Stage 4 updates (20 February 2006)

Stage 4 of the practice manual covers transfers and the child protection and youth justice interface. This information is set out in the following chapters:

• Chapter 11: Transfers
• Chapter 16: Youth justice and child protection interface

The glossary of terms, acronyms and Structured Decision Making appendices have also been amended.

The transfer chapter introduces a range of new requirements for the transfer of cases between service centres, including:

• the timeframes for a transfer to occur;
• the immediate allocation of a case and contact with the child;
• the ability to transfer the case of a child on an interim order; and

• the requirement for a service centre to accept transfers of cases that meet the identified criteria.

The youth justice and child protection interface chapter sets out the requirements for staff working with children who are also subject to youth justice intervention by the department . This includes:

• the reporting of harm or risk of harm, and incident reporting, by the department
• requirements for CSO involvement in youth justice interventions for children subject to:
  • an investigation and assessment;
  • non-custodial ongoing intervention; and
  • a child protection order granting custody or guardianship
• joint planning and review requirements
• financial responsibilities
• requirements for CSO attendance at youth justice court proceedings
• CSO requirements when a child is placed in a detention centre