The West Australian on 1 March 2014 published an article by Karl O’Callaghan, Police Commissioner of WA, raising his concerns around the rising rate of juvenile crime in WA and his call for more children to be removed from bad parenting environments. Centrecare Director Tony Pietropiccolo AM responded to Commissioner O’Callaghan’s concerns in an article published in the Opinion section of the West Australian on the 4 March 2014, explaining that while children identified as being in danger are immediately removed, placing children in care is not always the answer.
The Department for Child Protection and Family Support, and many not-for-profit organisations similar to Centrecare, work within the community with children at risk. While removing children is sometimes necessary there are many other alternatives to work with families to achieve better parenting, and better outcomes for children that do not have the potential for long term psychological damage that can be caused by putting children into care. Much community funding is aimed at the reactive end of the spectrum, dealing with issues that are high in the public awareness and media. Very little funding is directed to the community groups and not-for-profit organisations working in proactive and early intervention programs. These programs generally lead to better outcomes for both parents and children.
Click on the links below to access the article by
Karl O’Callaghan, Police Commissioner of WA
and the article written in response by
Tony Pietropiccolo AM, Director of Centrecare
As a result of his article both 720ABC and on 6PR morning shows interviewed Tony live on air.