Former foster carers heartbroken after death of baby girl in Ballarat

The former foster carers of an eight-month-old baby girl who died just days after being returned to her biological parents say the system designed to protect her failed.

Rebecca and Michael, whose names have been changed for legal reasons, always knew they would be foster parents.

"You either have that calling or you don't," Rebecca said.

"It's the hardest job, but we have to do it. We want to give them [children] some hope … where they get to feel safe."

Rebecca said baby Mia came into their care as a newborn.

"She was three weeks old and had previously had injuries, all internal, when she came to us," Michael said.

Medical notes seen by the ABC noted that Mia, whose name has been changed to protect her identity, had signs of "traumatic injury" including bruising.

But after weeks of care, Michael said things really started to improve. 

"She became the happiest little baby, she just glowed,"

he said.

"Like you'd walk into a room, she'd look at you and her face would just light up."

For six months, baby Mia was raised by the pair, but under an Interim Accommodation Order with Child Protection, Mia would spend four hours, five days a week with her biological parents, as part of supervised visitation.

The pair said during that time, court dates aimed to determine future arrangements for Mia were constantly adjourned.

"We found out eventually that the report they were waiting for was the report from the investigation into her original injury," Rebecca said.

"We have found out that report was inconclusive."

The pair said the magistrate aimed to get the child sent back to her biological parents.

They said they were told that support service Child and Family Services (CAFS) and the Department of Families, Fairness and Housing (DFFH) told the court they were uncomfortable with that approach.

"So the outcome of that was they couldn't reach an agreement … so they had to make a compromise."

The court ordered a third party, Tweddle, a statewide Early Parenting Centre, to provide an assessment of the biological parents to see if they were capable of caring for the baby.

This involved two rounds of a 10-day residential parenting course that supports families who are engaged with the DFFH.

The ABC understands both parents were approved.

Three days after Mia was returned to her biological parents, emergency services were called to their Ballarat home and found the eight-month-old unresponsive.

Victoria Police said CPR was administered before she was taken to a local hospital just after 1pm on September 20.

She was then moved to a Melbourne hospital, where she later died on September 22.

Victoria Police has been contacted, but would not comment on an "active homicide squad investigation".

Tweddle has also been contacted for comment.

Michael and Rebecca had initially been told by a friend who read a media report that a baby had been injured.

Local support services told the couple Mia was in hospital two hours before her death. 

They were packing up their car to see her when she died. 

"Our daughter is gone. We spent more time with her than any other person on the planet," Michael said.

"I just never for one second wanted her to ever think that we abandoned her because even in the last moments, the laws took that away from us.

"We could have been sitting there holding her and talking to her and holding her hand and giving her kisses for two whole days."

The DFFH said it could not comment on individual cases subject to ongoing police investigation, but said the death of any child was "tragic".

'The whole structure needs to change'

The pair said they should have had a voice in what happened to Mia.

"[Foster carers] are far better situated to speak to what a child needs than someone who can sit there in a clinical facility under manufactured conditions and tick a few boxes on a checklist," Rebecca said.

"The whole structure needs to change. It's heartbreaking because why even call it child protection if that's not even what you're doing?"

Children and Family Service CEO Wendy Sturgess said the death had been a tragedy for the entire community.

"Some people are deep in despair, some people are angry, some people are just confused about how we landed here and what more can we do for it not to happen again," Ms Sturgess said.

"There'll be coroner reports … but because we're here now, it indicates that something hasn't worked."

Ms Sturgess said it was likely a part of the system failed to keep the baby safe.

"If we can learn anything from this tragedy, I think we need time to unpack it without judgement," she said.

"To learn how we need to support parents pre-birth, how to support foster carers, and how the elements of the system can work together more effectively to support the magistrates having to make these decisions.

"They're life-changing decisions that they're put in a position to make."

Deaths in child protection

The ABC understands three children in Ballarat have died while in child protection this year alone.

In June, a 17-year-old died in a squat house while under the care of the state.

In April, a teenager died while in kinship care in the regional area.

The ABC has reported on the "invisible" children of residential care, who are free to roam at night and are often targets of child sexual exploitation.

Residential care staff in Ballarat have also detailed prolific drug use inside residential care.