Child, Youth And Family Contacting State Wards

Child, Youth and Family is to make contact through the Salvation Army with former state wards who may have been abused while living in Salvation Army children’s homes.

The Salvation Army has agreed to pass letters from Child, Youth and Family to all complainants who were placed in their children’s homes and who identify themselves as wards of the state.

The letters will offer the complainants an opportunity to contact Child, Youth and Family directly over the care that they received while a state ward. The department appreciates however that all complainants are entitled to their privacy and that some may not wish to make contact at this stage.

To date thirteen complainants have told the Salvation Army they believe they were state wards.

Child, Youth and Family has been unable to identify how many state wards were cared for in Salvation Army homes. The department has made reasonable efforts to obtain this information. The historical nature of the placements, dating back to 1903, means however that the department does not hold retrievable records.

Child, Youth and Family has records on around 2 million present and former clients. Details of those children who might have been placed in Salvation Army homes between 1903 and 1993 are held in paper records.

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