is not always necessary to complete a further Risk Assessment Tool where the child's or young person's circumstances remain the same. Instead, the Residential Care Worker can: - Send an email to update the case worker (or Crisis Care after hours) when the child or young person has left/returned, such as multiple times during one night/weekend. (Use the same subject header as the original Risk Assessment Tool was sent).
- Copy and update a previous Risk Assessment Tool for repeat 'unaccounted for' (and 'missing') events such as when occurring weekly.
A new Risk Assessment Tool should always be completed if there is a significant change in the child or young person's circumstances and the risk of harm increases.
If the Residential Care Worker makes a recommendation the child or young person is 'missing', the Residential Care Worker must seek the approval of their line manager (or on call manager) and then to send the completed Risk Assessment Tool to the case worker or Crisis Care (if after hours). After hours the completed Risk Assessment Tool should be emailed to: missingunaccountedforchildren@communities.wa.gov.au
The Residential Care Worker should also make attempts to call the case worker (or Crisis Care if after hours) to advise them of their recommendation and the child or young person's circumstances. The case worker or Crisis Care Worker will make an assessment as to whether the child or young person is 'missing' based on the information and will call WA Police and forward the Risk Assessment Tool as required.
Where the Residential Care Worker has serious concerns for the child or young person, they should always consult with their line manager/on call manager to determine next steps.
Case worker and Crisis Care responsibilities to Carer of child/young
person
Where a child or young person has left their care arrangement and there is a concern about their whereabouts not adequately covered by the safety plan or other arrangements, their Carer should contact the case worker (or Crisis Care if after hours) who will complete the Risk Assessment Tool by gathering information from the Carer to establish whether the child or young person is 'unaccounted for' or 'missing'.
Secure Care responsibilities
Where a young person absconds from Secure Care, they are automatically assessed as 'missing.' The Secure Care Worker should immediately contact Police via 000 and advise the case manager (or Crisis Care if after hours). They should then complete the Risk Assessment Tool and email it to WA Police at PACProcessingSMAIL@police.wa.gov.au.
When you assess that a child or young person is “unaccounted for”If the child or young person cannot be located and is determined to be 'unaccounted for,' it is not necessary for the case worker (or Crisis Care after hours) to contact WA Police.
Case worker (or Crisis Care if after hours):
- consult with a Team Leader/line manager to consider entering an alert in Assist. Refer to section 'Recording the alert in Assist'.
- record your 'unaccounted for' assessment decision on the Risk Assessment Tool and save to the Family Case file in Objective.
- Update the Living Arrangement in Assist:
- 'Unaccounted for – not in contact. – child or young person is not in contact with their case worker or residential care worker; however, reliable sources (such as a member of the safety network) confirm they are not missing and not at serious risk, or
- Unaccounted for – in contact – child or young person is in contact with their case worker or residential care worker but whereabouts are unknown, and the Department is in contact with them for the purpose of increasing safety.
| The case worker determines if this is recorded as a Primary or Temporary living arrangement based on the circumstances – in most cases this should be a Temporary living arrangement as the child or young person will have a Primary living arrangement, they can return to
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The case worker should continuously review the circumstances of the child or young person to determine their safety and the appropriate level of response.
When you assess that a child or young person is ‘missing’A child or young person is considered 'missing' when there are serious safety concerns or suspicion of criminality surrounding their disappearance. All children or young people who leave Secure Care are considered 'missing.' After confirming that the child or young person cannot be located and reasonable efforts to locate the child or young person have taken place the case worker (or Crisis Care after hours) should: Consult with a Team Leader or line manager and obtain approval to report the child as missing to WA Police. If the 'missing' child/young person is in a situation which is an emergency/life threatening, you must immediately call WA Police on '000' or 131 444 for all other matters. Complete the Risk Assessment Tool to address and explain the level of risk. The Risk Assessment Tool should also be completed retrospectively if the Carer, case worker, Residential Care Worker or Secure Care Worker have previously called '000'. Once completed email the Risk Assessment Tool to WA Police as soon as possible to: PACProcessingSMAIL@police.wa.gov.au Any further follow up on the 'missing' child or young person and the status of the Missing Persons Report with WA Police should be negotiated between the relevant areas. Residential Care Worker, Crisis Care if after hours, or during business hours. A child or young person who is missing is identified as a critical incident type under the critical incident briefing policy. Please refer to chapter 2.1.5 Responding to concerns for children in care - critical incidents for further information. You can also refer to Critical Incident Briefing Policy and Critical Incident Briefing Procedure in related resources for information on how to record internal briefing of critical incidents as per the policy.
Recording – to be completed by case worker (or Crisis Care after hours): 1. Enter an alert in Assist
explaining the details of the risk and advise WA Police. Refer to section 'Recording the alert in Assist'. 2. Record the contact with WA Police in a case note on Assist capturing the date/time, surname of child, and the name of the person you spoke with at WA Police and the agreed response to locating the 'missing' child/young person. 3. Record your 'missing' assessment decision and Team Leader approval on the Risk Assessment Tool and save to the Family Case file in Objective. 4. Update the Living arrangement in Assist to Missing - Missing (serious safety concerns or suspicion of criminality). A report is being or has been made to police
- For reporting purposes, it is important that all 'missing' living arrangement events are recorded on Assist, including retrospectively if the child or young person has been located or returned.
5. Where WA police agree that a child or young person is 'missing', they will provide an appropriate level of response, timely updates and make efforts to locate and return the child or young person to their care arrangement or other agreed safe place.
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If you suspect that the child or young
person has been taken interstate, also request an
Interstate Alert/Notification to the other state through the Department's Interstate Liaison
Officer: WAInterstateLiaison@communities.wa.gov.au
For further information please refer to entries 3.4 Interstate and New Zealand liaison and 4.2 Case alerts. |
Following consultation, if police assess and reclassify a 'missing' child or young person as a child or young person being 'unaccounted for,' they will notify the Department of their decision including rationale which should be placed on the child's case file.
Any disputes with police regarding the Risk Assessment Tool assessment should be resolved cooperatively and quickly where possible. Unresolved disputes should be immediately referred to the Executive Director, Statewide Services.
Ongoing contact with WA Police, the Carer and/or Residential Care Worker/Secure Care Worker should occur as new information becomes available. A joint reassessment of 'missing' or 'unaccounted for' can be undertaken at any time.
Where appropriate, the child or young person's case worker should liaise with WA Police and discuss if seeking assistance from the public to locate the child or young person may be required. Refer to section 'Seeking assistance from the public to locate a missing child or young person' below
Making reasonable and diligent efforts to locate an “unaccounted for” or “missing” child or young person missing.When a child or young person is assessed as 'unaccounted for,' you should take reasonable steps to determine their whereabouts. This might include: Searching the home / house / facility. Attempting to contact the child or young person and/or if possible, any associated person, directly or indirectly via phone call, text, message or email.
Contacting the child or young person's case worker to advise the child or young person has been assessed as 'unaccounted for'.
Diligent and reasonable efforts to locate the child must be ongoing until the child is located.
Additionally, in consultation with the case worker (or Crisis Care after hours), the Residential Care Worker and Secure Care Worker or Carers should discuss and agree who may be able to: Monitor known social media accounts through the district 'famly finding Facebook' account. Contact friends, family and relatives.
Check places where the child or young person or an associated person is known to frequent.
The police may speak with the case worker, carer, Residential Care Worker and/or Secure Care Worker directly if they require further information or clarification.
When contacting those known to the child or young person you should alert them to the situation and request their assistance to look for and encourage the child to return to their care arrangement.
Informing the child or young person’s carers and/or parents/ or significant othersIf the carer is not aware that the child or young person is 'unaccounted for' or 'missing', they should be advised as soon as practicable and provided regular updates.
If the child or young person is assessed as 'missing', they should be advised as soon as practicable including the actions taken to locate their child. If one parent removed or abducted the child, inform the other parent.
Recording the alert in AssistTeam Leader approval should be obtained before recording an alert in Assist including what information should be recorded. Enter the alert from the child or young person's 360 degree view where: there is a likelihood that the child or young person may be abducted or removed from the CEO's care without permission, and/or the child or young person is missing (including has been abducted or removed from the CEO's care unlawfully), or the child or young person is unaccounted for however there is critical information, or an action to take should the child or young person contact the Department.
For information on alerts and recording, refer to Chapter 4.2: Case alerts and Assist User Guides: Adding, Extending and Completing an Alert.
Seeking assistance from the public to locate a missing child or young personSeeking assistance from the public to locate a missing child or young person should only be considered in exceptional circumstances when all other steps to locate the child have been undertaken and there remains serious concerns about a 'missing' child or young person safety which require public assistance.
The request must be undertaken by the child or young person's case worker (or Crisis Care after hours) in discussion with WA Police and be approved by the Executive Director Service Delivery.
Before making a request, you must consult with your Team Leader and District Director for endorsement. After hours or on weekends, staff from Crisis Care should make the request on behalf of the District. For further information about endorsement and approval please refer to the 'Approval process' in CPM entry: 3.2.5 Identification of children.
Where seeking the assistance of the public to locate the missing child or young person is approved, a media statement will be prepared to identify the child or young person as being in the CEO's care. Following approval (or concurrently), the District Director needs to provide as much information about the child or young person as possible to the Director Corporate Communications for a media statement to be prepared. This will include information about: the child or young person's name and age
when the child or young person was last seen what the child or young person was wearing, a physical description and a photograph (if possible) and, any arrangements agreed with the police about the statement/process to be followed.
When the child or young person is locatedWhen a child or young person is located; the Carer, Residential Care Worker or Secure Care Worker present must check if the child or young person requires immediate medical attention.
When the child or young person has been 'missing', Carers, Residential Care Workers and Secure Care Workers should immediately contact the child or young person's case worker (or Crisis Care) to notify them and discuss the child or young person's circumstances, support, and any required safety planning.
Additionally, and when an 'unaccounted for' child or young person is located, Residential Care Workers, case workers (Crisis Care if after hours – for 'missing' only and Secure Care Workers should complete the relevant part/s of Section 4 (Child or young person is located) of the Risk Assessment Tool and record information about the child or young person's circumstances. Residential Care Workers and Secure Care Workers should email this information to the case worker (or Crisis Care if after hours). If the child or young person was 'missing' and WA Police have not been involved in locating the missing child or young person, the case worker (or Crisis Care if after hours) or Secure Care Worker (for child or young person in Secure Care) should email the completed section 4 of the Risk Assessment Tool to: PACProcessingSMAIL@police.wa.gov.au
Additionally, the case worker should:
notify the child or young person's parents (if appropriate) and significant others of the child or young person's return debrief the child or young person about his/her absence (this may be on the next working day) and update WA Police where relevant/if was missing end any alert in Assist and update the living arrangement identify and implement any preventative measures, including safety planning to reduce the incidence of regular unaccounted for/missing events and include collaboration with WA Police when appropriate complete Section 4 (Child or young person is located) of the Risk Assessment Tool (if not already completed). This will ensure there is a consistent record of any concerns for a child or young person in care, the action taken and the results of that action, and place all records in the Objective case file including the completed Risk Assessment Tool.
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