DoCS Defends Policy After Baby Brain Injury
Police are investigating how a 9-month-old baby, who was known to DoCS, came to suffer a brain injury and two broken legs.
The child had been removed from her mother shortly after birth and given to foster carers before being placed with extended family members in Lismore.
The Minister Linda Burney says the family had been subjected to strict tests and the placement was ratified by a court.
“Very serious questions and considerations are taken before a child is restored to their family,” she said.
“There is no care placement in New South Wales that is just done on the decision of a single caseworker. That’s an absolute fallacy.”
The Opposition’s Pru Goward says DoCS has to be more conservative.
“For a child, it can often result in brain or developmental damage if they are restored to an abusive parent,” she said.
She says there are no statistics to show how many children returned to their families are removed for a second time.