Marymead Child and Family Centre Families Together Support Programs

1. Marymead Child and Family CentreFamilies Together Support Programs We would like to acknowledge the traditional custodians of the land where we are meeting today, the EORA people, and pay our respects to their elders both past and present.

2. Marymead Child and Family CentreFamilies Together Support Program (FT) • Fiona MacGregor - -Senior Manager for Family Support Program • Ros Townley - Program Manager Families Together Support Program

3. Marymead Child and Family CentreHistory • Founded in 1967 by the Franciscan Missionaries of Mary to provide support to families across Canberra. • Provides a wide variety of programs to support the most vulnerable families in our community.

4. Marymead Child and Family Center Mission and Vision • Caring for children, supporting families and strengthening community. • Not for profit child and family service. • Part of social justice mission of the Catholic Archdiocese of Canberra and Goulburn inspired by the values of human dignity and compassion.

5. Marymead Child and Family CentrePrograms • Out of Home Care – foster care and disability programs • Relationship programs – contact, groups, family relationship centre • Family programs – counselling service, Indigenous family support, mental health family support and families together

6. Marymead Child and Family CentreFamilies Together Support Program • The FT has been run at Marymead for 15 years • Based on Homebuilders Program from the USA • Originally a structured six week program • Supporting families in crisis, enables the most significant change to occur • All support is offered in home and works within a case co-ordination model

7. Marymead Child and Family Centre Who are our clients? • Families involved in CPS system where children were at risk of removal or • Restoration to parents after foster care

8. Marymead Child and Family CentreFunding and Collaboration • Funded by the ACT Government Office of Children, Youth and Family Support. • 80% clients referred through Care and Protection Service(C&P)(all intensive clients are from C&P) • 20% through self referrals and/or other community services • This year we have been trialing working intensly with some community referrals as a preventative measure in the families

9. Marymead Child and Family CentreReferral process • Waiting list for referrals • FTSP Program Manager and CPS Operations Manager meet to prioritise client intake • Consider the nature of issues in the family - crisis or long term support • Allocation to appropriate worker

10. Marymead Child and Family CentreEngaging families • Meeting with FTSP case worker and CPS case worker • Contracts, responsibilities and expectations discussed and agreed to • Meet with family, set goals and work towards achieving change • Strengths based report with family input prior to delivery to CPS

11. Marymead Child and Family CentreStructure of Program • Restructure of program, primarily due to changes in the Care & Protection Service • One major change, is that all families are to be afforded every possible and necessary support, in order to retain their children at home

12. Marymead Child and Family CentreFamilies Together Support Programs • Issues of families referred at present, require intense twelve week support • Trial twelve month period, indicates reducing to weekly after initial twelve weeks intense support, works for families

13. Marymead Child and Family CentreFamilies Together Support Programs • Additional benefit for families is continuity of caseworker • Old system meant change of worker when program changed • Continuum means ability to retain trusted relationship

14. Marymead Child and Family CentreChallenges • Workload management biggest issue for staff • 1 full time worker provides intense support to a maximum of three families • Some agencies and service providers have been difficult to engage with

15. Marymead Child and Family CentreEvaluation • Evaluation in 2007 by Institute of Child Protection Studies (ACU) • Outcomes showed program is successful • Recommended changes included introducing continuum style of service deliver

16. Marymead Child and Family CentreProgram Logic • We have circulated copies of the Program Logic for your information. This illustrates the theoretical framework that underpins the program and the program inputs, outputs, outcomes and impacts.

17. Marymead Child and Family CentrePractice FrameworkSTAGES OF INTERVENTION

18. Marymead Child and Family CentreData collection • Difficult to show real changes • North Carolina Family Adaptive Scale (NCFAS) data collected at beginning and end of intervention • 80% of families finishing the program have improved outcomes

19. Marymead Child and Family CentreData collected • Care & Protection recently analysed data from program for a nine month period • 73% of families had reduced child protection reports after our intervention • 33% of families had no further reports

20. Marymead Child and Family CentreData collected • Past six months, provided 2400 hours of support to 41 families • Only 11 were not referred or involved with child protection

21. Marymead Child and Family Centre • What defines success?