Definition
The Child Protection and Support Services National Minimum Data Set (CPSS NDMS) is designed to capture information on all children and young people involved in the child protection systems throughout Australia.
There are three collections within the CPSS NMDS, all of which are unit record data. The first is the child protection specific data, which includes contacts, notifications, substantiations and services provided. The second is data on children who are on care and protection orders. The third is data on children in out-of-home care.
Care and protection orders data set
All children or young people who are under a care and protection order at 1 July of the collection year should be included, provided that there is a break of no more than 2 weeks between orders. All children who were placed on a care and protection order during the collection period should also be included.
An episode is the period of time in which a child is under a care and protection order.
The concept of an episode is crucial to the collection of information regarding a child on care and protection orders. It provides information on the length of time children are on care and protection orders and also the type of orders children are subject to.
Each order type is considered a discrete care and protection order episode, delineated by an entry date and exit date.
The implementation of the unit record data collections across all jurisdictions has not been finalised. Further results from the pilot testing and current aggregate data collections will be investigated prior to completion of a revised NMDS.Metadata items in this Data Set Specification
Below is a list of all the components within this Dataset Specification.
Each entry includes the item name, whether the item is optional, mandatory or conditional and the maximum times the item can occur in a dataset.
If the items must occur in a particular order in the dataset, the sequence number is included before the item name.
| Reference | Data Element | Data Type | Length | Inclusion | # |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Child—care arrangements, care and protection order code N[N]
Specific Information:
In the Child protection and support services (CPSS) - care and protection order episode NMDS, this data element is collected twice: • It refers to the care arrangements of a child at the commencement of the care and protection order; and • the care arrangements of a child who is on a care and protection order at 30 June. |
Number | 2 | mandatory | 2 | |
|
Client—case plan review date, DDMMYYYY
Specific Information:
Applicable only for children who have been on guardianship/custody orders for more than 12 months where the jurisdiction is in loco parentis. A case plan is a written plan of action to be taken to provide the care and support required to ensure the safety and well being of a child or young person. The plan will generally include: allocation of parental responsibility; living arrangements; contact between the child or young person with his/her parents; and types of services to be provided.
Conditional Inclusion:
If a child is on another type of order, or on a guardianship/custody order for less than 12 months, this item should be blank.
|
Date/Time | 8 | conditional | 1 | |
| Client—first care and protection order indicator, code N | Number | 1 | mandatory | 1 | |
|
Client—initial case plan date, DDMMYYYY
Specific Information:
Applicable only for children who have been on guardianship/custody order where the jurisdiction is in loco parentis. This item is applicable only to children who were admitted to a guardianship/custody order during the year. The date should be recorded when the case plan has been developed and agreed to by all concerned parties. This item should be completed each time a child is placed on a guardianship/custody order. A case plan is a written plan of action to be taken to provide the care and support required to ensure the safety and well being of a child or young person. The plan will generally include: allocation of parental responsibility; living arrangements; contact between the child or young person with his/her parents; and types of services to be provided.
Conditional Inclusion:
If a child is on another type of order, or an a guardianship/custody order for less than 12 months, this item should be blank.
|
Date/Time | 8 | mandatory | 1 | |
| Service episode—care and protection order type, code N | Number | 1 | mandatory | 1 | |
|
Service episode—episode end date, DDMMYYYY
Specific Information:
A date of expiry is when the order the child is under is no longer applicable. It should be recorded for each separate care and protection order episode. This can be for a number of reasons including: The child is placed on a higher level order than the one they are currently on If the order did not expire during the year, the date 11111111 should be used to indicate this. If the date is unknown, the date 01011900 should be provided. |
Date/Time | 8 | conditional | 1 | |
|
Service episode—episode start date, DDMMYYYY
Specific Information:
An entry date should be recorded for each separate care and protection order episode of the child. A new episode will begin and an entry date will be recorded in the following circumstances: A child is placed on a care and protection order for the first time in their life. This data item delineates a care and protection order episode and is qualified by reason for entry. If the date is unknown, the date 01011900 should be provided. |
Date/Time | 8 | mandatory | 1 | |
| Service episode—reason for order expiry, care and protection code N | Number | 1 | conditional | 1 |
Comments
Child Protection and Support Services National Minimum Data Set, Data Collection Manual, AIHW September 2005.Comments:
The implementation of the unit record data collections across all jurisdictions has not been finalised. Further results from the pilot testing and current aggregate data collections will be investigated prior to completion of a revised NMDS.
References
Related content
| Relation | Count |
|---|---|
| As a numerator in an Indicator | 0 |
| As a denominator in an Indicator | 0 |
| As a disaggregation in an Indicator | 0 |