Definition
The Out-of-home care longitudinal asset supports the coordinated response across government and the sector and tracks the changing circumstances and needs of children and families to give them a strong foundation for a better life.
The asset is maintained by the Data Management Team within FACSIAR to:
- support analysis beyond the scope of what can be done using CIW reporting functions
- enable greater consistency across analysis
- facilitate the sharing of data with other parts of the organisation who do not have access to CIW, and to researchers/consultants or other agencies who are required to work with the data extract.
The base unit (i.e. individual row) corresponds to an actual placement with the last care event on or before the end of the financial year kept. Only the last Care Event from each placement is included in the file. Therefore any information such as ‘Parental Responsibility’ or ‘Placement Type’ is included from the last ‘Care Event’ in any particular placement.
While best efforts have been made to ensure the base counts of the file (e.g. number of children in care as at 30 June, number of placements etc) match the Annual Report published counts for the most recent year, discrepancies may still occur. The concept(s) of ‘priority placements’ and actual placements’ did not exist prior to the introduction of ChildStory. For all records 2016/17 and earlier, all placement information such as dates, type and purpose has been mapped to both priority AND actual placement fields.
The asset contains a subset of the dimensions currently available in the CIW report builder. The included dimensions have been selected based on types of analysis commonly carried out by FACSIAR.
Data source details
| Path name | Data Element | Definition | Data Type | Format |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| child_story_id | Person: ChildStory Identifier, A-N(8) |
Internal Department of Communities and Justice (DCJ) Person identifier from ChildStory.
Specific Information:
The unique ID produced in Salesforce for a child. This can be merged and therefore a childs ID can change over time. Known data quality issues: Six CYP who have blank ChildStoryID but a LegacKidsPersonNumber. Issues caused due to extremely old records (e.g. those starting OOHC in 1986) not being migrated to ChildStory as well as other data issues (e.g. some records may have had duplicate IDs in the old system that were merged into a single ID in ChildStory) |
CHARACTERSTRING | A-N(8) |
| legacy_kids_person_number | Person: KiDS Number, Identifier X(14) |
A person's internal Department of Communities and Justice (DCJ) Person Identifier from the legacy KiDS system.
Specific Information:
Unique Person Number from the KiDS legacy source system migrated to ChildStory with the LEGACY_ID legacy person record ID, used for verification and matching only. |
CHARACTERSTRING | X(14) |
| gender | Person: Gender, Code X(20) |
A code that represents how a person identifies their masculine or feminine characteristics. An individual's gender is not always exclusively male or female, and doesn't always correspond to their sex assigned at birth.
Specific Information:
Gender on person record at time of extraction |
ALPHASTRING | X(20) |
| first_name | Person: Given Name, Text X(50) |
The name of a person within the family group or by which the person is socially identified.
Specific Information:
Primary first name of the child |
ALPHANUMERICSTRING | X(50) |
| last_name | Person: Family Name, Text X(50) |
The text that represents a name by which a person’s family group may be identified. That part of a name a person usually has in common with some other members of his/her family, as distinguished from his/her given names.
Specific Information:
Primary last name of the child |
ALPHANUMERICSTRING | X(50) |
| dob | Person: Date of birth, DDMMYYYY |
The date of birth of the person, expressed as DDMMYYYY. |
DATE | DDMMYYYY |
| aboriginal_status_fa_cs_grouped | Person: Indigenous Status, Grouped Label X(14) |
Aboriginal Status, as represented by a grouped label
Specific Information:
Aboriginal status on person record at time of extraction grouped for reporting purposes (Aboriginal, non-Aboriginal, other, blank) (Not stated is grouped into other) |
CHARACTERSTRING | X(14) |
| preferred_language | Person: Preferred Language, Label X(50) |
The preferred language spoken by a given client, represented by a label. |
CHARACTERSTRING | X(50) |
| primary_cultural_background | Person: Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CALD) Background, Text X(50) |
Self-enumeration of cultural and linguistic background, based on whether or not one was born in a country other than Australia, has a cultural background other than Australian, or can speak languages other than English, by respondents entering "free text". |
ALPHANUMERICSTRING | X(50) |
| countryof_birth | Person: Country of Birth, Label X(100) |
The country in which the person was born, as represented by a label.
Specific Information:
|
ALPHANUMERICSTRING | X(100) |
| DISABILITYFLAG | You don't have permission to see this Data Element. |
-
Specific Information:
Flag indicating whether a person has a current disability recorded on Childstory at point of extract |
- | - |
| DISABILITYIMPAIRMENTNATURE | Person: Disability Impairment, label X(100) |
Type of disability impairment/type, as represented by a concatenation of labels (indicating multiple selections).
Specific Information:
Concatinated string of all recorded disability types |
ALPHANUMERICSTRING | X(100) |
| typeof_caregiver | Carer household: Caregiver type, label X(40) |
Basic description of primary caregiver's relationship to Child or Young Person (CYP), as represented by a label
Specific Information:
Only applies to Aboriginal children. Is a combination of placement type and Aboriginality of the carer. Used for APP reporting |
CHARACTERSTRING | X[40] |
| typeof_caregiver_grouped | Carer household: Caregiver type, group label X(40) |
The type of caregiver (grouped) for out of home care, as represented by a label.
Specific Information:
Only applies to Aboriginal children. Identifies whether the carer is Aboriginal. Grouped to Aboriginal/Non Aboriginal/Independent. |
CHARACTERSTRING | X(40) |
| carer_household_aboriginal_status | Carer Household: Indigenous Status, Label X(40) |
An indicator of whether any carer in the carer household identifies as being of Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander origin, as represented by a label.
Specific Information:
Calculated Aboriginal status of the household based in the Office of the Children's Guardian (OCG) database, the Aboriginality of member persons |
ALPHASTRING | A(40) |
| care_category_start_date | Care Category: Start Date, DateTime YYYY-MM-DD[Thh:mm:ss] |
The date expressed as YYYYMMDD on which the identified care category grouping commenced.
Specific Information:
Pathname |
DATETIME | YYYY-MM-DD(T00:00:00) |
| care_category_end_date | Care Category: End Date, DateTime YYYY-MM-DD[Thh:mm:ss] |
The date expressed as YYYYMMDD on which the identified care category grouping ended. |
DATETIME | YYYY-MM-DD(T00:00:00) |
| exit_care_type | Placement: Placement Exit Reason, Label X(16) |
The permanency outcome for a child upon exiting Out of Home Care (OOHC), as represented by a label.
Specific Information:
Calculation showing the exit reason of the final placement in the OOHC care period on all placements in that OOHC care period. |
ALPHANUMERICSTRING | X(16) |
| priority_placement_start_date | Service Episode: Episode Start Date, DateTime YYYY-MM-DD |
The date expressed as YYYYMMDD on which a service episode/support period commenced.
Specific Information:
Start date of the placement set by the caseworker on the placement record. This is different to the placement creation date |
DATETIME | YYYY-MM-DD(T00:00:00) |
| priority_placement_end_date | Service Episode: End Date, DateTime YYYY-MM-DD |
The date expressed as YYYYMMDD on which a service episode was completed.
Specific Information:
End date of the placement set by the caseworker on the placement record. Field can be blank/NULL as the child may still be in care at the time of reporting. |
DATETIME | YYYY-MM-DD(T00:00:00) |
| priority_placement_type | Placement: Type, Label A(50) |
The type of out-of-home care placement, as represented by a label.
Specific Information:
Placement type |
CHARACTERSTRING | A(50) |
| priority_placement_type_grouped | Placement: Type, Grouped Label X(30) |
The type of out-of-home care placement, as represented by a group label.
Specific Information:
Placement type grouped. Used for reporting purposes. There are a number of placement groups used for various purposes. This grouping changes over time |
CHARACTERSTRING | X(30) |
| priority_placement_purpose | Service Episode: Placement Purpose, label X(50) |
Out of home care (OOHC) placement purpose (PLCPURP), as represented by a label
Specific Information:
The latest recorded purpose of the placement at time of extraction. Placement purpose is where respite placements are identified. |
CHARACTERSTRING | X[50] |
| priority_placement_exit_reason | Service episode: Service cessation reason, Exit label X(50) |
The reason a service episode ceased/closed, as represented by a label
Specific Information:
The placement exit reason includes both movement in care and exit from care reasons. This field is used for permancy calculations. |
CHARACTERSTRING | X(50) |
| priority_placement_provider_grouped | Person: Placement Management, label X(20) |
A label (description) representing the Placement Management for a child or young person in the program |
CHARACTERSTRING | X(20) |
| priority_placement_aboriginal_placement_principle_flag | Placement: Aboriginal Placement Principle, Yes/No Code A |
A code indicating whether Aboriginal Placement Principle have been applied.
Specific Information:
Aboriginal placement principle APP flag 'Y/N'. A calculated proxy using national counting rules taking into account other factors such as Aboriginality of the carer and placement type. This flag only applied to children who are identified as Aboriginal. First used in 2021. |
ALPHASTRING | A |
| actual_placement_start_date | Service Episode: Episode Start Date, DateTime YYYY-MM-DD |
The date expressed as YYYYMMDD on which a service episode/support period commenced.
Specific Information:
Start date of the placement set by the caseworker on the placement record. This is different to the placement creation date |
DATETIME | YYYY-MM-DD(T00:00:00) |
| actual_placement_end_date | Service Episode: End Date, DateTime YYYY-MM-DD |
The date expressed as YYYYMMDD on which a service episode was completed.
Specific Information:
End date of the placement set by the caseworker on the placement record. Field can be blank/NULL as the child may still be in care at the time of reporting. |
DATETIME | YYYY-MM-DD(T00:00:00) |
| actual_placement_type | Placement: Type, Label A(50) |
The type of out-of-home care placement, as represented by a label.
Specific Information:
|
CHARACTERSTRING | A(50) |
| actual_placement_type_grouped | Placement: Type, Grouped Label X(30) |
The type of out-of-home care placement, as represented by a group label.
Specific Information:
Placement type grouped. Used for reporting purposes. There are a number of placement groups used for various purposes. This grouping changes over time. |
CHARACTERSTRING | X(30) |
| actual_placement_purpose | Service Episode: Placement Purpose, label X(50) |
Out of home care (OOHC) placement purpose (PLCPURP), as represented by a label
Specific Information:
The latest recorded purpose of the placement at time of extraction. Placement purpose is where respite placements are identified. |
CHARACTERSTRING | X[50] |
| actual_placement_exit_reason | Service episode: Service cessation reason, Exit label X(50) |
The reason a service episode ceased/closed, as represented by a label
Specific Information:
The placement exit reason includes both movement in care and exit from care reasons. This field is used for permanency calculations. |
CHARACTERSTRING | X(50) |
| care_history_start_date | Service Episode: Episode Start Date, DateTime YYYY-MM-DD |
The date expressed as YYYYMMDD on which a service episode/support period commenced.
Specific Information:
Start date of first ever OOHC care category. |
DATETIME | YYYY-MM-DD(T00:00:00) |
| care_history_end_date | Service Episode: End Date, DateTime YYYY-MM-DD |
The date expressed as YYYYMMDD on which a service episode was completed.
Specific Information:
Last known exit date or imputed end date (18th birthday of CYP) if CYP still in care. |
DATETIME | YYYY-MM-DD(T00:00:00) |
| legal_order_type | Legal Order: Order type, label A(30) |
The type of legal order to which a child was subject to, as represented by a label.
Specific Information:
The recorded order type on the legal order. (final/interim/PR only/other) |
ALPHANUMERICSTRING | X(30) |
| legal_order_start_date | Legal Order: Start Date, YYYY-MM-DD |
The date on which a legal order or arrangement took effect, expressed as DDMMYYYY.
Specific Information:
The start of the legal order as set by the court or administrative arrangement. |
DATE | YYYY-MM-DD |
| legal_order_end_date | Legal Order: End Date, YYYY-MM-DD |
The date on which a legal order or arrangement ceases to have effect, expressed as DDMMYYYY.
Specific Information:
The end of the legal order as set by the court or administrative arrangement. Some orders are recorded without an end date. |
DATE | YYYY-MM-DD |
| district | Organisation: NSW Department of Communities and Justice District, Label A(25) |
A label that represents the area where the NSW Department of Communities and Justice (DCJ) are responsible for the delivery of DCJ services across Community Services and Housing of an organisation that provides services and/or care.
Specific Information:
Derived from the position of the caseworker indicating which district owns the record at time of extract. |
ALPHASTRING | A(25) |
| internal_organisation_business_unit | Organisation: Internal Business Unit, label X(50) |
An Internal Business Unit that provides services and/or care, as represented by a label
Specific Information:
Derived from the position of the care worker indicating which CSC currently owns the record at time of extract or at time of exiting from Out-of-Home Care. |
CHARACTERSTRING | X(50) |
| postcode | Address: Australian postcode, code (Postcode datafile) NNNN |
The Australian numeric descriptor for a postal delivery area for an address.
Specific Information:
Current known postcode from the current address recorded on ChildStory source system |
NUMBERSTRING | NNNN |
| pr_grouped | Care Category: Legal Responsibility, Group Label X(50) |
The legal (parental) responsibility relating to the care category of a child, as represented by a group label.
Specific Information:
Legal parental responsibility (based on a legal order) grouped at time of extraction for an open row, or at the end, calculated as current for open placements or at exit for placements that are closed. |
ALPHASTRING | X(50) |
| pr_ungrouped | Care Category: Legal Responsibility, Label X(50) |
The legal (parental) responsibility relating to the care category of a child in OOHC, as represented by a label
Specific Information:
Parental Responsibility PR at time of extraction, calculated as current for open placements or at exit for placements that are closed. |
ALPHASTRING | X(50) |
| case_management_responsibility | Person: Case Management, Label A(4) |
A label (description) representing the Case Management Responsibility for a child or young person in the program
Specific Information:
Calculated to indicate the party responsible for the Case Plan management (FACS, NGO or OTHER) at time of extraction. |
ALPHASTRING | A(4) |
| care_type | You don't have permission to see this Data Element. |
-
Specific Information:
High level breakdown of primary legal order care type (statutory, supported care etc) |
- | - |
| careand_protection_order_status | You don't have permission to see this Data Element. |
-
Specific Information:
CYP who are on a care and protection order are those who have been determined by the Children's Court to be at ROSH if they were to be returned to their families at the point of order date. |
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| care_arrangement | Care Event: Care Arrangement, OOHC label X(50) |
A label (description) that describes the care situation of a Child or Young Person over a period of time.
Specific Information:
High level breakdown of OOHC type. |
CHARACTERSTRING | X(50) |
| actual_placement_id | Record: Identifier, X(18) |
Unique ID assigned to a record for a child or young person, as represented by a sequence of characters.
Specific Information:
Placement record ID created by Salesforce for hyperlinking directly to a record |
CHARACTERSTRING | X(18) |
| actual_placement_legacy_id | Placement: Placement Identifier, Legacy Placement Identifier X(20) |
Out of home care (OOHC) placement identifier
Specific Information:
Placement legacy id on systems prior to Childstory N-X(7)-X(6) |
CHARACTERSTRING | X(20) |
| priority_placement_id | Placement: Placement Identifier, AAA - NNNNNN |
Out of home care (OOHC) placement identifier
Specific Information:
Placement ID as displayed on ChildStory source system (PLA - nnnnnn), and also referred to as the Placement Number. In use from 2021 onward. |
ALPHANUMERICSTRING | AAA - NNNNNN |
| file | You don't have permission to see this Data Element. |
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Specific Information:
Indicator of whether the record comes from CIW or are from KiDs. 1617 indicates records from KiDs 1718 indicates records from ChildStory |
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| during_flag | You don't have permission to see this Data Element. |
-
Specific Information:
Indicates whether the Child or Young Person was in care during [extraction period]. |
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| asat_flag | You don't have permission to see this Data Element. |
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Specific Information:
Indicates whether the Child or Young Person was in care as at [extraction date]. Primary placement for CYP in OOHC as at [extraction date]. |
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| exit_flag | You don't have permission to see this Data Element. |
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Specific Information:
Indicates whether the Child or Young Person exited care during [extraction period]. CYP who exited OOHC during [extraction period]. (first exit care category and last care event). |
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| total_daysin_oohc | You don't have permission to see this Data Element. |
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Specific Information:
Number of days a CYP has stayed in OOHC since their first ever entry up to [extraction date] (calculated using |
- | - |
| total_numberof_placements | You don't have permission to see this Data Element. |
-
Specific Information:
Total number of actual placements a child has ever had. Pre 1718 data calculates the number placements by: 1. Select actual placements >= 7 days in length) 2. Where carer household ids are available, count distinct number of carer household ids 3. For records where care household ids are null but placement provider ids are available, count distinct number of placement provider ids 4. For recrods where both carer household and placement provider ids are not available, count distinct number of actual placemen types 5. Add 2 to 4 for placements up t o 1617 1718 and onwards uses Distinct Placements - Care Category under the Care Event - FACT folder. |
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| inboth | You don't have permission to see this Data Element. |
-
Specific Information:
CYP has records in both KiDs and ChildStory. |
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| old_records | You don't have permission to see this Data Element. |
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Specific Information:
CYP has records only in KiDs. |
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| new_records | You don't have permission to see this Data Element. |
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Specific Information:
CYP has records only in ChildStory. |
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| flag_imp_case1 | You don't have permission to see this Data Element. |
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Specific Information:
These are cases where the end date have been changed by a caseworker within ChildStory and old records from 1617 OOHC overtime file had their Care Category end dates imputed to match with the updated dates. |
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| flag_imp_case2 | You don't have permission to see this Data Element. |
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Specific Information:
These are cases where the start dates from 1617 OOHC overtime file had been updated by a caseworker. The end dates from 1617 > start date from 1718 were imputed to be the start of 1718. Example: 1. Historic file had start date of 01-01-2017 and end date of 01-01-2018. 2. New file had start date of 01-05-2017 and end date of 01-05-2018. 3. Dates were imputed so child has care categories where the dates were now 01-01-2017 to 01-05-2017 and the next one was 01-05-2017 to 01-05-2018. |
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| oohc_case_plan_number | Person: Case Management Plan Identifier, AAA-NNNNNNN |
A unique identifier comprised of a combination of alphanumeric and numeric characters which identifies a case management plan for a person
Specific Information:
The case plan number (unique ID) of the OOHC - the common reference number of the plan visibile on the screen |
ALPHANUMERICSTRING | AAA-NNNNNNN |
| oohc_case_plan_record_id | Record: Identifier, X(18) |
Unique ID assigned to a record for a child or young person, as represented by a sequence of characters.
Specific Information:
The record row ID of the case plan of the OOHC care category - salesforce UID for hyperlinking directly to the record |
CHARACTERSTRING | X(18) |
| oohc_case_plan_start_date | Service Event: Start Date, DateTime YYYY-MM-DD |
The date a service event commenced
Specific Information:
The start date of the OOHC case plan as recorded on the source system (this is different to the record creation date). In use from 2021 onwards |
DATETIME | YYYY-MM-DD(T00:00:00) |
| oohc_case_plan_end_date_derived | Service Event: End Date, DateTime YYYY-MM-DD |
The date a service event was completed.
Specific Information:
The end date of the oohc case plan derived from recorded date or imputed based on subsequent case plan start date or exiting OOHC |
DATETIME | YYYY-MM-DD(T00:00:00) |
| approval_status | Person: Plan Approval Status, Label X(30) |
Approval status of a Child or Young Person's case plan, as represented by a label
Specific Information:
The approval status of the case plan record. Redundent as only approved plans are considered valid for the the purpose of the data extraction. In use from 2021 onwards. |
ALPHANUMERICSTRING | X(30) |
| approved_by | You don't have permission to see this Data Element. |
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Specific Information:
Name of the caseworker associated with a case at time of extract. In use form 2021 onwards. |
- | - |
| oohc_type | Person: OOHC Plan Type, Label X(20) |
A code that represents the type of OOHC plan for a service to a person.
Specific Information:
The OOHC care arrangement for which the case plan is part to (Statutory - Final Order, Statutory- Interim Order, Supported or Unspecified). Not to be used for reporting the legal care arrangement - see CARE_ARRANGEMENT. In use from 2021 onwards. |
CHARACTERSTRING | X(20) |
| child_participation | Person: Plan Participation, Label X(50) |
Participation in a case plan by the child/young person, as represented by a label.
Specific Information:
Provides the recorded Child Participation in the case plan at creation or at review. In use form 2021 onwards. |
CHARACTERSTRING | X(50) |
| plan_goal | Person: OOHC Plan Goal, Group Label X(50) |
A grouped label (description) representing the Plan Goal for a child or young person in the Out Of Home Care (OOHC) program
Specific Information:
A grouped plan goal used for the main goal of the case plan at the conclusion of the service event or the time of data extraction (for current events). In use from 2021 onwards. |
CHARACTERSTRING | X(50) |
| plan_goal_expanded | Person: OOHC Plan Goal, Label X(50) |
A label (description) representing the Plan Goal for a child or young person in the Out Of Home Care (OOHC) program
Specific Information:
The plan goal of the case plan at the conclusion of the service event or the time of data extraction (for current events) including cleaning rules for equivalent values from deprecated historical goal labels. In use from 2021 onwards. |
CHARACTERSTRING | X(50) |
| status | Person: Case Status, Label X(30) |
Approval/closure status of a case, as represented by a label
Specific Information:
In use from 2021 onwards. |
ALPHANUMERICSTRING | X(30) |
| leaving_care_plan | Person: Leaving Care Plan, Label X(50) |
An indicator of whether a child has a leaving care plan, as represented by a label.
Specific Information:
Y/N to indicate if the Case Plan is a Leaving Care Plan. If created or reviewed after the child is 15, a plan is automatically considered a Leaving Care Plan. In use from 2021 onwards. |
CHARACTERSTRING | X(50) |
| INGESTTIME | Record: DateTime Stamp, YYYY-MM-DD |
A sequence of characters or encoded information identifying when a certain event occurred, on what day, and optionally including what particular time of day.
Specific Information:
Ingest process Date/Time stamp into BigQuery |
DATETIME | YYYY-MM-DD(T00:00:00) |
| INGESTTYPE | Record: Ingest Type, Label A(6) |
File (data) ingestion process type, represented by a label.
Specific Information:
Ingest type (manual or batch) |
ALPHASTRING | A(6) |
| filename | Record: Filename, Text X(200) |
File name (data) ingested into BigQuery, represented by text.
Specific Information:
File name of the data file being ingested |
ALPHANUMERICSTRING | X(200) |
| BATCHID | Record: Batch Id, Text X(200) |
System generated identification generated when (data) ingested into BigQuery, represented by text.
Specific Information:
Name generated during ingestion of data file, which can be used to trace errors |
ALPHANUMERICSTRING | X(200) |