Hostname: page-component-7bb8b95d7b-wpx69 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-09-21T04:00:28.119Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The Family Support Innovation Projects in Victoria: A progress report from Ballarat Family Services

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 February 2016

Peter Clout ,
Sue Clout ,
Jenny Apps  and
Jacinta Cook
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Ballarat Family Services is the service that has evolved in Ballarat, Victoria as a result of a Department of Human Services initiative, the Family Support Innovation Projects. More than two years after the commencement of the program, Ballarat Family Services is leading a major re-orientation of the service system for families who have borderline involvement with the statutory Child Protection system. This re-orientation involves all parts of the service system, including the nature of the collaborative relationships between non-government agencies and the statutory Child Protection Agency. It has also led to Ballarat Family Services revisiting the nature and purpose of the practice of family support work. This paper will give an overview of the development of Ballarat Family Services and go on to outline the lessons learned in practice, placing them in the context of current theory and research.

Type
Practice perspectives …
Information
Children Australia , Volume 31 , Issue 4 , 2006 , pp. 29 - 35
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2006

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

References

Clark, R. (2005) City of Ballarat Innovation Project/Family Services System Review: Report on findings, May 2005, Ballarat Family Services Network.Google Scholar
Community Care (2002) An integrated strategy for Child Protection and Placement Division, DHS Services, Government of Victoria, Melbourne.Google Scholar
Department of Human Services (2002) Innovation project description and service approaches, Government of Victoria, Melbourne.Google Scholar
Department of Health (UK) (2000) Framework for the assessment of children in need and their families, The Stationery Office, London.Google Scholar
Egan, G. (2002) The skilled helper: A problem-management and opportunity development approach to helping, 7th ed, Brook/Cole, Pacific Grove.Google Scholar
Fernandez, E. & Romeo, R. (2003) Implementation of the framework for the assessment of children in need and their families: The experience of Barnardos Australia, School of Social Work, University of New South Wales, Sydney.Google Scholar
Gelles, R. (1999) ‘Family violence’ in Hampton, R. (ed.), Family Violence Prevention and Treatment, Sage Publications, CA, pp.5–32.Google Scholar
Garbarino, J. & Ganzel, B. (2000) ‘The human ecology of early risk’, in Shonkoff, J. & Meisels, S. (eds.), Handbook of early childhood intervention, 2nd edition, Cambridge University Press, pp.76–93.Google Scholar
Haralambos, M., van Krieken, R., Smith, P. & Holborn, M. (1997) Sociology themes and perspectives, Australian edition, Longman, Melbourne.Google Scholar
Jack, G. (2001) ‘Ecological perspectives in assessing children and families’, in Howarth, J. (ed.), The child’s world: Assessing children in need, Kingsley, pp.53–72.Google Scholar
Markiewicz, A. (1996) ‘The child welfare system in Victoria: Changing context and perspectives 1945–1995’, Children Australia, Vol. 21, No. 3, pp.32–41.Google Scholar
Milner, J. & Crouch, J. (1999) ‘Family violence’, in Hampton, R. (ed.), Family violence prevention and treatment, Sage Publications, CA.Google Scholar
Reed-Ashcraft, K.B., Kirk, R.S. & Fraser, M.W. (2001) ‘The reliability and validity of the North Carolina Family Assessment Scale’, Research on Social Work Practice, 11(4), pp.503–520.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Scott, D. (2005) ‘Inter-organisational collaboration in family centred practice: A framework for analysis and action’, Australian Social Work, Vol. 58, No. 2, pp. 132–141.Google Scholar
Shonkoff, J. (2000) From neurons to neighborhoods, National Academy Press, Washington DC.Google Scholar
Shonkoff, J. & Marshall, P. (2000) ‘The biology of developmental vulnerability’, in Shonkoff, J. & Meisels, S. (eds.), Handbook of early childhood intervention, 2nd edition, Cambridge University Press, pp.35–53.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Spratt, T. (2001) ‘The influence of child protection orientation on child welfare practice’, British Journal of Social Work, 31, pp.933–954.Google Scholar
Stanley, J. & Goddard, C. (2002) In the firing line: Violence and power in child protection work, Wiley.Google Scholar
Thomas, S. (2004) Family Support Innovation Projects evaluation: Interim stage 2 report to Department of Human Services, School of Public Health, La Trobe University, Melbourne.Google Scholar
Tomison, A. (2004) Current issues in child protection policy and practice: Informing the NT Department of Health and Community Services child protection review, National Child Protection Clearinghouse, Australian Institute of Family Studies.Google Scholar
Wise, S. (2001) How should family services respond to children in need?, Australian Family Briefing No. 11, October, Australian Institute of Family Studies.Google Scholar
Worden, M. (2003) Family therapy basics. Pacific Grove, CA.Google Scholar
Zeanah, C, Boris, N., Heller, S., Hinshaw-Fuselier, S., Larrieu, J., Lewis, M., Palomino, R., Rovaris, M. & Valliere, J. (1997) ‘Relationship assessment in infant mental health’. Infant Mental Health Journal, Vol. 18, No. 2, pp. 182–197.3.0.CO;2-R>CrossRefGoogle Scholar

Electronic Resources

SCARF Supporting Children and Responding to Families, Barnardos NSW, <www.scarf.org.au>..>Google Scholar
NCFAS North Carolina Family Assessment Scale National Family Preservation Network <http://www.nfpn.org/preservation/assessment_tool.php>>Google Scholar