Allowances and contingencies for children and young people in OOHC

Frequently Asked Questions

Q 1. How can carers ensure that payments for agreed services continue when a case plan is not in place or is still being prepared (eg. speech therapy)?

A. An approved case plan is an agreement around what services or items will be purchased for a child or young person. It is also a written record of what the Department has agreed to pay for or reimburse. Without such a record, confusion may arise about what has been agreed to and the timeframe for such services.

A. Where DoCS approves the attendance at child care and agrees to assist the carer by paying the child care fees, this should be included in the child’s case plan.

A. Where an emergency arises and DoCS cannot be contacted as it is out of business hours or urgent medical attention is required, the carer should ask the service involved to provide an invoice in the name of DoCS. The carer should then present this to the CSC on the next available business day.

FAQs Allowances and Contingencies for Children and Young People in OOHC May 2007

A. The crisis establishment payment is payable to a carer when a child/young person is placed in an emergency situation (excludes respite). Emergencies are those in which a placement is made outside normal working hours (ie 9am-5pm) or where the carer is requested to accept a child or young person on the day of the request. Wherever possible, the payment will be made to the carer at the time of the child or young person’s placement as a cash payment of $75.

Expenditure up to a maximum of $350 may be approved and is invoice/receipt driven. This may include costs for some initial clothing, school uniforms where the child has changed schools because of the new placement, car restraints if required within first two weeks or other personal items or necessities.

A. Relative and kinship carers may be eligible for the supported care allowance. There is no automatic entitlement to this payment. This allowance may be paid only after DoCS complete an individual assessment of the case. The assessment will look at why the child is not residing with their birth parents and will examine whether the placement with relative or kinship carers is in their best interests. If a relative or kinship carer wishes to apply for the supported care allowance, they should approach the local CSC and ask to speak to a caseworker about applying for the allowance.

FAQs Allowances and Contingencies for Children and Young People in OOHC May 2007

A. The allowance paid to all carers includes allocations to cover; school uniforms, all general educational expenditure such as writing materials, excursions and school camps, school levies, text book hire etc, hobbies and sporting activities engaged in outside of school eg soccer, dancing, music lessons.

A. Carers are not expected to cover costs arising from birth family contact visits. All arrangements governing contact between a child or young person and their birth family should be known to DoCS and included in the case plan. Any expenditure would need to be approved PRIOR to the contact occurring.

A. Firstly, carers need to remember that all expenditure for which they will be making a request for reimbursement must be pre-approved by DoCS. Carers cannot assume that a reimbursement will be made simply because they make a purchase.

FAQs Allowances and Contingencies for Children and Young People in OOHC May 2007

A. If a carer has not received their allowance payment on the expected date, they should make contact with an OOHC caseworker to inform them of this. Once confirmation of this error has occurred, the caseworker should inform you of when the payment will be made.

A. Where a child or young person does not have an allocated caseworker, the carer should ask to speak to an OOHC caseworker. The carer should explain to the caseworker what funding is being requested, what it is for and what the specific timeframe is around this. Adequate time should always be allowed, keeping in mind that where a case is unallocated, DoCS staff will need to review the file to determine the suitability of the item/service being requested.

FAQs Allowances and Contingencies for Children and Young People in OOHC May 2007

Questions from carers at Bankstown 4 December 2006.

2. If a child or young person is assessed for care +1 or care +2 to what extent should the carer be involved in the assessment?

The Special Needs Assessment looks at the needs of the individual child in comparison to other children of the same age.  The carer is therefore required to speak with the Caseworker about the additional requirements of caring for that child.  This would involve the Carer seeking appropriate medical/specialist reports as well as speaking with the Caseworker about day to day care of the child.

3. If there has been no case conference with a DoCS worker within the first two weeks of a new placement can establishment costs still be paid?

A Case Plan will need to be developed, including any agreement to pay establishment costs prior to such expenditure being paid.  A Case Meeting as such is not required as this may not always be possible, however the Caseworker would need to seek approval for this based on the identified needs.  Any items purchased remain the property of the child and should accompany them if they move to another placement in the future.

4. If it is believed that child care/pre-school would be in the best interests of the child how can the cost of this be provided?

Where it has been agreed as part of the Case Plan for a child that they should attend childcare, DoCS will be responsible for the costs associated with this.  All invoices should be sent to DoCS direct from the service provider and made out in DoCS' name.

5. In the previous financial guidelines the carer had to pay the first $250 of school fees.  What is the situation with the new guidelines

The new allowances have seen an increase for all carers of school aged children (ie aged 5 and above).  The new rates are based on independent research by the Social Policy Research Centre.  As a general rule, children and young people in OOHC should attend their local government school.  The carer of a child or young person is expected to meet the cost of general educational costs that arise from the educational institution from the allowance paid to them.  Expenditure may include uniforms, writing materials, excursions and school camps, school levies, text book hire etc.

Other costs that may arise in relation to the education of a child or young person in addition to general expenditure may be paid by DoCS where this is part of an approved case plan.  Such expenditure may include tutoring etc. 

Children and young people in OOHC may be enrolled in private schools only in exceptional circumstances.  This must be approved by DoCS.  In these cases, DoCS will meet the costs of all school fees.  The costs associated with text book hire and other general expenditure would remain the responsibility of the carer. 

6. Is it true that I now need to get approval and receipts for establishment costs?

All costs that will require reimbursement MUST be pre approved.  Without prior approval, reimbursement cannot be guaranteed.  This is the case for any establishment costs as well as any other expenditure that may arise.

7. What can I do about claiming for out of pocket expenses for children and young people?

Carers should have an Expenditure Log Book where they are able to list expenses for which they are able to claim reimbursement.  Carers should retain all receipts and present this to the local CSC for processing.  All expenditure should be pre approved by DoCS or reimbursement cannot be guaranteed. 

8. Short term establishment contingency. Can this money be used to buy clothes etc when the child is moving to a new placement when the carer is already fully set up with existing equipment?

The Short Term Establishment payment is no longer an automatic payment to carers.  Under the new structure, payments up to a total of $350 may be paid where there is an identified need within the first 2 weeks of the placement.  This is for specific items to assist in establishing the child where the carer is unable to provide this prior to receiving the initial Allowance Payment.  This may include clothing only where a child has arrived in a placement without adequate supplies.  Whilst this is individually assessed, it would not generally be the case that the full $350 would be approved, as this payment is to assist in the short term, prior to the carer receiving the allowance for the child.

9. What are the arrangements for back pay with the new financial arrangements?

Most carers will have received an automatic back payment paid into their accounts on 9 November 2006.  Others who did not receive a back payment as a result of the individual situation may be manually assessed by staff at the local CSC.  Carers of children aged 0-4 did not receive any back payment as their allowance rate did not increase. 

10. If a child needs approved medication which is not on PBS should the carer have to pay?

The independent research used as the basis for the new allowance rates paid to carers includes provisions for pharmaceutical costs.  The Care+1 and Care+2 Allowances may also be approved for children and young people with high level medical requirements where this meets the criteria.  The allowance is generally expected to cover these costs.  In exceptional circumstances, a Carer may approach DoCS for assistance with such costs.

11. Will the financial guidelines be available to carers?

  No

12. Is it possible to get assistance for private school costs, such as uniforms?

 See answer to question 5 above

13. Is there any financial assistance available for emergency placements?

Where a child is placed after hours or on the same day as requested, the carer will receive $75 (either cash payment or direct deposit) to assist with any immediate costs eg nappies, formula, pyjamas etc.  This is a fixed amount and should be paid for every individual child. 

14. How can short term carers access medical benefits system for child’s medical costs if the child has no Medicare number or health care insurance?

Medicare Australia has advised that where a child is already enrolled and has a Medicare number, a foster carer or DoCS caseworker may make a claim even if the child's Medicare number is not currently known. The person making the claim will need to sign the claim form to declare that they have paid for the service.

Receipts for medical services should be made out in the name of the person paying for the service and include the name and date of birth of the child or young person who received the service. The claim may then be made at the local Medicare Office.  

15. Is birthday and Christmas money still paid?