THE race is on to place scores of vulnerable kids living in out-of-home care in the Hunter with less than a week to go before service provider Bright Now closes.
Those with nowhere to go may be landed in last-resort, hotel-style temporary accommodation.
Just how many children affected is unclear, as agencies work around the clock with the Department of Communities and Justice (DCJ), meeting daily to find a solution.
Irrespective of who is to blame, it is symptomatic of a much broader range of issues, according to a frontline worker who described the out of home Care (OOHC) system as "a dumpster fire".
"We still have a bunch of kids in our care in several houses across the program, upwards of 40, who have not been told of our closure date," the worker, who did not want to be named, told the Newcastle Herald.
Many of the children affected had a history of trauma and serious mental health issues, the worker said, and had already been moved through various levels of the child protection system after being removed from their families.
"They've been moved after a breakdown in their relationships with foster carers, after being removed from their families," the worker said.
"They've been through multiple foster placements. We do tend to see a lot of police interaction and juvenile incarceration among these kids."
The system had failed them, the worker said, and was about to fail them again, moving them on from homes that some had been living in "for years".
"The OOHC system is a dumpster fire," the worker said. "It's a horrendous failure of the NSW government, and a horrendous waste of tax payer dollars. It's not a therapeutic space."
The Bright Now homes were meant to provide "general consistency" for the kids but that had not been achieved.
"We are scrambling to move these kids into other programs."
A spokesperson for DCJ said the contract was not due to end until mid-2024, and it was now working closely with other providers to find every child a safe place to live.
Bright Now chief executive officer Rebecca Urane confirmed that the organisation had been collaborating with the department on a plan to "seamlessly transition" the children and young people to another service provider, or providers, since August.
The contract was to provide 'therapeutic residential care' for 56 children. At the time of making the announcement there were 40 children and young people in the program, Ms Urane said.
"While we continue to liaise with DCJ on this process, the appointment of the new service providers is their responsibility.
"Once these appointments have been made by DCJ, we will work closely with the new provider to ensure continuity of care and support."
Bright Now was established in January 2022, taking the multimillion-dollar contract over from Premier Youth Works, with 219 full-time equivalent staff, 139 of which were permanent.
But after "an extensive operational review", the executive found it was not financially sustainable, she said.
"The decision to close our operations was an incredibly difficult one, and in no way a reflection of the outstanding service provided by the organisation and our people," Ms Urane said.
"The welfare and wellbeing of the children and young people in our care, as well as our staff, has always been the highest priority of the business. We have tried to continually communicate to keep everyone informed as Bright Now is made aware of decisions and outcomes."
A Department of Communities and Justice spokesperson said new placements had already been found for most of the children and that DCJ was confident that all children would be transitioned before Bright Now ended its contract on November 8.
"It's possible that a few children will require interim placements until their ongoing homes are ready", but all children would have an 'exit option'.
