Five kids in care of Communities missing at same time Premier declares kids should be ‘home in bed’

The Department of Communities was unable to locate five children in its care, all aged 13 to 15, for between six days and three weeks — with two of those kids still missing. Revelations the government agency in charge of looking after the State’s most vulnerable young people lost track of five of those kids for an extended period of time comes after Mark McGowan last week declared children should be “home in bed” at night. The missing youths were uncovered through questions in Parliament from shadow child protection minister Nick Goiran, which revealed five kids under the care of the Department of Communities had vanished as of Tuesday. A Communities spokesman on Friday confirmed one had been missing for 21 days but had been “sighted” during that period. Another had been missing for 12 days, two had been missing for nine days and one for six days. All have been reported to WA Police. On Tuesday, the spokesman said three of the children “have now been located”. However, two have not yet been found — and another has since gone missing. The Premier’s comments about keeping children at home came after a 13-year-old boy who was mauled by a police dog when officers responded to reports of a series of home invasions and damage to cars in Perth’s eastern suburbs. Jayden was among a group of four — including a 21-year-old man and three youths — arrested by police when they arrived on the scene in St James on Sunday night. A police dog deployed at the scene left Jayden with serious injuries to his arm and face that required surgery and stitches. Neither Jayden nor the other two youths apprehended at the scene have been charged. Addressing the incident on Thursday, Mr McGowan slammed “adults taking kids on crime sprees”. “Now these things are difficult to solve, difficult to resolve,” the Premier said. “You know, a 13-year-old should be home in bed. That’s where they should be. “Not allegedly breaking into homes and cars, with adults carrying weapons. It’s shocking behaviour.” Mr Goiran said he was just as shocked by the apparent lack of urgency to find children that had vanished under the care of the Department of Communities. “The Premier is quick to preach that teenagers should be ‘home in bed’ at night when it suits his agenda and yet five teenagers have literally gone missing whilst under the care of his Government’s child protection agency,” Mr Goiran said. “I have been asking about the unknown whereabouts of children in the care of the State for years, but I have never known it to be so bad that five have had to be reported to police as a missing person. “When will the Premier and his Minister for Child Protection start treating these missing children as an emergency rather than as a statistic for occasional reporting to Parliament when questioned by the Opposition?” A Communities spokesman there were more than 5000 children currently in the care of the Department — often after being removed from unsafe home situations — and that the majority lived in “settled, safe care arrangements with approved family or foster carers”. “It is important to note that staff or carers do not have legal authority to hold a child or young person against their will and in doing so deprive a young person of their right to liberty,” the spokesman said. “Children who have come into the care of the (department) often have a significant trauma history. “On occasion, children and young people who have experienced trauma can display challenging behaviours which can include risk-taking behaviours, including leaving their approved placement.” Child Protection Minister Simone McGurk said children in care “deserve to have the same rights and freedoms as any other teenager”. “Children have often been taken into care because of concerns of abuse or neglect and may have their own trauma — that doesn’t mean they have done anything wrong,” she said. “They are not criminals, and their carers can’t detain them.” She said any young person identified as missing was treated “extremely seriously” with Communities and WA Police working together to locate them — with searches sometimes complicated by family “reluctant to share information about their whereabouts”. “They’re usually found quickly and once contact is made, their caseworkers work with them intensively to ensure they have all the right supports, and if necessary an alternative placement will be considered,” Ms McGurk said.