The Stability Planning and Permanent Care project was undertaken to conduct research recommended by the Protecting Victoria’s Vulnerable Children Inquiry (2012). The Inquiry recommended the research because it was unable to identify the reasons for the apparent harmful delays in achieving permanent care arrangements for children placed in out of home care by the Children's Court of Victoria as a result of abuse or neglect.
The project brief was to identify the barriers to earlier resolution of permanency in a child’s care arrangements, to test strategies to overcome those barriers, and to make recommendations for changes to policy, practice and legislative to promote more timely decisions and outcomes.