A little boy who has spent half his life in care has painted a disturbing picture of Queensland’s failing child safety system as the state grapples with the handling of vulnerable children.
The child, whose face cannot be shown, has been sleeping on the streets recently while in care, telling 7NEWS it is: “Cold, scary, just feel sad.”
WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE: Queensland children sleeping in government offices
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Shockingly, the boy says rough sleeping is preferable to residential care. He says: “When I go there, I don’t feel loved or like shown affection, you know what I mean?”
The child, not yet a teenager and not attending school, says the system has devastated his life.
“It’s affected my life so much and that, like, I just want to go live with my parents again,” the boy said.
The boy also claims he slept in a child safety office for two nights.
“I was sleeping on the floor with no blanket, nothing. It was really cold,” he said.
7NEWS hasn’t been able to verify the claim, but Queensland Premier David Crisafulli this week confirmed there have been instances of children staying in government buildings.
Queensland’s Child Safety Minister Amanda Camm finally faced cameras at an LNP state convention after days of silence over shocking revelations that vulnerable children have been sleeping in government offices.
Camm was approached outside the conference on Friday, with reporters telling the minister they wanted to ask her a number of questions.
“I don’t understand why you do, because the Premier has addressed everything,” Camm responded.
Under pressure, she confirmed children had stayed in government buildings, claiming it happened only three times involving two 17-year-olds and a 16-year-old.
“They were not babies,” she said.
“This has been a long-standing practice that has occurred at emergent times.”
The minister insisted the children weren’t sleeping on floors but on “brand-new clean” air mattresses that “every child safety service centre has”.
It’s the first time the minister has been seen out since the reports emerged as she had been receiving treatment for migraines.
Labor has criticised Camm’s silence at a time when a Commission of Inquiry made 52 recommendations to fix the flawed child safety system a month ago.
‘Serious concerns’ about handling of vulnerable children
A frontline youth care provider has raised serious concerns with 7NEWS about the state government’s handling of vulnerable children.
They say many young people in residential care, including First Nations kids, are facing uncertainty about which community they will be living in and where they will call home.
One insider has accused the government of enforcing a blanket approach in the system in recent weeks, saying many children are couch surfing out of desperation.
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