'Hole in budget' for kids in crisis and families who need more help, sooner

Hunter Central Coast Public Service Association coordinator Paul James, with a poster created as part of the union's campaign for better functioning child protection services. Picture by Jonathan Carroll.

A LACK of early intervention funding to help prevent children being removed from their families and entering the beleaguered out-of-home care system has come under attack.

In the NSW budget announced on Tuesday (June 17), an extra $241 million was announced for the Department of Communities and Justice (DCJ) to "rebuild the foster care system".