Victorian Aboriginal Child Care Agency Co-operative ... · Agency Co-operative Limited ANNUAL...
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Victorian Aboriginal Child Care Agency Co-operative Limited ANNUAL REPORT 2008
Transcript of Victorian Aboriginal Child Care Agency Co-operative ... · Agency Co-operative Limited ANNUAL...
Victorian Aboriginal Child Care
Agency Co-operative Limited
ANNUAL REPORT 2008
Our Vision
A community that is strong in culture, values their
children and young people and recognises the
importance of the whole community in raising
children and keeping families together.
OUR BELIEFS AND VALUES
Cultural Identity
Aboriginal children have the right to identify as Aboriginal without fear of retribution
or questioning of their Aboriginality.
An Aboriginal child‘s cultural identity is fundamental to their overall well-being.
Children‘s needs are best met in their own family.
Strong families raise strong children.
The teaching, maintenance and regaining of Aboriginal cultural practices for Aboriginal children are the responsibility of the whole community.
Children are to be valued
Children have the right to be heard, to be safe and to be protected.
Children have the right to optimal life opportunities which includes access to
education, health, and the development of social and emotional well being.
Our children are our present and our future.
Respect
Our practices reflect that everyone has a right to be respected and treated with
dignity.
We value the role of elders in keeping the cultural links for right to respect.
The children recognise their role in passing on Aboriginal culture and knowledge.
We respect people‘s connection to country/land and their rights as individuals.
Excellence
We value our own cultural identity, appreciate the staff, directors and carers and strive to achieve excellence in service delivery that best meets the needs of
Aboriginal children and families.
Our clients are a part of our community and they are entitled to high quality and
professional service.
To get the best value we employ the best people.
Santa and Gwen at the Carer’s Christmas Party
National Aboriginal & Islander Children’s Day event at the Preston Town Hall
Miss NAIDOC, Clarisse Slater, NAIDOC Chairperson Staff at the PM’s Apology speech at the AAL Phil Cooper and our very own James Fraser, Mr NAIDOC
Families and kids at the NAIDOC Aboriginal Children’s Day
Above: Parents & children at the Swan Hill VACCA playgroup, participating in the Mini Olympics egg &
spoon race.
Our Conference Emcee, James Atkinson and d Keynote Speaker, Chelsea Yarrie
Our Staff Wellbeing end of year function
VACCA’s 2008 Statewide Conference – “The River of Culture Runs Deep, Learning from Old Ways, Creating a New approach”
Participants in Adolescent workshop
CONTENTS
Our Vision
Our Beliefs and Values
Our Purpose
Our Programs and Services
Our Strategic Priorities
Our Board of Directors
Our Staff
Our Structure
Farewell Page
Agenda
AGM Minutes
Reports
Chairperson
Chief Executive Officer
Corporate Services
New Programs and Initiatives
Lakidjeka ACSASS
Placement and Support
Early Intervention and Family Support
Community Outreach
Link Up
Our Purpose
VACCA is a statewide Aboriginal community controlled organisation
whose purpose/mission is to advocate on behalf of and provide services for
Aboriginal children, young people and families premised on human rights,
self-determination, cultural respect and safety.
Our Program & Services
Placement and Support
Extended Care
Residential Care
Permanent Care
Educational Support
Koorie Cultural Placement Support
Early Intervention and Family Support
Family Support
Innovations
Family Counsellor
Supported Playgroups
Emergency Relief
Aboriginal Family Restorations
Aboriginal Family Decision Making
Child FIRST
Community Outreach Services
Southern Aboriginal Child & Family Service
Swan Hill Aboriginal Child & Family Service
Indigenous Leaving Care Program
Kurnai Youth Homelessness
Koorie FACES Program
New Programs and Initiatives
Project Management
Program Review & Evaluation
Training
Program Development
Strategic Planning
Policy, Research & Communication
Public Voice
Research
Advocacy
Aboriginal Child Specialist Advice and Support Service
Lakidjeka ACSASS Program
Stolen Generations
Link Up Victoria
Corporate Services
Finance
Human Resources
Administration
Asset & Property Management
Contract Management
Our Strategic Priorities
To respond to changing patterns of demand and need our strategic priorities now and
into the future are:
1. Further VACCA’s lead agency capacity
2. Enhance VACCA’s continuous quality approach to our service delivery
3. Build the cultural competence of the mainstream service children and family
welfare sector, government bodies and the broader community
4. Enhance VACCA’s capacity to be a robust Aboriginal organisation
5. Grow our service offerings
6. Drive VACCA’s capacity to be self determining through taking on the Aboriginal
reform agenda as articulated in the new Child, Youth and Family Act
7. Enhance VACCA’s workforce to build a strong and effective Aboriginal child
and family welfare service
8. Demonstrate VACCA’s capacity to achieve program performance outcomes in
line with Aboriginal child welfare best practice
Our Board of Directors
Chairperson: Deidre King
Vice Chairperson: Andrew Gardiner
Treasurer: James Atkinson
Secretary: Marg Stewart
Director: Trish Williams
Director: Peter Hood
Director: Daniel Kelly
Our Staff
CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER Muriel Bamblett
Executive Assistant Teresa Hoffman
CORPORATE SERVICES
Program Manager Julieanne James
Finance Manager Franky So
Finance Accountant Hemantha Angampitiya
Accounts Payable Truc Pham
Accounts Payable Assistant (p/t) Irene Sazdov
Personnel Co-ordinator Brenda Young
Systems & Administration Officer Paula Crilly
Administration Officer Samara Ahmat
Fleet Co-ordinator Sylvia Choate
Fleet Assistant Peter Harrison
Receptionist/Admin Assistant Thelma Norris
Receptionist/Admin Assistant (p/t) Kylie Duggan
Receptionist/Admin Assistant (p/t) Shara Graham
Cleaners Jason Williamson
Coralie Young
NEW PROGRAMS & INITIATIVES
Program Manager Connie Salamone
Unit Co-ordinator Emma Bamblett
Administration Assistant George Briggs
Project Manager Bev Murray
Project Officer (p/t) Gabrielle Bourke
Project Officer (p/t) Nigel D’Souza
Project Officer (p/t) Fiona Roberts
Training Manager Chrisie Warren
Senior Training Officer (p/t) Megan Cadd
Training Officer Martine Lynch
Training Officer Alan Johnson
POLICY, RESEARCH & COMMUNICATION
Program Manager Peter Lewis
Research Co-ordinator Richard Frankland
Project Officer Robin Trotter
LINK UP VICTORIA
Program Manager Lance James
Caseworker/Counsellor Angela Swindle (mat leave)
Caseworker/Counsellor Kevin Russell
Caseworker/Counsellor Kooramyee Cooper
Caseworker/Counsellor Dianne Kerr
Administrative Assistant (p/t) Irene Sazdov
LAKIDJEKA ACSASS
Brunswick Office
Program Manager Suzanne Cleary
Senior Administrator Samantha Brown
Intake/After Hours Supervisor Donna Love
Project Officer Lucy Quinn
Case Administrator Melinda Brown
NW Metro (Footscray office)
Supervisor/Caseworker NW Metro Vacant
Caseworker (3 days) Renee Howell
Caseworker (3 days) Christine Lovett
Case Administrator Coleen Howell
SE Metro (Dandenong Office)
A/g Supervisor/Caseworker Chris Arnott
Case Administrator Henry Thorpe
Project Officer Sue Barclay
Caseworker Sue McKenna
Gippsland (Bairnsdale Office)
Supervisor/Caseworker Jeff Cooper
Caseworker Vacant
(Morwell Office)
Supervisor/Caseworker Angela Chittem
Caseworker Vacant
Admin Assistant (.8) Karen Boon
Loddon Mallee (Echuca Office)
Supervisor/Caseworker Teresa Kerr
Case Administrator Candice Duggan
Caseworker Vacant
(Swan Hill Office)
Caseworker Kevin Walker
Hume (Wodonga Office)
Supervisor/Caseworker Hume Kim Murray
Case Administrator Stacey Lappin
(Shepparton Office)
Caseworker Leeandra Aitken
Caseworker Vacant
Barwon/Grampians (Geelong Office)
Supervisor/Caseworker Sue Lovett
Caseworker (2 days) Renee Howell
Case Administrator (2 days) Coleen Howell
(Ballarat Office)
Caseworker Wendy Lovett
(Heywood Office)
Caseworker Vacant
COMMUNITY OUTREACH
Program Manager Sue-Anne Hunter
Leaving Care
Youth Worker (Morwell) Vacant
Youth Worker (Bendigo/Melb) Kiri Herekuiha
Kurnai Youth Homelessness Service
Youth Worker Marion McNeill
Youth Worker Lorena Thompson
Admin Assistant (.5) Vacant
PLACEMENT & SUPPORT
Operations Manager Gwen Rogers
Registration Project Officer Maureen Hogarty
Administration Officer Shelena Bourke
Extended Care
Program Manager Julie Toohey
Co-ordinator Yolanda Glen
Recruitment & Assessment Liz Munt
Caseworker Mika Akune
Caseworker Sharon Mongta
Caseworker Jana Kelly
Caseworker Michael Cadd
Education Support Worker Sarah Diplock
Cultural Placement Support Worker Shaun Thomas
Access Worker Jarred Harrison
Caseworker (Geelong) Pauline Fennell
Permanent Care
Co-ordinator Vacant
Residential Care
Program Manager Dave Simmons
Supervisor/Caseworker Vacant
Senior Caseworker Lindsay Holmes
Caseworker Namatjira Morgan
Education Support Worker Sue Molner
House Supervisor Jamie Thomas
Support Workers Sandra Young
Theresa McNally
Christine Mayberry
Len Harrison
Andre Moses
Jerome Phillips
Shane Potter
Shannon Andy
Hayley Jones
SOUTHERN ABORIGINAL CHILD & FAMILY SERVICE
Program Manager Jill Owen
Co-ordinator Julie Pearson
Administration/Reception Vacant
Kinship & Extended Care Worker Lisa Coppe
Kinship & Extended Care Worker Kylie Bell
Intensive Family Support Caseworker Elizabeth Brown
Intensive Family Support Caseworker Felicity Thring
AFPP Caseworker Vacant
AFPP Caseworker Vacant
Innovations Caseworker Vacant
Early Childhood – Playgroup Sharon Blow
Child FIRST Caseworker Sara Frederiksen
EARLY INTERVENTION & FAMILY SUPPORT
Operations Manager Sepi Weerasinghe
Program Manager Rebecca O’Dowd
Early Years Team Leader Louise Ennis
Administration Officer Belinda Fry
Child FIRST Liaison Co-ordinator Matthew Duggan
Child FIRST/Intensive Family Support Caseworker Nikita Rotumah
Child FIRST/Intensive Family Support Caseworker Rhiannon Mudie
Family Support Supervisor Kim Wood
Case Co-ordinator, Restorations Program Clem Kelly
Innovations and Restorations Co-ordinator Denise Kaur
AFDM Community Convenor (NW) Joleen Ryan
AFDM Community Convenor (p/t) Nayuka Hood
Senior Intensive Family Support Caseworker Damon Lowery
Intensive Family Support Caseworker Angela North
Intensive Family Support Caseworker James Fraser
Intensive Family Support Caseworker Anita Singh
Intensive Family Support Caseworker Aidyn Talbot-Virgara
Intensive Family Support Caseworker Bronwyn McBryde
Intensive Family Support Caseworker Joy Kerr
Child Wellbeing Worker Jacinta Speakman
Playgroup Co-ordinator (p/t) Cindy-lee Harper
Early Childhood Development Worker Jedda Charles
Early Childhood Development Worker Lace Curphey
SWAN HILL ABORIGINAL CHILD AND FAMILY SERVICE
Program Co-ordinator Ray Ahmat
Capacity Building Project Officer/Team Leader Shelly Kerr
Administration Officer/Reception Brogan Cunningham
Extended Care Worker Alma Morgan
Muthi Miah Intensive Family Support Worker Carol McGee
Muthi Miah Intensive Family Support Worker Vacant
Early Childhood/Family Support Worker Darlene Cunningham
Early Childhood Development Worker (.4) Alma Morgan
Cleaner Nerida Bell
EASTERN ABORIGINAL CHILD AND FAMILY SERVICE
Family Services Team Leader (Eastern Region) Nathan Fenelon
Intensive Family Support Caseworker Joseph Reuben
STRUCTURE OF THE VICTORIAN ABORIGINAL CHILD CARE AGENCY
VICTORIAN ABORIGINAL COMMUNITY
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER
______________________________________________________________________________________________
EARLY INTERVENTION AND
FAMILY SUPPORT
LAKIDJEKA ACSASS Statewide except LGA of Mildura
exc
PLACEMENT AND SUPPORT
COMMUNITY OUTREACH
Family Support (North/West Southern & Swan Hill)
Innovations (Northern, Inner East, Southern Middle)
Child FIRST (North/West & EMR)
Emergency Relief (North/West & Swan Hill)
Family Restoration Program (Northern Region)
Aboriginal Family Decision Making (North/West & East)
Indigenous Innovations (North/West)
Supported Playgroups
Office Locations:
East Brunswick, Footscray, Dandenong,
Geelong, Heywood, Bairnsdale, Morwell,
Echuca, Swan Hill, Wodonga, Shepparton,
Ballarat
Extended Care (North/West,
Eastern, Southern, Swan Hill & Geelong)
Permanent Care (Statewide)
Residential Units (North/West)
Educational Support (North/West)
Swan Hill Aboriginal Child & Family Service
Southern Aboriginal Child & Family Service
Leaving Care (North/West,
Loddon Mallee & La Trobe Valley
Koori Cultural Placement & Support
CORPORATE SERVICES
LINK UP VICTORIA (Statewide)
NEW PROGRAMS AND INITIATIVES
We farewell the following staff who have left VACCA since the
last AGM:
Swan Hill Extended Care
Charmain Bell Colin Harrison
Regina Walsh Corrina O’Toole
Olive Walsh Jayden Lillyst
Vicki Murray
Southern Early Intervention & Family Support
Anita Mobourne Shannon Beattie
Coby Clark Ian Tambo
Gordon Hood Belinda Bell
Amanda Stanley Crystal McKinnon
Melissa Bembo Marcia Galea
Melissa Price Nakita Kelly
Joyce Tullock-Taylor Richard Cole
Lisa Taylor Gayle McAllister
Shirley Blackwood Kayleene James
Sallie Pearce
Lakidjeka Corporate Services
Brian McGee Len Harrison Jnr
Kellie Jones Ben Clark
John Jackson Jey Jeyakumaran
Kevin Jasper
Margaret Oates
Stephen Edwards
Allyson Walker
New Programs & Initiatives Community Outreach
Jane Harrison Sue-Anne Hunter
Leanne Pearson Allison Clark
Kim Jago
Link Up Permanent Care
Eric Harrison Melissa Brickell
Residential Care
Roy Horonga
Hayley Jones (maternity leave)
Agenda
1. Welcome to Country/Attendance/Apologies
2. Confirm the minutes of the previous Annual General Meeting
3. Receive and consider reports from the Chairperson, Chief Executive Officer,
other staff of the Co-operative and the Auditor
4. In accordance with s238 of the Co-operatives Act 1996 and the Regulations,
appoint an Auditor
5. Elect and determine the remuneration of Directors
6. Carry out other business that may be lawfully brought forward
ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING
Held on 29th November 2007
Present: As per attendance sheet attached.
Apologies: Peter Hood, Deidre King, Daniel Kelly, Candice Duggan, Stacey Lappin,
Kim Murray, John Gorrie, Libby Dyer, Sarah Diplock, Jarred Harrison,
Sue Barclay
Meeting commenced at 1.15pm.
VACCA’s CEO, Muriel Bamblett, introduced the VACCA Directors present – Marg
Stewart, Trish Williams and James Atkinson. The Chairperson, Marg Stewart,
welcomed everyone to the meeting and asked Sue-Anne Hunter to deliver the Welcome
to Country. Sue-Anne acknowledged the Wurundjeri people of the Kulin Nations and
paid her respects to past and present Elders.
James Atkinson informed members that as there wasn’t a quorum of Directors to
endorse the new membership applications, the applications could not be ratified at this
meeting.
MINUTES OF PREVIOUS MEETING
Members read through the minutes of the previous AGM.
MOTION: “That the minutes of the previous AGM be accepted.”
Moved: Leeandra Aitken
Seconded: Rodney Monohan
CARRIED
There was no business arising from the minutes.
CHAIRPERSON’S REPORT
A powerpoint presentation was presented which encompassed all of the AGM reports –
the highlights, challenges and priorities of each program.
Marg Stewart went through the highlights and challenges from the Chairperson’s
report, which included:
Highlights:
o The demonstrated capacity to manage the challenges set by Agency Registration
o The continued commitment from staff to the provision of quality services to our
people
o The senior staff’s management of both the program growth and dealing with an
ever changing work environment
o The Agency’s ability to advocate to both government and mainstream services
for better outcomes for Aboriginal children and families
Challenges and Priorities:
o Guardianship – the transfer of guardianship under Section 18 of the Children,
Youth and Families Act (CYFA) is a monumental step for Aboriginal people
o Better resourcing internal operations
o Securing funding for Moondani
A question regarding progress on the Moondani Aboriginal Family Centre was raised.
Muriel reported that the building of Moondani is yet to commence. There have been
tests done on the soil at the AAL to determine whether Moondani can be built on the
proposed site. The Board will consider its options once the tests have been completed.
MOTION: “That the Chairperson’s report be accepted.”
Moved: Rodney Monohan
Seconded: Sylvia Choate
CARRIED
CEO’S REPORT
Muriel went through the highlights and challenges from her report, which included:
Highlights:
o Successfully lobbied for improvements to the reforms which support the CYFA,
particularly:
the development of kinship care
understanding of cultural competency
the development of a statewide plan for Aboriginal children
o Improved regional engagement with DHS
o Strategic planning for VACCA
o Advocacy for strategies to assist the sustainability of Aboriginal organisations
Challenges and Priorities:
o Establishment of Moondani
o Implementing our strategic plan
o Enhancing our lead agency role
o Working with DHS and mainstream organisations to ensure a statewide
culturally competent service system which prioritises Aboriginal agencies
o Maintaining our public voice through conferences, forums and the media
o Preparing for guardianship
o Developing our research unit
PROGRAM REPORTS
Each of the Program Managers went through their highlights, challenges and priorities
for the year.
Program Highlights Challenges and Priorities
New Programs
& Initiatives
o Training – for mainstream services
and carers
o Staff wellbeing – induction, critical
incident and stress debriefing,
newsletter, strengthening our
Aboriginal child and family welfare
practice for staff
o Public voice – media releases,
conference presentations
o Capacity building project
o VACCA’s action plan to achieve
Agency Registration
o Resource development and research
o Enhanced engagement of
Aboriginal organisations in
capacity building project
o Gaining further acceptance of
VACCA’s lead agency role
o Preparing for implementation of
CYFA
o Meeting the high demand for
cultural competency training
o Development of Aboriginal
Cultural Competence Framework
o Strengthening partnerships with
DHS
o Development of VACCA’s website
Lakidjeka
ACSASS
o One of 3 programs in Australia
showcased as a “Promising Practice
Model for Working with Indigenous
Children involved with Protective
Services”
o ACSASS responded to 2306 reports
across the state – 2034 through day
service, 272 through after hours
o Number of reports increased from
last year – 1155 (50% of cases) being
investigated
o Despite staff shortages, workers
attendance across meetings and first
home visits averaged 84% across the
state
o Staff recruitment and workforce
issues
o Workload issues
o Complex cases – drug and alcohol
issues, family violence, mental
health issues
o Lakidjeka ACSASS Review
o Promotion and re-engagement of
ACSASS around the state,
particularly with Aboriginal
organisations
o Development of Standards
o Extended Care Programs in
Dandenong and Geelong now
o Development of new Aboriginal
Customary Care (Kinship Care)
Placement &
Support
operational
o Production of “Voice of Children”
film
o Recruitment and training of 7 new
foster carers
o Successful change of Residential
Care staffing model
o Successful negotiation for increased
funding for FGH’s
o Located family members of
Permanent Care children
o Increased contact between children
in care and their families
program
o Development of a culturally
appropriate training package for
new foster carers
o Implementation of a new model of
Aboriginal Therapeutic Foster
Care
o Contracting cases from DHS
o Developing the concept of
Stability and Permanent Care for
Aboriginal children
o Growing Aboriginal staff into
more senior positions
Early
Intervention
& Family
Support
o Implementation of an integrated
service model:
greater accessibility to a
continuum of services for
supporting Aboriginal families
o Involvement in Child FIRST:
advocacy regarding impact of
Child FIRST system on
Aboriginal families and best
practice
o Development and implementation
of Family Restorations Program:
development of thorough
Operations Manuals and
effective working tools for the
program
effective work with 6 families
(targets fully met)
engagement of chronic and
complex families
o Developing a consistent and full
team of workers
o Agency Registration requirements
and time management issues
o Meeting demand for services
o Raising the profile of playgroups
and promoting the importance of
early years for Aboriginal children
o Consolidating and growing
casework practice and knowledge
o Establishing and consolidating
partnerships and collaborative
practice with other agencies
Community
Outreach
o Southern VACCA fully staffed and
operational
o Supported Playgroup at Frankston
is operational
o Kurnai Youth Homelessness
Program operating well above
targets
o Leaving Care Program fully staffed
and assisted 15 young people
o Successful roll out of Koorie FACES
in several DHS regions
o Completion of Swan Hill VACCA
o Recruit and train new foster carers
for Southern and Swan Hill
VACCA
o Implement Koori Cultural Support
Program at Southern VACCA
o Strengthen Leaving Care Program
via more community engagement
o Access funding to roll out Koorie
FACES in Grampians and Loddon
Mallee regions
o Swan Hill VACCA to establish
Parenting Program and other
Service Review preventative family focused
services
Link-Up
o Link-Up provided a family healing
camp at Torquay for clients in April
o Provided a statewide luncheon to
mark the 10th Anniversary of the
BTH report
o Hosted the National Link-Up
Conference and Co-ordinator’s
forum in May
o To further enhance the program
with additional staff –
Caseworker/Counsellor positions
o Develop Outreach Service
o Develop community awareness
and education
o Additional training for staff
James Atkinson commended the CEO and staff for their hard work.
MOTION: “That the CEO and Program Manager’s reports be accepted.”
Moved: Jan Muir
Seconded: Eric Harrison
CARRIED
AUDIT REPORT
The Auditor, Eric Townsend, presented the audit report for the year ending 30th June
2007. Eric reported that VACCA had a net surplus of $457,152 for the financial year,
compared to $647,355 in 2006. VACCA is in a strong financial position and has met all
of its reporting requirements to the funding bodies.
MOTION: “That the financial report be accepted.”
Moved: Melissa Brickell
Seconded: Rodney Monohan
CARRIED
MOTION: “That Eric Townsend be appointed as the Auditor for the 2007/08 financial
period.”
Moved: Melissa Brickell
Seconded: Leeandra Aitken
CARRIED
ELECTIONS
The four Directors due to stand down are: Deidre King, Daniel Kelly, Trish Williams and
Andrew Gardiner. As VACCA only received the above four nominations for election onto the
Board, Deidre, Daniel, Trish and Andrew were automatically elected.
REMUNERATION OF DIRECTORS
MOTION: “That subject to finances, legalities and funding arrangements, Directors be
reimbursed for all reasonable expenses incurred whilst on official Co-op
business, further that they be reimbursed for lost wages incurred whilst on
VACCA business.”
Moved: Rodney Monohan
Seconded: Sylvia Choate
CARRIED
GENERAL BUSINESS
Jan Muir invited members to attend the unveiling of the Douglas and Gladys Nicholls statue on
9th September.
As there was no further business, the meeting closed at 2.45pm.
ATTENDANCE SHEET
Marg Stewart Muriel Bamblett
Olive Walsh Melissa Brickell
Linda Bell Trish Williams
Eric Townsend Sue-Anne Hunter
Leeandra Aitken Victoria Murray
Alma Morgan Charmain Bell
Suzanne Cleary Coleen Howell
Renee Howell James Atkinson
Bev Murray Jan Muir
Paula Crilly Brenda Young
Emma Bamblett Leigh Saunders
George Briggs Stephen Edwards
Eric Harrison Regina Walsh
Jill Owen Kevin Walker
Julie Pearson Michael Cadd
Sandra Young Ray Ahmat
Gayle McAllister Kylie Bell
Jana Kelly Nakita Kelly
Mika Akune Matty Duggan
Julie Mongta Rodney Monohan
James Fraser Sylvia Choate
Des Morgan Henry Thorpe
Namatjira Morgan Crystal McKinnon
Sarah Bamblett Alan Johnson
Melinda Brown Sharon Bamblett
Shelena Bourke Lindsay Holmes
Maureen Hogarty Clem Kelly
Allison Clark Marion McNeill
Kayleene James Rebecca O’Dowd
Felicity Thring Teresa Hoffman
Please note that some people who attended the AGM did not sign the attendance sheet.
CHAIRPERSON’S REPORT
AGM Report 2007-08
As Chairperson of the Victorian Aboriginal Child Care Agency I am pleased to be
able to present to the membership of VACCA the 2007-08 Annual General Report. This report provides an opportunity for staff to share some of VACCA‘s fine accomplishments over the past twelve months and report on the programs and
services delivered to our community.
I begin by stating that I am very proud of the staff and of their willingness to work hard and put in long hours for the sake of our most vulnerable and at risk children and families. This is a particularly challenging environment that sees the staff of
VACCA face many situations that affect them in their personal lives and to their credit they are able to turn up every day and continue to advocate and work to
achieve better outcomes for our children and families. This has been a particularly rewarding year for we are moving closer to realizing an
objective that VACCA has been advocating for and that is to take a more active role in the making of significant decisions for Aboriginal children involved in the child
protection system. Already through the Lakidjeka ACSASS program we provide advice to the
Department of Human Services where there are protective concerns for Aboriginal children. We now have through the new Children, Youth and Families Act 2005 the
principle of Aboriginal self-determination as the basis for the decision making process in relation to Aboriginal children. In particular this will enable the Secretary
of the Department of Human Services to transfer responsibility for managing Children‘s Court protection orders to the head of an approved Aboriginal agency. A date set for the commencement of transfer is the 4th of August 2010.
Now the significance of this is not easily understood. However, it means a great
deal. We believe this is now our opportunity to be able to demonstrate that when we as Aboriginal people in Victoria are more actively involved in the decisions affecting and impacting on our vulnerable and at risk children that we are able to
bring about more positive outcomes.
We at VACCA have advocated for many years that we want self determination and the capacity to influence outcomes for Aboriginal children and families but we could not have realised this significant outcome without building relationships, developing
awareness and fostering a coalition of support with our Aboriginal communities and with the strong support from the broader child and family welfare sector.
Important also is to acknowledge the government‘s capacity to listen and commit to this in its legislation.
Whilst guardianship is a significant goal for us in the future we must not forget to highlight the many goals achieved across the Agency during the last year.
In service delivery we now operate seventeen programs with an increased focus this year on better integration both internally between our own programs and
externally with other services. We have enjoyed significant gains in the Agency‘s commitment to the wellbeing of staff. We have strengthened our corporate
operations with improved services to our staff. Through the Department of Human Services Agency registration process we have a framework against which to identify agency shortfalls and develop an action plan to achieve registration standards.
VACCA‘s policy work and advocacy work are well known within the sector and this
work will continue to be a key focus with additional funding for three years for ANZ Trustees for us to undertake policy, research and communication.
There are obviously a number of challenges ahead for VACCA which include the Departments review of Out of Home Care and its implications on Aboriginal children
across the state. Most significant however will be the implementation of Aboriginal Cultural Competencies for the Child and Family Welfare Sector. VACCA believes this will put pressure on Aboriginal services to resource this work and without
additional funding could create a level of frustration down the track from mainstream in not being able to meet their requirements. This we believe can be
alleviated by working with the sector to plan the resource implications and have an appropriate strategy in place.
In closing I want to thank all the staff for their work towards achieving VACCA‘s operation plan. Our strategic plan is now launched with the Board having recently
been presented with all of the programs operational plans. These plans demonstrate a commitment from across the Agency to the broader strategic direction and clearly indicate a shared vision to achieve better outcomes for our
most vulnerable and at risk.
I trust you enjoy reading the contents of this report and again congratulations to staff and to Muriel and her leadership team for their management over the past twelve months and to my fellow Board members I wish also to thank you for your
efforts over the past twelve months as well.
Deidre King
Chairperson
CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER AGM Report 2007-08
1. Introduction
The following report is presented to the Victorian Aboriginal Child Care Agency‘s Annual General Meeting.
The Agency has experienced another significant year of challenges and opportunities with further expansion of programs and services. With our increased
access to data and improved capacity to work earlier with families so too has our knowledge and awareness of the level of unmet need in our Aboriginal communities. The Agency has undergone strategic and operational planning
processes to ensure that it is proactive in its approach to meeting the needs of Aboriginal communities in Victoria. The governmental policy context still offers its
own challenges and opportunities particularly with the change of government at the Federal level and the continuing process of implementing the every child, every chance reforms at the State level. The State Government policy context has been
further complicated by the change of approach introduced by the new Premier, John Brumby, which saw child and family services, formerly united under the Minister for
Children, split between the Department of Human Services and the Department of Education and Early Child Development. I have retained a key policy advisory role to the state government through my membership on the Victorian Council for
Children. I am on a number of other State committees including: Aboriginal Family Violence
Aboriginal Human Services Youth Parole Board Aboriginal Child and Family Services network
Statewide Aboriginal Children and Families Advisory Committee.
Staffing VACCA‘s staffing has now settled, our numbers are in excess of 150. The VACCA
senior management remains fairly stable with limited turnover. The senior staff of this organisation work extremely long hours and deliver way over the requirements
set down by both myself, the funding agencies and by the organisation. The key changes have been the resignations of Sue Anne Hunter and Jey Jeyakumaran.
The senior management team reporting to me as CEO now includes:
Teresa Hoffman – Executive Support
Connie Salamone – New Programs and Initiatives
Julieanne James – Corporate Services
Lance James – Link Up Program
Peter Lewis – Policy and Research
Sepi Weeransinghe – Early Intervention and Family Services
Suzanne Cleary – Lakidjeka ACSASS
Gwen Rogers – Placement & Support
Ray Ahmat – Swan Hill
Broadly with regards to staffing we are finding that as the organisation grows our structure needs to be continually reviewed.
Funding
VACCA receives funding from the Department of Human Services (79%), Office of Torres Strait Islander Health (6%) and Families, Housing, Community Services and
Indigenous Affairs (5%).
VACCA has also received funding from the ANZ Trustees for $450 000 over 3 years to develop our Policy, Research and Communications Unit managed by Peter Lewis. We also received funding for the Hutton Street film from the Towards a Just Society
Fund.
2. Program Overview
The Agency‘s Program Managers have been able to meet their individual programs regulatory and performance criteria. Franky So was appointed as Finance Manager
in June 2008 replacing Jey, and has established clear budgetary and financial systems for Program Managers. Franky has been able to meet the Agencies
financial obligations both to the funding bodies and to the satisfaction of the Auditor. Julieanne James has been employed as our Corporate Services Manager and has ensured that we have met our administration and human resources
requirements to our staff.
Agency Registration The requirements by the Department of Human Services to meet Agency
Registration are proving quite a challenge to VACCA. Having consistency across the organisation on a number of fronts is requiring us to have better systems of
communication across the organisation to avoid duplication. Whilst at this stage it is very onerous ultimately this process will buy VACCA an operating model that is premised on delivering quality services and whose staff are competent and
appropriately skilled and supported to deliver such services. Connie Salamone, Bev Murray and their team are driving the process and we now have a committed
management team to support this process. Children, Youth and Family Act – Section 18
Proclaimed in October 2008, the State government committed in the new Children
Youth & Families Act to having Aboriginal Services undertake formal guardianship of Aboriginal children. This delegation will rest with an Aboriginal head of an agency. There is a significant body of work to be undertaken in order for any agency to
undertake this role. Central will be the capacity to meet agency registration requirements. In an attempt to move towards taking on this responsibility VACCA
is meeting with DHS in the North/West region to discuss taking on case contracting which we consider is a step towards us realizing formal guardianship. Guardianship is a major step for Aboriginal people and something that we need to invest heavily
in to establish clearly that Aboriginal people can bring about better outcomes when they are truly self determining.
Partnerships
VACCA continues to engage in positive partnerships with a variety of Aboriginal and mainstream agencies. In particular, our Building Respectful Partnerships project with Berry Street and MacKillop Family Services has assisted us in deepening our
relationships with mainstream organizations and provided us and them with significant learnings across all three agencies. We have also positively engaged
with VCOSS, the Centre for Excellence in Child and Family Welfare and, through our research development unit, Melbourne and La Trobe Universities.
VACCA is also in partnership with VACSAL, VAEAI and VACCHO on a project called Vision for the Future which involves organisations and communities working
together to develop a shared vision for the future. VACSAL have the lead on this project.
Impact of Government Policy on Programs
With the Premier Steve Bracks resigning last year there was a major reshuffle with us getting a new Minister for Community Services, Lisa Neville, and a new Minister
for Aboriginal Affairs, Richard Wynne. We have had some positive meetings with both Ministers and continue to seek policy and service delivery reforms.
Achievements
Key achievements for the Agency have been
Completion of our 5 year Strategic Plan
Successful VACCA Conference Development of our Corporate Services Unit A successful submission to ANZ Trustees to establish our Policy, Research
and Communications Unit The completion of our Koorie Kids and Culturally Safe Schools Film directed
by Richard Frankland State budget commitment to increased funding for our Residential Care
Program
Completion of the Aboriginal Cultural Competence Framework Participation at the International Vulnerable Children and Their Families
Conference in Padova, Italy
3. Planning
Through the involvement of KPMG consultants, VACCA has completed its strategic
plan and is now in the process of completing operation plans for all units and the Executive with the assistance of consultant Juliet Frizzell.
Our strategic plan is base on the following areas and strategic priorities. The rest of this report will be based on those priorities.
To respond to changing patterns of demand and need our strategic
priorities now and into the future are to: 1. Further VACCA’s lead agency capacity VACCA‘s lead agency status is now well established with the level of policy advice
and guidance we have provided to both Federal and State Governments a key part of functions. Through our New Programs and Initiatives Unit and our Policy,
Research and Communications Unit, we have had significant input in policy and program development. During the reporting period we have made submissions to:
- DHS/OATSIH‘s Positioning Aboriginal Services for the Future consultations - Best Interests Practice Manual - ChildWise cultural safety statement
- Aboriginal Services Plan - Victorian Charter of Safety and Wellbeing for Aboriginal Children and Young
People - Statewide Plan for Victoria‘s Aboriginal Children - Blueprint for Early Childhood Development and School Reform
- National Child Protection Framework - Response to the Federal Governments Green Paper on Homelessness
- DHS Mental Health Review - Out of Home Care Review, - Vulnerable Aboriginal Children and Youth Discussion Paper,
- COAG Early Years Quality Framework, - National Indigenous Representative Body, and
- DHS Vulnerable Adolescents Discussion Paper. The 2008 VACCA Statewide Conference “The River of culture runs deep, learning
from old ways, creating a new approach” was held at the Darebin Arts and Entertainment Centre on June 4, 5 & 6. Over the three days 450 people attended
and the average attendance rate for each day was 200 people. It was great to see so many young faces participating in the conference workshops and panel sessions.
There were many highlights throughout the conference—our own Victorian key-note speaker Alf Bamblett and our international key-note speakers Gary Peterson from
America and Dr Cindy Kiro from New Zealand. We also heard from Chelsea Yarrie of Queensland who shared her unforgettable story about her experience of growing up in foster care without her culture and connection to family. The conference dinner
was another highlight with Richard Frankland delivering a keynote address on cultural safety and the need to tackle the issue of lateral violence.
2. Enhance VACCA’s continuous quality approach to our service delivery
VACCA‘s New Programs and Initiatives Unit continues to forward our desire to develop best practice in our program and service provision. There have been
reviews into Link Up and Corporate, with Training and Service manuals having been developed for Link Up and a new Corporate structure having been established.
The new Policy, Research and Communications Unit is developing evidenced based frameworks to articulate the impact of culture on our service provision.
3. Build the cultural competence of the mainstream service children and
family welfare sector, government bodies and the broader community
VACCA successfully tendered for DHS contract to develop the Aboriginal Cultural Competence Framework for child and family services in Victoria. VACCA completed the framework document with it to be released by DHS later in 2008. The
framework has identified the importance of a Commitment to Aboriginal Self-determination and to Respectful Partnerships as a fundamental platform for
Aboriginal cultural competence. Our Building Respectful Partnerships project with Berry Street and MacKillop Family
Services has further identified key processes for respectful delivery of cultural competence in partnership with mainstream agencies with an emphasis on respect
for Aboriginal self-determination. 4. Enhance VACCA’s capacity to be a robust Aboriginal organisation
As identified in our strategic planning with the Board of Directors a number of years
ago, it was identified that VACCA needed to build on and improve our services to our staff. We have addressed areas such as improved human resources, training and development. We had however issues still to do with how our internal systems
related to each other such as finance, human resources, fleet management etc.
The Agency has developed the Corporate Services Unit and to strengthen its functioning has engaged Russell Jaffe to work with us to enhance our governance and management systems including development of our delegation system and
Juliet Frizzell to develop operational plans for all programs. The VACCA Organisation Development Project is being conducted in the context of the new ‗Every Child, Every Chance‘ reform strategy which mandates all CSOs
providing child, youth and family services to fulfil the requirements of the new registration standards. The overall aim of the VACCA Organisational Development Project is to design and develop practical and sustainable organisational systems for Risk Management,
Occupational Health & Safety and Document Management and Control which meet the requirements of the CSO Registration Standards. The project will also focus on
specific strategies and approaches that will encourage an organisational culture of continuous quality improvement and learning which will be sustainable beyond the life of the project. The Agency has also initiated a Cultural Committee to ensure that culture is
embedded throughout our policies and services. 5. Grow our service offerings VACCA is seeking funding to expand our Education Support for Aboriginal children in the out of home care system and is developing a service model for residential
care. We have also encouraged the Victorian Council for Children to support our aspiration for transfer of Aboriginal children in the mainstream out of home care system to Aboriginal services.
6. Drive VACCA’s capacity to be self determining through taking on the
Aboriginal reform agenda as articulated in the new Child, Youth and Family Act
Particularly through my meetings with Ministers and involvement in a variety of committees we have had significant input into enhancing self-determination as a
key focus for child and family policy at the State Government level. The soon to be released DHS Aboriginal Cultural Competence Framework developed by VACCA
focuses on respect for Aboriginal self-determination as critical for the cultural competence of mainstream agencies. The transfer of guardianship and court order responsibilities under section 18 of the Children, Youth and Families Act also
creates an opportunity to enhance our self-determination capacity. 7. Enhance VACCA’s workforce to build a strong and effective Aboriginal child and family welfare service As CEO an integral part of my role is to ensure that our employment practices are
implemented, that we have appropriate recruitment processes and that there are supervision and support processes in place to ensure that our staff‘s overall wellbeing needs are being addressed. As evidenced through the program reports
our Agency spends numerous hours on staff wellbeing. We have staff wellbeing lunches, we ensure staff have access to supervision, support and debriefing. The
New Programs and Initiatives Unit has responsibility for wellbeing and they have been very active developing a well being calendar and an internal newsletter. More information on staff well being is included in Connie‘s report. 8. Demonstrate VACCA’s capacity to achieve program performance
outcomes in line with Aboriginal child welfare best practice As demonstrated in this years program reports to the Annual General Meeting
VACCA continues to achieve program performance over and above what the Agency
is funded for.
4. Community Engagement As CEO I represent VACCA at numerous forums and undertake guest speaking on
behalf of the agency. This role is critical to ensure that the issues for Aboriginal children and families stay prominent in the governments planning. This has been
again a busy year with the Agency doing presentations at conferences, workshops and community events. The following are presentations given by the CEO:
Early Childhood Symposium
11th Australasian Conference on Child Abuse and Neglect AIATSIS
Friends of the Earth – NT intervention Local Government Professional conference Law Institute of Victoria
Building sustainable partnerships Padova conference
First National Indigenous Family & Community Strengths Conference Community Legal Centre - Sydney
FRMP Conference Anglicare Victoria
Our NAIDOC Children‘s Day and National Aboriginal Children‘s Day were very
successful and well attended with great support from VACCA staff. 5. Future Directions
The future directions of VACCA are heavily influenced by the broader policy
directions of government. However, there is now more pressing imperatives that are driving us and they include growing our workforce, fulfilling our requirements to meet guardianship, strengthening VACCA‘s internal systems and processes,
advocating for appropriate resources and addressing gaps in services for vulnerable and at risk children, young people and their families. Furthermore, the importance
of trauma informed case work practice with vulnerable and at risk children and families has been confirmed by evidence based research. In the nest year, there will be a significant focus on ensuring that our practice across the agency is in line
with this approach.
Our biggest challenge in the coming year will be fulfilling the cultural commitments that will emanate from the new cultural competency framework for child and family service providers.
6. Conclusion
I would like to close by thanking Teresa for the wonderful work that she does over
the year in providing administrative support to myself, the Executive team and the Board of Directors and in organizing the Annual General Meeting.
I would also like to thank the Executive and Leadership Group within VACCA for
their guidance and support over the past 12 months. A special thanks to Connie Salamone and Peter Lewis for their executive support of my position. I want to thank the Board for their attention to the work of the Agency and in delivering on
their governance responsibilities with a professional and dedicated approach. Finally I want to thank all the staff of VACCA for a very strong year – our staff work
with the most vulnerable, at risk and deliver in extreme situations, so personally I want to thank them for their contributions.
Muriel Bamblett
Chief Executive Officer
CORPORATE SERVICES AGM Report 2007-08
The Corporate Services Unit has expanded significantly since the last AGM. The
functions, roles and responsibilities of the Corporate Services unit have been clearly articulated and include the provision of comprehensive advice and support to the
VACCA Board of Directors, CEO, Program Managers, employees, external suppliers and stakeholders, regarding the organizations human resources, finance, administration, fleet and assets, property management, information technology,
and customer services functions.
The Corporate Services Program aims to enhance VACCA‘s continuous quality approach to service delivery, support the growth our service offerings, enhance our
Aboriginal workforce to build an effective Aboriginal child welfare service, and improve the agency‘s capacity to be a robust Aboriginal organization into the future.
Corporate Services key Operational Plan priorities for 2008-2010
Having completed our Corporate Services Operational Plan in October 2008, a number of key priorities, consistent with the objectives of the VACCA Strategic Plan
were identified by the team.
The plans ultimate aim is to enhance our capacity in the areas of Workforce, Operational Risk Management, Occupational Health and Safety, financial administration, Information Technology, property management, internal customer
services over the next two years
Staffing Fortunately there has been minimal staff turnover within the Corporate Services program, the most notable departure was the Finance Manager Jey Jeyakumaran in
March 2008.
Minimal staff turnover has enabled the Corporate Services team to consolidate and stabilize it‘s core functions, and at this late stage of the year the Corporate Services team is pleased to report that it has recruited and retained a skilled, expert and
stable staff, ultimately enhancing consistency in service delivery across the team.
Human Resources The Agency‘s current Human Resources provides advice and support to a staffing capacity of 155 full time and casual employees on behalf of the organization. The
growth of the agencies workforce and our requirements to comply with overarching employment legislation has meant that the agency now approaches Human
Resources management with a very different perspective.
Paula Crilly has been acting in the Human Resources Coordinator position since November 2007, replacing Brenda Young during her maternity leave.
Paula has successfully managed to administer the organizations human resource functions in accordance with numerous legislative requirements. These include the
Social and Community Services Award, Community Services Organisation Registration Standards, Work Cover, and the Working with Children Check
legislation. The focus of the human resources program for the upcoming year will be to;
enhance our workforce recruitment strategy to attract and retain a higher number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employees within the organization,
implement across the organization a comprehensive Orientation program, improve our internal procedures relevant to contract management, supervision and support to employees, informing a broader professional development program, occupational
health and safety of employees in the workplace, reducing the incidence of work cover applications across the organization.
Fleet and Assets Management Sylvia Choate commenced as Fleet Manager with the Corporate Services team in
August 2007. During this time Sylvia has established a comprehensive fleet management system, incorporating lease management of the overall fleet of 70
vehicles. Since centralizing the fleet function the agency has been in a better position to analyze the cost effectiveness of our fleet in line with operational requirements, enabling the agency to make significant savings overall.
The Fleet program is currently working towards implementation of an electronic
fleet booking system to be completed by the end of the year. They are also overseeing the Occupational Health and Safety requirements pertaining to fleet usage, addressing our fleet insurance premium costs, overseeing fines and
warrants compliance, and preparation of a fleet management policy and procedure handbook for all VACCA employees.
Peter Harrison is our Fleet Officer and supports the Corporate Services Unit on a daily basis. Thank you Peter and Sylvia for your reliable contribution to the team.
Administration
Brenda Young has returned to VACCA from maternity leave on a part time basis. Brenda has been working towards implementation of the Agency‘s Operational Risk
Management Register, and development of an Administration Officers Manual. Samara Ahmat commenced with Corporate Services in January 2008 and supports
the team across a range of key administrative functions. Samara has been working on establishing relationships with our external office suppliers, assisted the
organization with generic tenant and landlord responsibilities with respect to the Wurruk Avenue and leased VACCA properties as required.
Samara will be working closely with Brenda towards implementation of the new document control and records management program across the organization in
2009. Thanks to Samara for her reliable and consistent contribution to the Corporate Services team.
It is envisaged that Brenda will work closely with our Information Technology providers TLC IT and support the introduction of the electronic document control
system enabling the agency in keeping appropriate records pertaining to our overall operations.
Property Management: VACCA currently occupies sites in Brunswick, Shepparton, Echuca, Geelong,
Heywood, Dandenong, Bairnsdale, Footscray, Swan Hill and Morwell. The agency also has landlord responsibilities for our site at Wurruk Ave, Stolen Generations
Victoria being the current tenant. Whilst most of the regional sites house Lakidjeka Program staff, a significant
amount of negotiation and support has been realized for the Dandenong and Swan Hill Offices to ensure the work environment is sufficient to the business we conduct.
This has required the Corporate Services Manager to work closely with real estate agents and body corporate organizations to ensure that the offices occupied by our organizations are compliant with leasing obligations.
The Corporate Services team currently oversees contract management with respect
to the accommodation of most VACCA sites, and we acknowledge the specific support in which Samantha Brown provides to the Lakidjeka site suppliers and staff.
Corporate Services hopes to support the Lakidjeka sites in the coming year by providing regular site inspections consistent with our occupational health and safety
requirements, and risk management obligations, and review again the cost effectiveness of our accommodation for all offices.
Information Technology The Agency this financial year has invested a significant amount of funding towards
improving the information technology infrastructure for our core operations. During 2008, TLC IT undertook a number of key projects to identify the status of
our current IT infrastructure. This included regional site audits and recommendations for improvements. With the implementation of the CRISSP
reporting system, it has been important that all Operations staff have access to a competent internet service that supports our necessary reporting obligations, both
internally and to the DHS. Paul Giannelis from TLC IT is our contracted on site provider. Paul has provided
ongoing support to the entire organization with efficient and expert advice regarding our IT capacity and future directions for our infrastructure growth. This
is greatly appreciated. Reception and Customer Services
Thelma Norris is our full time receptionist supported by Kylie Duggan, and Shara Graham on a part time basis. The Corporate Services team is pleased to report to
the AGM that we have currently an enthusiastic and professional team of receptionists. Their efforts often go unnoticed in the day to day operations of VACCA. During the past twelve months our customer services area has improved
greatly and I‘d like to thank the ladies for their hard work.
Financial Services
We are pleased to have Franky So as Manager of VACCA‘s Financial Services. Franky commenced as Finance Manager with the agency in June 2008. During this time Franky has provided guidance to the VACCA Managers in determining their
program budgets for the upcoming financial year. Franky, in consultation with the finance team, has also initiated complimentary system improvements, enhancing
our capacity to respond to financial administration tasks and responsibilities in a more professional and timely way.
Hemantha Angampitiya, VACCA‘s Financial Accountant, acted in the role of Finance Manager for a period of three months whilst the position was vacant. During this
time Hemantha provided excellent advice, guidance and leadership to the Corporate team. Franky, Hemantha, Truc Pham the Accounts Payable Officer and Irene Sazdov the part time Accounts Payable Assistant, administer VACCA finances in a timely and
professional manner. Thank you to the finance team for their consistent efforts and understanding of the nature of work which we undertake at VACCA and their flexibility in responding to
the financial needs of the Agency. Partners VACCA Corporate Services is pleased to have worked with numerous partners and key stakeholders, which have included:
TLC IT: Nick Ashton Smith, Arthur Natsioulas Department of Human Services
Office of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health GM Leasing, Mantello Holden Gary McMillan Holden
Civic Compliance Telstra
Total Office National Eric Townsend Russell Jaffe Consulting
Stolen Generations Victoria
Future directions The program has identified seven priority areas to work on. These include to: 1. Provide high quality Corporate Service functions to the VACCA Board of
Directors, Program Managers, staff and clients of the organization. 2. Develop, operationalise and communicate policies, procedures, practices and
systems for core Corporate Services functions. 3. Work in collaboration and consultation with VACCA program areas to
determine budgets, establish financial implementation, monitoring and review accountability mechanisms.
4. Confirm and cost ongoing Corporate Services functions, roles, staffing levels,
delegations, and determine the most appropriate interface with NP&I Unit and other VACCA programs
5. Identify opportunities for the expansion of the functions of Corporate Services
to include industrial relations, marketing and promotional strategies, income
generation, risk management, quality records management and document control processes
6. Implement operational plans for the delivery of programs for Information
Technology, human resources, fleet, assets and property management,
purchasing, and contract management.
7. Improve consultation and communication internally within the Corporate Services unit and with other VACCA programs.
We believe these to be achievable and have begun to develop a work plan to help us achieve these priorities.
Conclusion I would like to thank Muriel, Connie and the VACCA Board for their support and
direction of the Corporate Services program since I commenced in the role of Corporate Manager in December 2007. Whilst there are numerous challenges ahead
for the team, I am sure that with the support of our current staff we will be able to achieve the priorities set by the team. The Corporate Unit is committed to the staff of the Agency and to ensuring the operations are supported to deliver their
services.
Julieanne James
Manager
NEW PROGRAMS AND INITIATIVES AGM Report 2007-08
1. INTRODUCTION
New Programs and Initiatives undertake to deliver and develop for VACCA a diverse
range of exciting and innovative initiatives that enhance outcomes for Aboriginal children, families and communities. These activities include:
Undertaking project based initiatives
Providing programmatic support to VACCA programs including undertaking program evaluations
Promoting staff wellbeing Responsibility for VACCA‘s compliance to agency registration
requirements
Advocating and promoting the public voice of VACCA Strong involvement in VACCA‘s lead agency functions
Community education and publicity Training and learning development for both VACCA staff and the
child and family welfare sector
Policy and planning development Development of VACCA‘s research capacity
The unit strives to support the CEO and other programs are responsive to the
diverse demands placed on VACCA by its key stakeholders. During VACCA‘s strategic planning process in 2007 it was identified that the agency
should seek to further develop its policy, research and communication capacity. As these activities are not currently directly funded by government, VACCA has been
seeking funding from philanthropic trusts. During the period of this report, these activities have been part of New Programs and Initiatives. From July 2008 a separate Policy, Research and Communications Unit has been established.
Sue Anne Hunter was appointed to the position of Manager, Community Outreach.
This position assumed responsibility for the Swan Hill office, Leaving Care and Kurnai programs. This resulted in New Programs and Initiatives being involved in operational matters. A separate report for Community Outreach has been compiled.
1.1 Staffing
The unit has a flexible approach to staffing and at times employs people to undertake specific projects and activities. As at October 2008, there are 8 fulltime staff, 7 part time staff (totalling approximately 3 full time positions). Maureen Long,
whilst employed by La Trobe University, continues to undertake specific project work on a consultancy basis. The unit has a relatively stable workforce with this
financial year there being only two resignations from the program and one staff transferred to the Corporate Unit.
1.2 Funding The program is largely funded by VACCA but did receive funding from the following
sources: ANZ Trustees provided a seeding grant to scope out the functions of a
Policy, Research and Communications Unit. ANZ Trustees provided three year funding for the establishment of the
Policy, Research and Communications Unit.
Department of Justice (DHS) Indigenous Issues Unit provided a community research grant for the Aboriginal Youth Wellbeing project
FACSIA provided part funding for the development of a young people‘s cultural diary, Koorie cookbook and the Koorie Fathers Project.
DHS provided capacity building funds for VACCA to assist other
Aboriginal Co-operatives as well as VACCA to meet agency registration requirements
DHS was also the major sponsor for the VACCA 2008 Statewide Conference
Berry Street and MacKillop provided funding for the Building Respectful
Partnership Project VACCA receives a partnership funding contribution from Take Two
Berry Street, as part of discharging our governance responsibilities towards the program
John and Anna Woods Trust provided partial funding to run a cultural
camp for Koorie young people The Federal Department of Environment, Water Heritage and the Arts
provided partial funding to host a Children and Young Peoples Cultural festival
Department of Employment and Workplace Relations (STEP Program)
funding has allowed for the development of a comprehensive Workforce Strategy
Through the provision of external training, the unit receives funding which goes towards supporting in a small way the staff wellbeing program.
2. PROGRAM OVERVIEW
2.1 Promoting and Supporting Staff Wellbeing
VACCA‘s Staff Wellbeing program supports staff to deliver quality services to their clients through ensuring staff have the necessary skills and knowledge and are supported more broadly by the organization to undertake their duties. 2.1.1 VACCA’s Two Day Induction Program
This is a two day program for all new staff in the agency to provide staff with a broad understanding of the work of VACCA. Over the past 12 months we have conducted 5 Induction programs, with a total of
49 staff completing the two days. Feedback continues to be very positive. This year we introduced a 20 minute video titled “Who’s Who at VACCA”. 2.1.2 Critical Incident and Stress Debriefing Training During the past year VACCA supported 12 staff attending a tailor made 5 days Critical Incident and Stress Debriefing training facilitated by Rob Gordon, clinical
psychologist. VACCA is currently in the process of completing a culturally effective and comprehensive debriefing program for staff. 2.1.3 Study Leave
One of the highlights of the past year has been the increased numbers of VACCA staff who are undertaking study leave at the Certificate, Diploma, Bachelor and Graduate Certificate level. The first group of staff to undertake the Certificate IV in
Community Services – Protective Care course will graduate late in 2008. Fifty-seven (57) staff have enrolled and completed the Certificate I in Information Technology, with many of these staff going on to enroll and complete the Certificate
II in Information Technology. We have had individual staff study in the Certificate II in Business, Diploma of Youth Work, Diploma of Community Development, Bachelor of Social Work, Graduate Certificate in Family Therapy, Diploma in Primary
Teaching, Developmental Psychiatry Course, Diploma in Transpersonal Counselling, Bachelor of Community Management and the Post Graduate Degree in Grief and
Bereavement Counselling. Congratulations to all the VACCA staff who have successfully completed their qualifications this year. 2.1.4 Building our Self Care and Cultural Wellbeing This year we have held regular events that support and build our self care and
cultural wellbeing. A monthly calendar is produced that includes our monthly staff meetings, key national and international dates and anniversaries, dates for our staff
wellbeing lunches and cultural films as well as any monthly staff training opportunities. For example, in November 07 we held a lunch for World Diabetes Day and had a representative from the Aboriginal Health Service talk about
diabetes and staff had the opportunity to measure their blood sugar levels. At this lunch some staff who do have diabetes generously shared their stories on the way
it has impacted on them and how they manage it. The staff numbers at our wellbeing lunches have increased over the year and we now have staff wellbeing representatives in our Southern and Swan Hill office and our Lakidjeka program. 2.1.5 Supervision Training Program - Making the Most of Supervision
A new initiative to support our Supervision Program has been the development of a revised supervision program guidelines and training for staff and supervisors titled
‗Making the Most of Supervision‘. It is expected to roll the training out in late 2008-early 2009. 2.1.6 Introduction to Case Work Practice Training Package To support staff in their case work practice we are developing an introduction
training program for staff new to case work. It is proposed to deliver this training over 3 days and will take participants on the journey of a young man who is now 20
years old and comes back to VACCA and wants to know his story and what‘s been written about his time with VACCA – the decisions we made, the people we involved, the way we looked after his best interests. The training highlights the important role VACCA case workers have in ensuring the
best outcomes for Aboriginal children and the importance of gathering information,
engagement, planning, analysis, action and documentation. The training package uses the Victorian Best Interests Case Practice Model as its framework. We will also
include one day training on writing case notes and case reports to complete this training. This training will be rolled out early in 2009. 2.1.7 Workforce Strategy Jaffe Consultants have been engaged to undertake this project. The aim of the
project is to ensure that VACCA has a workforce strategy in place to ensure we meet our workforce demands in the context of VACCA‘s strategic directions. 2.1.8 Staff Bulletin
Staff bulletins are now being distributed to staff on a bi-monthly basis staff and based on feedback received, they are very popular reading material with staff. The bulletin plays a key role in assisting staff to stay abreast of activities at VACCA. 2.1.9 New Starter Kit for Staff
The new starter kit is currently being finalized and it will contain all relevant HR forms, VACCA policies and useful resources and supplies for new staff which will be
contained in a specially designed carry bag. 2.1.10 Agency wide In-service During the year we held two staff in services: Putting the Pieces Together – Understanding Key Features of the new
Children, Youth & Families Act to Strengthen Our Work at VACCA - This
one day in-service focused on building our understanding of the key principles that support the best interests of Aboriginal children. We followed the story of
Kiana to understand the impact of cumulative harm on an Aboriginal child‘s safety and development and the importance of continuity and stability in an Aboriginal child‘s life.
VACCA’s Public Voice - This half day workshop for VACCA staff focused on the importance of VACCA‘s public voice. It began with a powerful audio-visual
presentation by Bev Murray titled ‗Across the Generations: The Voice of Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander People‘. Alf Bamblett and Peter Rotumah were our special guests and shared their stories of VACCA‘s history of ‗Speaking
Up‘ since 1977. 2.1.11 Mental Health First Aid Training VACCA, in partnership with VACCHO, have provided Mental Health First Aid training
to 44 staff. This training assists staff to learn about suicidal behaviors, acute stress reactions, panic attacks, acute psychotic behaviour, depression, anxiety disorders, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and substance use disorder. It means that our staff
will be confident to recognise the early signs of mental health problems, some good ways to talk to someone they are worried about and what to do if you are worried
that someone might be suicidal or depressed. 2.1.12 Link Up Induction In August 2008, the program ran a comprehensive two week induction program for Link Up staff.
2.2. EXTERNAL PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT AND TRAINING 2.2.1 One Day Workshop: Introduction to Working with Aboriginal
Children, Families and Workers in the Child and Family Welfare Sector This one day workshop is based on our 2006 publication: Working with Aboriginal
Children and Families: A Guide for Child Protection and Child and Family Welfare Workers. Over the past year we have delivered this workshop on 10 occasions. The groups involved in this training have been 30 staff from the DHS North West region,
20 residential staff from a diverse group of organisations, 13 participants from the Swan Hill region, 13 staff from the Centre for Excellence, 19 staff from Berry
Street, 12 non-Aboriginal VACCA staff and 15 staff representing a range of roles from mainstream services.
2.2.2 ‘Nikara’s Journey’ - Caring for Aboriginal Children in Out of Home Care
This two day training program developed for non-Aboriginal carers in Victoria who are currently caring for an Aboriginal child in out of home care is based on the VACCA/DHS 2005 publication: Caring for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
Children in Out of Home Care.
Over the past year this training has been delivered to 17 non-Aboriginal carers who requested via their foster care agencies to attend this training. Their feedback indicates that it is a great learning journey for them and many of the carers have
commented that they wished they had this training before they began caring for an Aboriginal child. VACCA‘s Extended Care program ensures all of its new or potential
carers participate in this course. 2.2.3 Swinburne Learning Materials Project
VACCA continues its involvement in a project with Swinburne TAFE to provide cultural input into the development of learning materials for 4 national
competencies in the Certificate IV in Community Services – Protective Care. This project has been delayed by Swinburne and won‘t be completed until late 2008.
2.3. PROJECT BASED INITIATIVES The program undertakes a number of projects to support the work of VACCA.
2.3.1 Initiatives aimed at Aboriginal Young People and Older Children
This year a number of projects have focused on enhancing the wellbeing of our young people and older children. The projects include the following:
2.3.2 Cultural Camps VACCA hopes to attract further funding to enable a cultural camp to be held in 2009
for young Aboriginal people involved in VACCA programs, particularly targeting Leaving Care and Out of Home Care clients. The aim of the camp is to strength young people‘s cultural identity and connection to Aboriginal communities.
2.3.3 Cookbook for Koorie young people
The cookbook was successfully launched in October 2008 at the Victorian College of Koorie Education, Glenroy. Students who assisted in the production of the cookbook were provided with a copy of the cookbook, Certificates of Appreciation and a
Coles/Myer voucher. The aim of the cookbook is to promote healthy eating habits
for our young people. Feedback from staff and students indicate that this project was successful in engaging young people in promoting cooking skills but also kept
them engaged in learning.
2.3.4 Aboriginal Children and Young People’s Cultural Festival The Festival will showcase arts and cultural products of children and young people in the Northern Region. We will partner with other community based organisations
and groups. Apart from funds already received, several other funding submissions are currently pending with decisions expected in December. We expect to hold the
Festival in October 2009 to permit the development of new works of art and culture to be produced by groups of children.
2.3.5 Aboriginal Adolescents Wellbeing Project This project researched into the needs of Aboriginal adolescents with a focus on
VACCA clients and Aboriginal young people in the North West Metropolitan Region. The project is to be completed in December 2008. 2.3.6 Cultural Diary Cultural diaries for Aboriginal children in care were again produced in 2007. They
have proved extremely popular with young people and children and a new formatted 2008 diary is currently being finalized. The diary will contain Aboriginal
children and young people‘s artwork, Aboriginal creation stories and will include different topics on Aboriginal culture and history, as well as general school information. 2.3.7 Cultural Safety Project
As the first major research project of the newly established Policy, Research and Communications Unit , the Cultural Safety Project is designed to look at the
wellbeing needs of Aboriginal children and young people from a cultural wellbeing framework. 2.4 INITIATIVES AIMED AT THE ABORIGINAL COMMUNITY The program has been involved in initiatives that seek more broadly to enhance the
wellbeing of the Aboriginal community. 2.4.1 Koorie Father’s Project The Koorie Father‘s Report booklet has been finalized and it will assist Aboriginal
organisations to promote the role of men in fathering and to implement their own strategies and projects aimed at engaging Koorie fathers. We have provided assistance to VACSAL in developing a 1 day Koorie Men‘s Parenting Workshop
where a launch of the booklet will occur. 2.4.2 Information Kit for Families Utilizing VACCA Services A kit is being developed and will at this stage comprise of two booklets; a child and
family welfare guide for families and a booklet outlining all the information that the agency registration requires we give families. It is likely that this kit will expand once work has been completed on these two booklets.
2.4.3 Moondani Update
With Zen Architects, we are looking at issues relating to the proposed site for Moondani. The Geo-Technical consultants report identified some areas of risk with the proposed site at the Aborigines Advancement League after two detailed
surveys. Once the site is confirmed we will engage a Partnerships Development Project worker through the funds received last year from the Collie Foundation and
finalize the prospectus. The Partnerships Development Project Worker will then seek partnerships with governments, trusts and possibly business groups to enable
us to raise the substantial amount that is required. 2.4.4 Healing Program for ‘Stolen Generations’ and their families
The program is developing a healing program for Link Up clients and is scheduled to pilot this late 2008 and early 2009. At this stage we envisage that there will be 2
phases to this training – an introductory phase of 3 sessions, followed by a more in-depth phase of 7 sessions.
2.5 OTHER PROJECTS
2.5.1 Website Development Work has commenced on redesigning the VACCA website so that it not only contains up to date information on all our programs and services but also provide
useful information for the Aboriginal community, our clients and other organizations.
2.5. 2 Policy Development Significant policy development has occurred this year. In response to DHS‘s
Community Services Organizations Registration Standards and the need to meet its requirements, a revised new Agency Policy and Procedures Manual and a Client
Services Charter have been developed. As well as meeting agency requirements, VACCA believed that this was an opportunity to ensure that its public policies on rights and cultural safety were enhanced in its internal policy manual. New policies
have been developed concerning Child Safety, Self-Determination, Human Rights, Access & Equity, and Best Interests of the Child, Cultural Strengthening and
Aboriginal Professionalism. During the period July 07 to October 08 the unit has assisted the CEO in making
submissions and contributing to: DHS/OATSIH‘s Positioning Aboriginal Services for the Future
consultations Best Interests Practice Manual
ChildWise cultural safety statement Aboriginal Services Plan Victorian Charter of Safety and Wellbeing for Aboriginal Children and
Young People Statewide Plan for Victoria‘s Aboriginal Children
Blueprint for Early Childhood Development and School Reform National Child Protection Framework Response to the Federal Governments Green Paper on Homelessness
DHS Mental Health Review Out of Home Care Review,
Vulnerable Aboriginal Children and Youth Discussion Paper, COAG Early Years Quality Framework, National Indigenous Representative Body and
DHS Vulnerable Adolescents Discussion Paper.
2.6. AGENCY REGISTRATION
Work continues to progress on ensuring VACCA will meet agency registration requirements. Activities have included:
Meeting with all Managers to discuss progress with their agency registration work plans and to provide support and assistance with outstanding tasks.
Updated action plans have been completed Random file audits have taken place
Agency registration updates have been provided to Family Services and Southern office with remaining programs to be covered by the end of the year.
VACCA and Berry St agreed to undertake a mock audit for each others staff. The mock audit provided staff with the opportunity to experience
what the audit will be like and provided the agency with an opportunity to assess staff knowledge and understanding on those areas required by the registration standards.
Convene a number of sub-committees focusing on particular areas such as the feedback committee which is looking at ways to best elicit
client feedback. 2.7. CAPACITY BUILDING PROJECT-ABORIGINAL COMMUNITY
ORGANISATIONS, CAPACITY BUILDING GROUP NETWORK Confirmation has recently been received that our facilitation of the Capacity
Building Group aimed at assisting the Aboriginal Community Organisations meet agency registration requirements will not be funded by DHS and as a consequence it is intended to convene only one more meeting of the group prior to the end of
2008. A number of visits were those Aboriginal community organizations who were a member of the Capacity Building Group. More than one visit was made to a few
organizations. Visits were made to Robinvale, Hastings and Geelong (to meet the consultant appointed by Gunditjmara Aboriginal Co-op, Warrnambool), Horsham and to the Gippsland & East Gippsland Aboriginal Co-op, Bairnsdale
2.8. RESEARCH ACTIVITIES
2.8.1 The AIATSIS project
This project seeks to develop cultural wellbeing assessment indicators for Aboriginal children. This project was completed and the report Not One Size Fits All is awaiting AIATSIS approval for publication.
2.8.2 Take Two and Latrobe Joint Research Initiatives
VACCA‘s partnership with Take Two and La Trobe University is being continued to further develop cultural wellbeing assessment indicators which we have called the Cultural Yarn and will be trialed at VACCA and Take Two. The Social and Emotional
Wellbeing Indigenous Network Group (SEWING) Circle will be the key reference group for VACCA‘s research unit. The SEWING Circle also ran two successful
Yarnin‘ Circles for the broader community, including one that followed up from Dr Bruce Perry and Denis McDermott‘s presentations last year.
2.8.3 Melbourne University Initiatives VACCA is also working with Professor Cathy Humphries, the Felton Chair at
Melbourne University, concerning research proposals. We are part of a consortium to look at Access to Records for Forgotten Australians and are seeking funding for a
research worker to look at the effectiveness of our cultural support programs for Aboriginal children in out of home care.
2.9. PARTNERSHIPS The program plays a pivot role in sustaining and developing a number of key
partnerships. Apart from those already mentioned the program is involved in: 2.9.1 Take Two, Berry Street
The program takes the lead in VACCA meeting its partnership requirements as part of being on Take Two‘s governing body.
2.9.2 Building Respectful Partnerships Project The Building Respectful Partnership Project is a joint project involving VACCA, Berry
Street and MacKillop Family Services. It is part of VACCA‘s commitment to build respectful working relationships with mainstream child and family welfare
organisations to ensure culturally competent responses to Aboriginal children and families. The development of the Cultural Competence Practice Guide has been developed to address cultural competence in the following areas:
Leadership Staff, carers and volunteers
Welcoming and accessible environment Service Delivery Out of Home Care
Practice and Program Development Research
Community and public relations The next step in this project will be to develop a plan to implement this approach.
2.9.3 Gunung-Willam-Balluk Koorie Education Centre of Kangan Batman
TAFE Our partnership with this Koorie Education Centre of the TAFE has assisted in the
development of a range of training packages being available to our staff both on and off site.
2.10. CORPORATE STRENGTHENING INITIATIVES The program has been involved in a number of activities that strength VACCA‘s
governance and corporate functioning. 2.10.1 Organizational Development and Risk Project
Jaffe Consultants were appointed to develop an organizational framework and implement a number of organizational corporate tasks. The program took the lead
in this project until mid year. Activities undertaken included the development and implementation of an agency wide risk management framework, document control framework and implementation of VACCA‘s new Corporate structure.
2.10.2 Development of VACCA’s organizational communication and management structures.
Senior management within the agency recognized that a more formal enhanced approach to communication at different levels within the organization was required.
A number of committees with clear terms of reference were established to meet key VACCA priorities.
2.10.3 VACCA Board Induction Program A VACCA Board Induction was held this year. The focus of this Induction Program
was on discussing and sharing what makes VACCA unique, examining the Board‘s governance responsibilities and identifying the challenges and rewards of governing in two worlds. Out of this day the Board members identified 2 other days of
training for the Board – one with a focus on governance responsibilities and the other on the Board‘s role and understanding of Section 18 of the Act –
Guardianship. 2.11 Cultural Competency Framework
VACCA was successful in its submission to develop a cultural competency framework for the child and family welfare sector. The program was responsible for
drafting the Aboriginal Cultural Competence Framework. There has been overwhelming support for the framework which is seen as best practice.
2.12. Operational Responsibility From early in 2008 Sue Anne took the position of Manager, Community Outreach.
The position reported to the Manager, New Programs and Initiatives. This arrangement resulted in program staff being heavily involved in operational, planning and liaison activities particularly for Swan Hill and Leaving Care.
2.13. Program Reviews and Support
The program continues to provide support to other VACCA programs. For example, the program was extensively involved in the ACSASS review, is developing a manual for Link Up, has attended all other program‘s operational planning days and
is developing a project brief in relation to reviewing VACCA‘s residential care program. Furthermore, the program provides policy and program advice to other
senior VACCA managers and program staff often provide input into Family Services and Out of Home Care strategic directions at local, regional and central forums.
3. PLANNING
This year has seen a dedicated focus within the agency on planning.
3.1 Strategic Planning The program played a key role in finalizing VACCA‘s strategic plan including ensuring its publication
3.1.2 Operational Plan
The program has developed a draft operational plan but will finalize the plan once all other programs have completed their operational plans. As the program provides support to all other VACCA programs, the program‘s final operational plan will need
to be cognizant of other VACCA programs priorities. Furthermore, the impact on the
program of the Corporate Unit and the newly established Policy, Research and Communication Unit will also need to be reflected in the operational plan.
3.1.3. Transfer of Guardianship and Case Contracting
The program has been heavily involved in progressing VACCA‘s capacity to undertake case contracting in the North West and to progress the transfer of guardianship at a central level. A work plan and capacity analysis has been
undertaken to ensure VACCA commences case contracting by the end of the year. 3.1.4 Policy, Research and Communication
As the Unit has only been operationally distinct from New Programs and Initiatives since July 08, the unit is still engaged in a planning process in line with VACCA‘s strategic plan. Planning sessions as a team have taken place. The Cultural Safety
Project will establish the broad parameters of our operation plan along with the consultation that was undertaken with managers earlier in 2008. An internal
survey to ascertain the research and policy needs of various programs within VACCA revealed a large unmet need. Managers spoke of the need for evidence in support of submissions, to improve services, to meet accreditation standards, for
presentations at conferences, for media releases and comment, and for training needs.
4. PUBLIC VOICE
4.1 Staff Facilitating Role The program takes the lead role in facilitating VACCA‘s public voice activities. The
staff have been involved in many forums and a selection of the diversity of activities is highlighted below:
Workshop with Board members, staff, carers from BSV and MacKillop
which included presentations on Partnerships and Cultural Competence Delivery of conference presentation at Social Inclusion Conference: An
Aboriginal Child and Family Services Perspective on Social Inclusion and Building Partnerships with Mainstream
Media work in response to the situation in the Northern Territory and
developing a community based campaign called LISTEN UP! Co-authored various conference papers with the CEO, including the
March 2008 International Vulnerable Children Conference in Padova, Italy. The CEO was asked to contribute an extended version to an
international journal of her conference paper. Jane Harrison also presented on the AIATSIS project at the conference.
Articles published in the Canadian First Peoples Child & Family Review
Online Journal and the Journal of Australian Indigenous Issues Presentations on VACCA‘s staff wellbeing policy
Cross Cultural Awareness training highlighting the differences between mainstream CSO‘s and VACCA
Presentations on the cross cultural competence framework that VACCA
developed 4.2 VACCA Conference: June 2008 The program in conjunction with Paula Crilly took the lead in the organization of the
conference. It was estimated that over the three days 450 people attended and the average attendance rate for each day was 200 people. The focus of the conference was the importance of Aboriginal culture in promoting wellbeing.
The highlights throughout the conference were our International keynote speakers
Gary Peterson from Canada and Dr Cindy Kiro from New Zealand. Another highlight was a keynote speech from Chelsea Yarrie of Queensland who shared her
unforgettable story about her experience of growing up in foster care without her culture and connection to family.
The conference dinner was another highlight with Richard Frankland giving an inspiring speech.
5. COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT
The program throughout its activities undertakes community engagement. Examples of activities include:
We participated with other Indigenous peak/statewide agencies with the development of an Aboriginal Child Health and Wellbeing Survey funded by DHS and facilitated by ONEMDA, the Indigenous Health Unit at Melbourne
University. We partnered with Take Two/Berry St Victoria, La Trobe University and
DHS to bring out trauma specialist Dr Bruce Perry in December last year. VACCA hosted and organized a very successful Indigenous services forum at the Aborigines Advancement League where Dr Bruce Perry co-presented
with Indigenous academic Dennis McDermott and our CEO. Close to 200 people attended the Indigenous forum
6. FUTURE DIRECTIONS
The finalization of the operational plan will provide the key determinant to the programs future priorities. Clearly attracting ongoing funding for the newly
established Policy, Research and Communication Unit will be a priority. The program in conjunction with the Corporate Unit plays a large part in enhancing staff wellbeing and this will continue with the implementation of the workforce strategy,
another priority. Realizing the promise of the new Children, Youth and Family‘s Act remains important and it is expected that the next year will continue to have a
large focus on case contracting and the transfer of guardianship to Aboriginal agencies.
The program works very closely with the CEO in providing executive support to inform the broader directions of the Agency in planning, policy, advocacy,
performance review and program enhancement.
As the report highlights, this year has seen the program involved in many complex activities and I would like to personally thank the staff for their hard work, passion and commitment. The program could not operate without the ongoing support of
the CEO for which I would like to sincerely thank Muriel.
Connie Salamone
Manager
LAKIDJEKA ACSASS AGM Report 2007-08
1. Introduction
Overview The Lakidjeka Aboriginal Child Specialist Advice Support Service (ACSASS)
continues to provide a much needed advisory and consultation role to the Department of Human Services Child Protection services across the state (with the
exception of Mildura where it is provided by the Mildura Aboriginal Corporation). In line with legislation and agreed protocols, when a report (notification) is made to
Child Protection on any Aboriginal Torres Strait Islander child or young person ACSASS must be consulted.
ACSASS is now in its sixth year and despite being recognised as a unique service within Australia, the service is such a busy one that the task of managing the
programs day to day operations has been at the expense of any program development and strategic planning. While the program has worked solidly on the
ground, there has been concern that there were a number of resourcing and structural issues that needed to be looked at if the program was to remain viable.
Therefore, it was agreed that a key piece of work in reviewing the service needed to take place. The internal review of ACSASS has been a strong feature of the twelve
months with time and resources from VACCA being allocated to the review process. It is envisaged that the review will set the priorities, directions and tasks for ACSASS into the future.
Staffing
The recruitment and retention of staff continues to be a key challenge for the ACSASS program. As reported previously the nature of the work and the need to employ Aboriginal people in Caseworker and Caseworker/ Supervisor positions
creates an ongoing challenge. Over the last twelve months we have seen a number of experienced staff leave the program – however we are pleased to note that a
number of these staff have gone on to other Aboriginal specific positions and are still working for the community.
Rodney Monohan, who had been on secondment to ACES, has now left VACCA. Rodney had been instrumental in the development and management of what was
known previously as the Lakidjeka Crisis Service and the now Lakidjeka ACSASS program. It needs to be acknowledged that he was (and still is) very strong in his belief that Aboriginal children and young people have the right to be safe and that
Aboriginal people need to have a say in the protection of their children. Rodney‘s commitment to Lakidjeka and VACCA was acknowledged by those who attended his
farewell.
In addition, we also saw other experienced and dedicated staff leave ACSASS including Margaret Oates, Sylvia Choate and Allyson Walker – all of whom worked
for ACSASS for a number of years and in their own way helped shape the Service. Other staff that have left included Joel Wickham, Brian McGee, Stephen Edwards,
John Jackson, Kevin Jasper and Audrey Gibbs. A sincere thankyou to all of those workers and we wish them well.
On a positive note we have recruited some new staff and reclaimed two former workers; Teresa Kerr has returned to her Supervisor/Caseworker position after a
twelve month position in DOCS and Jeff Cooper has re joined ACSASS at the Bairnsdale office.
The Southern ACSASS office had been subject to staff shortages and staff illness impacting on service delivery. Interim arrangements were made with urgent and
critical consultations going to the Intake and Program Coordinator. Encouraged by Southern DHS, we negotiated for Sue McKenna to be seconded from
DHS Child Protection for six months and in addition Chris Arnott has been acting in the Senior Caseworker role.
Given our ongoing recruitment issues and the need to retain experienced staff in areas of demand we have had to be more flexible and strategic in where staff are
based. We now have some workers now working over two sites and one worker performing both case Administration and casework duties. In other instances we
have also looked at a reduction of people‘s hours where necessary. Recruitment
In an effort to undertake tasks that have been outstanding in the program for a number of months we have employed Lucy Quinn in the role of Lakidjeka Project
Officer for twelve months. A key role has been in the area of staff recruitment with work being done to develop a recruitment strategy for ACSASS staff. Lucy has been making contact and developing relationships with education facilities including Koori
Education Units and job networks in an effort to recruit staff to VACCA and in particular to ACSASS.
In recruiting staff for casework we continue to look for Aboriginal people who have:
an understanding and working knowledge of the issues related to Aboriginal child and family welfare
a sound knowledge and understanding of Aboriginal culture and society and
can effectively communicate with Aboriginal people a proven ability to advocate on behalf of children and young people
a willingness to communicate and work with DHS Child Protection good written and oral communication and interpersonal skills an ability to work flexible hours and intra state travel where necessary.
Program/Services Delivered
The Lakidjeka ACSASS operates an Intake and After Hours service across the state as well as providing a local regional response when it is agreed that there is a level of risk which needs to be investigated by Child Protection. The service was
established to ensure that significant decisions on Aboriginal children were being
made with cultural advice from Aboriginal people with the relevant skills, knowledge and training.
This means that Lakidjeka has responsibility to assist in informing the decision
making of all Aboriginal children and young people who are involved with Child Protection – whether they are home with parents who are voluntarily working with the Department, through to those children in formal Out of Home Care Placements.
Given that there are approximately 680 children in Out of Home Care alone (including Kith and Kin) across the state, the workload for the service is enormous,
and the nature of the work means that staff need a range of infrastructure supports, resources and training. At any one time there are approximately 1,200 children and young people who are open cases within ACSASS. Currently there are
18 caseworker positions across the state.
In addition, roles and responsibilities such as the inclusion of reports on unborn children, participation in Child Death Enquiries, and responding to investigations of Out of Home Care ‗Quality of Care‘ concerns, have been added to the role of
Lakidjeka without being adequately addressed in the Funding Agreement. Lakidjeka‘s work at the Children‘s Court as a ‗friend of the Court‘ has also increased
significantly over the year further straining resources and staff time. Some further thinking needs to be done in how this can be appropriately addressed.
High Risk/Client Deaths The nature of the work of ACSASS means that workers are working with ―at risk‖
and ―high risk‖ children and young people. Over the last twelve months we have had five client deaths and participated in four Child Death Inquiries, with another one to follow. Tragically we have had three young people pass away – two who
have allegedly suicided and one allegedly as a result of an overdose. All three had been involved with DHS and ACSASS for some time and one young girl‘s behaviour
was considered to be at extreme ―high risk‖. The death of the other two young people was unexpected and raises concerns about the level of informal and professional support that needs to be available to young people – particularly those
who have experienced sadness and trauma in their lives.
The work with highly traumatised young people is a difficult one and ACSASS workers (like other VACCA workers) are struggling to work effectively with some of
our very damaged young people. We have appreciated the work of services such as Take Two and Koori Kids Mental Health Service, however there needs to be more funding of flexible, creative and culturally responsive services for young people. We
look forward to the further development of therapeutic approaches in working with our young people.
The passing of young infants is also very tragic and it again highlights the need for more awareness and preventative services, particularly aimed at young parents and
their families. In addition we have also been touched by a number of deaths of parents of our children.
The impact of these deaths, particularly of children and young people, is hard on workers, friends, family and communities. Within VACCA we have organised
debriefing and offered support to those staff who knew or were associated with the
children or parents but these are not available to families and community members of the family.
Formal debriefing meetings and individual support for staff needs to continue to be
undertaken and prioritised by VACCA. These are processes which we need to develop, refine and make accessible to staff. For Lakidjeka workers, who will always work with a large amount of client risk, this continues to be an area which
needs further development particularly in rural areas. Acknowledgement needs to be made to DHS Child Protection in the North /West and Lodden Mallee Regions for
enabling ACSASS workers to access local DHS debriefing processes. Funding
Lakidjeka ACSASS is funded by the Department of Human Services to deliver the service across the state except for the Local Government Area of Mildura. The
funding received last financial year was $2,269,031 which means we have funding for approximately 28 positions.
The ACSASS review found however, that the service has evolved and changed significantly since its beginnings in 2002 and that the resource requirements for the
program were underestimated at the time of establishment and when the service was extended.
“It appears that the scope of the Program, the breadth of decision making activities, case practice frameworks, Program infrastructure requirements and
workforce supports were never properly conceptualised or appropriately funded. As a result Program resource requirements were underestimated at the time the Program was first established and again when the service was extended‖1
The budget for ACSASS is an ongoing concern. Coming into 2007/8 ACSASS was in
a deficit of $255,998 and at the end of this financial year there was a saving of $55,393 which will reduce the overall deficit. The cost of running a responsive service across the state with eleven different service sites is taxing on the program.
In addition, high rental costs, high administration costs including travel and accommodation costs, petrol, mobile phone and vehicle costs.
The impact of having such a budget deficit is that it becomes harder to attract new
staff and compete against wages from other programs and agencies. Staff may also potentially miss out on additional training and conference opportunities – particularly when travel is involved.
The Review recommended that the service urgently needs to
Approach DHS to secure a significant increase in resources; both increase the unit costing price and overall EFT’s.
Increase the management and coordination of EFT within the Program.2
1 Lakidjeka ACSASS Review undertaken by Juliet Frizzell, 2008 2 ibid
2. Program Overview
The following is an overview of the program for the past 12 months:
2.1 Compliance The Lakidjeka ACSASS program continues to provide quarterly reporting to DHS on five key areas of its service delivery:
1. Referrals to ACSASS (Intake)
2. Investigations/First Home visits 3. Attendance at 28 Day Protective Planning Meetings 4. Attendances at Case Planning Meetings.
5. Case Closures
There is an expectation that DHS will also comply and report on its consultations with ACSASS at these key points within a case. However, at present there is no compliance mechanism available through the data systems since the rollout of
Client Relationship Information System for Service Providers (CRISSP) and closure of the FACTS system. Therefore compliance cannot be adequately measured
without doing this on a manual basis. At this stage the general targets – which are a percentage of what comes into the
service – cannot be accurately measured. We hope that this can be addressed in the near future by DHS.
2.2 Data The Client Relationship Information System for Service Providers (CRISSP) has
been rolled out to some DHS funded agencies including VACCA across the state of Victoria. CRISSP is a client information and case management system designed to
assist community organisations deliver services to clients. With the arrival of the CRISSP, Lakidjeka has worked solidly over several months to
ensure a smooth transfer from FACTS to CRISSP. Initially Lakidjeka was not a part of the original rollout, however Lakidjeka ACSASS argued strongly that it needed to
be included in the North/West CRISSP rollout with Placement and Support and some Family Support Services given that all reports to Child Protection are
generated initially with ACSASS. In order to comply with the Privacy Legislation VACCA has two separate Heads of
Agreements with the Department. This ensures that any client information on unsubstantiated reports is not in the general VACCA client system and therefore
cannot be readily accessed. While this enables security around client information, it requires that VACCA will have to continue to look at ways of exchanging information between two systems.
While all ACSASS staff were given the opportunity to attend formal CRISSP
Training, its arrival has brought with it a number of frustrations and resource implications. The migration of the data was problematic and the Brunswick administration staff are still battling with the backlog of entries. The program
receives approximately 250 new reports per quarter which need to be entered on
the system along with any After Hour‘s contacts. Where cases are actioned, additional information has to be entered on the system and allocated to the
relevant worker. As a result this has meant a large part of work time is spent on CRISSP and as a result we have struggled to keep our own data base information
updated. At a Regional level workers are not using the system as we had hoped, but this is
largely due to errors in the system and a lack of time for workers to develop confidence in using a new system. Any real benefit of the CRISSP system appears
as yet to be realised and the impact on the system on service delivery needs to be monitored
2.3 ACSASS Case Data According to the ACSASS Data base, throughout the period of July 2007 to the end
of June 2008, ACSASS received a total of 2,066 reports (notifications) across the state (excluding Mildura) - 1,896 were received through the day service and 170 received through the After Hours Service (not including Mildura Reports)*.
This compares with a total of 2,306 recorded reports received last year, 360 less
than last year. There was a drop in reports from Child Protection After Hours Emergency Service by 100 (62%). See below table for regional breakdown and yearly comparisons between 2006-07 and 2007-08.
Of those 2,066 reports received, 965 reports were further actioned across for
investigation (46%). There has been a slight reduction in further actioned cases where last year this was 50% of all reports.
Please note when looking at Data that the Southern ACSASS team covers Southern and Eastern regions, and Barwon covers Barwon and Grampians
*ACSASS provides an After Hours Service for Mildura Aboriginal Corporation.
The following table gives a break down of Regional reports received by ACSASS for period ending 2007-2008.
2.4 Analysis of Data It is possible that we are seeing a reduction in reports due to some impact from the
Child First system where people are becoming more confident and clearer in how to refer to this system. Last year we saw a rise in reports to Child Protection perhaps
due to the introduction and promotion of a new service system. The percentage of reports going over for investigation continues to remain consistent at approximately 46% (last year 50%). What this means is that for every two reports that come through, one will go over for investigation by Child
Protection. We are unable to access our own information of what percentage of cases are substantiated (that children are at risk), however DHS data demonstrates
that this continues to be at a much higher rate than non Aboriginal children. The key factors as to why Aboriginal children come under the notice of Child
Protection continue to be family violence, drug and alcohol issues and mental health issues. In relation to family violence we have seen an increase in reports made
directly from police who are being called out to family violence incidents – both at Intake and After Hours intake. Unfortunately, while we cannot demonstrate that we are getting fewer reports around environmental neglect our sense it they are going
(and should be going to) Child FIRST agencies.
One of ACSASS‘s priorities is to have our data collection resources strengthened so that we and provide more relevant data and cases examples to demonstrate the work that we do and the need for further resources.
2.5 Good News/Achievements Lakidjeka ACSASS was profiled as a promising practise in the Human Rights and
Equal Opportunity Commissions Social Justice Report 2007 in early 2008. The report outlined case studies of Aboriginal Communities dealing with family violence and abuse: recognising ―promising practice‖ and learning from achievements. In
particular, when considering the issue of keeping children safe Lakidjeka was acknowledged as a program with particular strengths including the use of
Indigenous staff expertise and networks and the fact that it had a level of autonomy and independence from DHS.
In the context of the Northern Territory reforms and a general raising of the profile of abuse for Aboriginal children, other states have been very keen to talk to VACCA
and learn more about its service delivery including the role of ACSASS. A number of representatives from interstate have visited to discuss the legislative framework, the protocol and ACSASS and whether it (or something similar) could be adapted to
work in other states.
Those who have met with VACCA to investigate the role and responsibilities of ACSASS and the protocol have included the New South Wales Commissioner and colleagues who headed up the Inquiry into Department of Community Services
(DOCS), representatives from NSW Department of Community Services, Australian Capital Territory Family Services and the NSW Ombudsman‘s Office.
ACSASS (along with Nathan from Aboriginal Family Decision Making Team) were invited to speak at a legal conference in Sydney outlining VACCA‘s services with
particular focus on ACSASS and AFDM and how these services may be built into NSW court processes.
3. Planning
Lakidjeka Review The Lakidjeka Review was undertaken by Juliet Frizzell and overseen by a working
party of Sue Anne Hunter, Connie Salamone and Suzanne Cleary. It was acknowledged that ―No thorough review of the Program‘s resource requirements
has ever been undertaken. As a result of under-resourcing the Program is compromised at all levels.‖
According to Juliet‘s review areas compromised in particular are: ―Key Program management activities like partnership development, financial
management, risk management, quality assurance and planning are put on hold. Multiple and competing demands on the Program Manager position, have
resulted in inadequate attention to key priorities such as promoting the program
within the Community, financial and risk management, working with DHS. Major planning decisions such as resource allocation between sites, resource
reallocation from the ‗front end‘ to the ‗longer term‘ role, staffing levels, case loads and work design are not adequately addressed or incorporated into discussions with DHS.
Many staff carry unsustainable work and case loads, in particular the Program Coordinator, Supervisors and Caseworkers in metropolitan regions.
Workforce development and training, key VACCA priorities, cannot be effectively actioned within the Program because of lack of back fill, excessive case loads
and staff vacancies. Workforce issues, in particular recruitment and retention of staff, have not been
adequately addressed within Lakidjeka, VACCA, the sector or Child Protection.
Program policies, procedures and systems are in need of review and redevelopment.
Practice issues such as shared care planning and communication of case closures (a DHS responsibility) are not resolved in a timely manner.
Partnerships with other Aboriginal organisations, regional DHS CP services and
other child and family welfare organisations have been neglected due to a lack of resources.
There are no Program Standards by which Lakidjeka‘s performance and outcomes can be measured against.
The Program urgently needs to: Approach DHS to secure a significant increase in resources; both increase the
unit costing price and overall EFT‘s. Increase the management and coordination of EFT within the Program.
Establish sustainable case load benchmarks and (program) targets for the Program.
Address key program weaknesses in the areas of partnerships, program
understanding/awareness and communication. Improve key program policies, procedures, systems and tools in particular,
information management, performance measurement, case practice and Indigenous Risk Assessment.
Address workforce issues in relation to recruitment, selection, retention and
professional development of Caseworkers and Supervisor Caseworkers.‖
Specific Recommendations include: ACSASS needs to prepare a series of case studies which capture the work
volume requirements of a quality specialist cultural advisory service with
input into all decisions affecting the best interest of an Aboriginal Child in accordance with the Protocol and the Lakidjeka Funding Agreement.
We also need to develop a detailed Resourcing and Sustainability Plan which documents the actual level of resources required to address all levels of under resourcing and deliver a sustainable specialist cultural advisory service
to CP which focuses on the best interest of the child. Discussions need to commence with DHS around the Resourcing and
Sustainability Plan to determine how the Program‘s under resourcing can be addressed, that is through an increase in Program funding.
A review of the After Hours Service needs to take place including a cost
benefit analysis to determine whether the current model or an enhanced model would be in the best interest of Aboriginal children and young people,
Lakidjeka staff and CP. VACCA needs to immediately recruit an Executive Manager to the Lakidjeka
Program and revise the Lakidjeka Manager Position Description inline with VACCA‘s new executive structure.
Operational Plan Priorities for 2008/2009 In developing the ACSASS programs operational plan against VACCA‘s strategic
plan our program identified six priorities. The priorities are all of equal importance and are as below:
Build and retain a stable and skilled workforce Implement the recommendations of the Lakidjeka Review related to:
Program Management
Program Resourcing Workforce and Recruitment
Program Performance Funding Position Partnerships and Communication
Ensure Agency Registration Standards are suitable for Lakidjeka and develop a continuous quality improvement approach
Provide a quality service and meet program targets Improve communication, interaction and partnerships with:
local Aboriginal Communities
DHS Child Protection other Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisations
non-government organisations other VACCA programs VACCA Corporate Services Unit
Build an evidence base to support program planning, program development, reporting, improving case practice, policy development and lobbying.
Liaison with Government Liaison with DHS both at a Regional and statewide level is critical to exchange
information and maintain good working relationships. Throughout the last year a number of formal liaisons have been held between Child Protection and Lakidjeka.
These have included meetings within North/West, Southern, Barwon, Gippsland and Grampians. Meetings were also held in Swan Hill (part of Lodden Mallee Region) to re establish relationships and look at processes around referrals. Meetings with
Eastern, After Hours Emergency Service and the Hume Region need to be our next priorities.
Thanks in particular to our liaison contacts in the Southern, Northern, Barwon and
Gippsland regions who continue to meet with us regularly. With changes and staff shortages within DHS‘s Aboriginal Child & Family Services
Unit, it has been difficult to be able to strengthen our relationship. However, with the assistance of Sandie Mitchell we continue to work with and advocate to the
importance of the service and its interface with other funded programs such as AFDM
Public Voice Despite workload issues, ACSASS workers have continued to try to also be a public
voice for VACCA and at risk Aboriginal children and young people. Some of the messages we try to convey is that we are willing to work in partnership but that true partnership means respect on both sides and working with Aboriginal children
and families in a culturally appropriate way will ensure better outcomes for
everyone. In addition, we also try to instil the message that Aboriginal children and young people need to be safe within their families and communities.
Beginning Practice
Sue Lovett has taken on the challenge of training new Child Protection workers as part of the Beginning Practice Child Protection Training. The feedback both from DHS Trainers and workers is always positive and they have all appreciated Sue‘s
story telling, her openness and sense of humour. Wendy Lovett has also done a session and we are hoping that she will have other opportunities to build her
confidence in this area. Children’s Court Magistrates
Throughout the year VACCA was invited to attend a professional development session with the Melbourne Children‘s Court Magistrates. The meeting was a very
positive one where it became clear that there is a clear commitment from both the Court and VACCA to continue to build upon its relationship. The Magistrates are keen to hear the views of ACSASS and other VACCA programs when making
decisions on Aboriginal children and young people.
The court also acknowledged the work of ACSASS and VACCA in general and provided some positive feedback on the value that Aboriginal workers bring to the court proceedings. ACSASS is also keen to work with the President of Children‘s
Court to further develop relationships with Children‘s Court Magistrates in rural areas.
VACCHO Presentations ACSASS was also given the opportunity to run some training sessions with the
Victorian Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation (VACCHO) in Hume, Barwon, Gippsland and North/West regions. The sessions were on the Aboriginal
Child Welfare System and mandatory reporting obligations within Victoria. These sessions gave Health workers an opportunity to find out more about the need to protect children as well as some local contacts between VACCHO and VACCA.
Conclusion
In reflection, another year has flown past and ACSASS has somehow survived the staff turnovers, the on going review and strategic planning and the introduction of a
new data system. For staff out in regional sites there is the added layer of having overwhelming numbers of complex casework with at times limited support. The tension between operational and program development has been a theme
throughout the work of ACSASS this year and it is obvious that we need to embrace and act upon the recommendations of the ACSASS review. To not do this will
compromise the need for further infrastructure and resources and this tension will continue.
A program such as ACSASS is only as good as the people on the ground – Aboriginal people working in their local communities having to somehow perform
their work duties in difficult situations. It is hoped that the outcomes and planning from the review will also result in a strengthening of their support, training and development.
It is believed that the next year needs to be one of being proactive rather than reactive and I hope that will be reflected in next years VACCA AGM report. In the
future it is envisaged that the service will be able to attract Aboriginal staff, support and retain them and that the work in keeping Aboriginal children safe is recognised.
I would like to thank all the current ACSASS staff for all their hard work and dedication as always. In particular I would like to acknowledge the previous work
of Rodney and past workers for the skills and knowledge they imparted on us. I also need to thank and acknowledge the ACSASS East Brunswick team, Muriel,
Juliet Frizzell and VACCA staff for providing me with the much needed support, advice and laughter.
Suzanne Cleary Program Manager
PLACEMENT AND SUPPORT AGM Report 2007-08
1. INTRODUCTION
The VACCA Placement and Support Unit deliver programs to Aboriginal children who are unable to live with their parents and who are placed in Out of Home Care.
There are four main types of care: Home Based Care (also known as foster care), Residential Care, Kinship Care and Permanent Care.
VACCA‘s Placement and Support Unit consists of three programs which are: the Extended Care Program (delivered at four sites); Residential Care Program and the
Permanent Care Program. The North and West Region Koori Cultural Placement and Support Program has been managed by the Outreach Operational Manager
position until recently. This program now part of VACCA‘s Placement and Support Unit.
There are thirty-one staff members working in the programs, including three staff members at Southern VACCA Dandenong office and two staff members at the Swan
Hill VACCA office. The staff in the Extended Care Program have remained quite stable. The new key
position of Co-ordinator was established this year, and Yolanda Glenn was appointed to the position at the Brunswick office in March. This has enabled the
Extended Care Program Manager Julie Toohey to focus on broader program areas including the recruitment and training of foster carers, managing the complex and intensive cases, and supporting the work of the Educational Support Worker, Sarah
Diplock.
We have been able to achieve stability in the Residential Care staff group. In November last year Lindsay Holmes transferred from the Extended Care Program to
take up the position of Senior Caseworker for the group homes. In May we appointed Sue Molnar to the position of Education Support Worker (known as a CIRC worker) for the group homes. Sue has many years experience in working
with children in care. We have also created two new House Supervisor positions, and Jamie Thomas commenced in one of these positions in early November. We
are also in the process of appointing some female youth support workers to be able to do 1:1 work with the adolescent girls in the program.
The Permanent Care Program has been reduced to one Co-ordinator position due to a lack of funding being provided by the Department of Human Services. May Andy
left VACCA in October 2007 and was not replaced, and Pauline Fennell who was based in the Loddon Mallee Region relocated to the Barwon South West region in early June and took up an Extended Care caseworker position based in Geelong.
Melissa Brickell, the Program Co-ordinator left VACCA on October 8th and we are hoping to fill that vacancy in the very near future.
2. FUNDING
All programs in Out of Home Care are funded by the Department of Human Services Community Care Branch. The Southern VACCA Programs are funded by
the Southern DHS region. VACCA has two Education Support positions. The full-time Education Support
Worker for Extended Care children is funded by VACCA without any contribution from DHS or the Department of Education. The Education Support Worker position
known as the CIRC (Children In Residential Care) position is funded by the Commonwealth Government, but is administered by the North and West DHS Region. We are funded for a worker for two days a week.
In the last state budget, new funding for Aboriginal Out of Home Care Services was
made available. This was as follows:
Residential Care: base funding increased to $138,000 per target (RP2
funding), plus $23,000 per target for case management. This adds up to $161,000 per target which for VACCA, with eight targets, equates to
$1,216,000. This is an annual increase for VACCA of $400,000 per year. It is disappointing that no additional money has been transferred to VACCA to date.
Other funding for Out of Home Care initiatives such as funding for Aboriginal
Therapeutic Residential Care and Aboriginal Kinship Care have also been announced but no decisions made in relation to where these initiatives will be operating has been made as yet.
The Permanent Care Program is grossly underfunded in that we are funded for one
position to cover the whole state. Despite requests to the Department for increased funding of this complex work, no increased funding has been provided.
3. MAJOR DEVELOPMENTS IN THE OUT OF HOME CARE SECTOR
3.1 Aboriginal Agencies assuming guardianship of Aboriginal Children Section 18 of the Children Youth and Families Act 2005 makes provision for an
Aboriginal Chief Executive Officer of an Aboriginal agency to assume the powers and delegations of the Secretary of the Department of Human Services in relation to children who are placed on Protective Orders such as Guardianship Orders.
A Section 18 Working Group was established involving the Department and
Aboriginal organizations funded by DHS to provide services to statutory clients to determine a course of action to enact this section of the legislation.
There is still significant policy development required prior to Aboriginal agencies assuming guardianship. The date for commencement of this significant
development is August 2010. It was agreed that the first step in this process was for Aboriginal agencies to take
on the responsibility of Case Contracting which means entering into a written
contract with DHS to provide formal case management of children in care. This means that the caseworkers are responsible for all case management tasks and for
completing quarterly reports to DHS and providing an annual report to the court (for children on protection orders).
It is planned that all eligible Extended Care children at the Brunswick office will be contracted to the agency by June 2009, followed by the children in Residential
Care.
A three day training program has been offered by DHS. 3.2 Therapeutic Care
All Out of Home Care agencies are now required to provide a therapeutic response to children in care using a trauma-informed approach which incorporates the work
of Bruce Perry, whose focus is on the impact of trauma on brain development, and the work of Daniel Hughes and others in relation to trauma and attachment.
Last year we were involved in a consortium of agencies in the North and West Region who put in a submission for funding for the Circle Program which is a
therapeutic foster care model. This submission was unsuccessful however Julie Toohey has been involved in working therapeutically with the complex cases and some of the intensive cases in the Extended Care Program. This involves the
identification and maintenance of a Care Team, the consistent use of a Clinical Advisor and regular Careplan Review meetings for each child.
The Residential Care team has adopted a therapeutic approach when working with the children in the group homes; however we need to develop a training program
for all the staff so that there is agreement and consistency in the approach with the children. We also need to access the services of a Clinical Advisor, and develop an
Aboriginal Therapeutic Residential Care Model which can be piloted, and possibly adapted and used by other Aboriginal agencies.
3.3 Aboriginal Kinship Care The Department of Human Services has conducted a working group in relation to
Kinship Care for the last 18 months and produced a Green Paper with proposals for models of kinship care. VACCA provided feedback on this paper in March, but
there has been little progress in relation to this paper since then. We are very keen to progress this work and to develop a model of Aboriginal
Kinship or Customary Care in conjunction with the other Aboriginal organizations. Since the Green Paper, there has been a lack of direction from DHS for Aboriginal
agencies to enable Aboriginal agencies to develop this work. Dandenong VACCA has a small Kinship Care program (10 targets) in operation
according to an agreement with the Southern DHS region, however further policy work needs to be done to establish a model of practice that can be implemented in
Aboriginal communities on a state-wide basis.
3.4 Best Interests Case Practice Model This year the Department of Human Services produced a Summary Guide for the
Best Interests Case Practice Model. This is an excellent guide for workers to use to improve their case management skills and we will be doing work to ensure that we
embed the model into our practice. There is a greater emphasis on workers analyzing the information they gather, developing intervention plans and regularly reviewing the plans.
3.5 Introduction of CRISSP/CRIS Electronic Data System
All Community Service Organizations across the state have been required to use the CRISSP (Client Relationship Information System for Service Providers) data system. Southern VACCA has been using CRISSP since 2006, Swan Hill office went
live in March 2008 and North and West Region Placement and Support programs went live on 12th June. All VACCA Placement and Support workers and some
Placement and Support funded family services programs attended CRISSP training in June.
Some workers have adapted very well to using CRISSP and some others are still struggling with using it in a consistent way, particularly in the group homes where
there is the 24/7 rostered staffing model. Given that Extended Care workers will be contracting cases by mid-December,
workers need to be trained up on the Child Protection CRIS (Client Relationship Information System) system.
4. COMPLIANCE IN RELATION TO REGISTRATION STANDARDS
As part of making sure that the whole agency is compliant with the Community Service Organizations Registration Standards, the VACCA Organizational
Development Project was conceived and implemented. This has involved the following activities:
4.1 Internal Committee Structure In order to reach compliance with the Community Service Organization Registration
Standards, this year has seen the development of an internal committee structure which has required representation of the unit. The committees make decisions
about actions required to progress the work, and hence this has increased the workload of the unit in a more formal way. Some of these committees that we are involved in are:
Executive Leadership Group
Operational Forums Management Registration Committee Risk Management and Safety Committee
Sub-committee of Risk Management: Emergency Planning Committee (EPC) High Risk Clients Committee
Cultural Committee Cross Programs Committee Case Contracting Committee
There are a number of other internal committees in progress as well, for example the Workforce Development Project
4.2 VACCA Risk Register
The agency has been through the process of developing a Risk Register. The Placement and Support Unit has contributed to the agency Risk Register and is now required to implement the actions required to eliminate or minimize the risks to
children, families, workers and the agency. The Placement and Support Unit now has a Risk Management Action Plan which needs to be implemented.
5. PLANNING
Across all the programs we have undertaken extensive planning during the reporting period to include:
5.1 VACCA Operational Planning Process Focusing on the eight Strategic Priorities of the agency, the unit held two Strategic
Planning Days in May with a view to developing an Operational Plan for the Placement and Support Unit.
As part of this process, we have contributed to the Strategic Planning Days of the other Operational Programs as well as the Operational Plan for the Executive.
5.2 Placement and Support Registration Workplan
Maureen Hogarty, the Out of Home Care Registration Project worker, and the Program Managers have been involved in developing the unit‘s registration workplan as well as individual workplans for key staff. Maureen has completed
several of the manuals and new policies for Out of Home Care, and assisted staff to understand the standards and what is required of them to meet the standards,
particularly pertaining to the Out of Home Care standards. Maureen has done QIKSA training to become an auditor and assisted in the Mock Audits conducted by Berry Street and VACCA.
6. PROGRAM OVERVIEWS
6.1 EXTENDED CARE PROGRAM
Julie Toohey has led the team with the assistance of Yolanda Glenn, the Program Co-ordinator who took on the supervision of the caseworkers and the access worker. Julie has continued to supervise the Co-ordinator and Sarah Diplock, the
Education Support Worker. Julie also took on the supervision of the Koori Cultural Placement and Support worker in August this year.
Targets The program has provided approximately 150 placements for Aboriginal children in
the last financial year. Some of these placements are regular respite placements. The program has met the target of 52 placements which includes: 32 general, 16
intensive, and 4 complex targets. The three types of targets are funded at different levels.
There is a great demand for foster care placements for Aboriginal children in Geelong, but we do not have the resources to recruit more carers and provide more
placements at this stage.
Carer Assessment and Training for Aboriginal agencies The long awaited Aboriginal Step by Step Carer Assessment Package and the Aboriginal carers training package ―Our Carers for Our Kids‖ was obtained by DHS
from NSW, and training was rolled out in March. VACCA Extended Care staff from Brunswick, Dandenong and Swan Hill attended the training which went over four
days. The Aboriginal agencies agreed that both packages were suitable for use in Victoria
although they needed to be modified to fit the Victorian legislation and practice. Agencies were to trial the packages and report back with a view to them being
modified and finalized for use. VACCA has been using both packages and find them very culturally appropriate and
useful, although we think that the materials could be stream lined.
VACCA Brunswick has assessed fifteen new carers this year, and have conducted carer training three times in the last twelve months.
Most carers have attended the ―Nikara‘s Journey‖ training which is an excellent training package developed by VACCA which teaches carers the importance of a
child‘s culture being valued and promoted. It is an expectation that all our carers complete Nikara‘s Journey as part of their training.
The carers are greatly valued by VACCA, and are supported by workers very well. There are at least two Carer Gatherings held each year which provide an
opportunity for the carers to get together and talk about common problems and to share some of the joys of being a foster carer. As well as this, carers are updated about any new information or direction in the Home Based Care sector.
Staff Training
Sharon Mongta has been working on completing her Certificate IV in Protective Care this year. Jana Kelly has commenced Family Therapy training with the
Bouverie Centre. Several staff attended the two day Bruce Perry training in December 2007, as well
as Workshops run by Gregory Nicolau from the START program.
Staff have also attended the Aboriginal Step by Step Carer Assessment Training and the Carer Training Package ―Our Carers for Our Kids‖ Training. They have also attended CRISSP training.
Education Support for children in care
Sarah Diplock has continued in the role as Education Support Worker for Extended Care and has continued to set up innovative programs to enhance the children‘s learning ability.
Sarah has facilitated the Books In Home Program which provides books for children in care via three special book presentations throughout the year using a well-known
Aboriginal person to help promote the books and reading with the children.
Sarah was also involved in a project with Hutton Street Primary School and Richard Frankland to make a film showing a culturally safe school for Aboriginal children and how this can increase the children‘s educational outcomes.
Sarah is also involved in the Community Publishing Project in partnership with the
City of Darebin which aims to publish a book which has been written and developed by Aboriginal children in care with the help of Aboriginal Elders and community members.
Sarah has also continued with the production of and training for parents in the use
of the Early Literacy Bags which are bags with educational items for pre-school children.
Sarah has also given presentations at a number of conferences including the VACCA conference in relation to improving educational outcomes for Aboriginal children in
care. Geelong Extended Care Program
The work in Geelong is managed by Julie Toohey and Yolanda Glenn from the VACCA Brunswick office. Corinna O‘Toole worked as the Extended Care
Caseworker in Geelong until 4th April. Corinna provided strong support for the children in care and the carers. Pauline Fennell replaced Corinna in June but due to her study commitments, has only been able to work three days a week on the
Extended Care cases. There are presently eight carers in Geelong caring for thirteen children. Some of these children are deemed complex cases requiring
extra support from Yolanda and Julie. There are a number of potential carers in Geelong and a demand for more foster
care placements for Aboriginal children such that we believe we could utilize another caseworker in Geelong. However, we have held back from increasing the
number of carers until we negotiate more targets for the program with the Placement and Support Branch of the Department of Human Services.
Southern VACCA Extended Care Program The Southern VACCA Extended Care Program in Dandenong is managed by Jill
Owen, Program Manager and Julie Pearson, Casework Supervisor. Dandenong VACCA has three carers at the moment and is in the process of assessing four other
potential carers. The target of six placements has been met with sixteen children being placed at different times. The target for Kinship Care placements has not been met, with only one case being managed by the team, and three Kinship Care
assessments having been completed to date.
Swan Hill Extended Care Program The program has provided placements for five children, three of whom are now in permanent care. Two potential carers are currently being assessed. Charmain Bell,
Olive Walsh and Alma Morgan attended the ―Our Carers for Our Kids‖ Training, and when a few more carers are recruited, that training will be conducted in Swan Hill.
Activities for Children and their Carers
The Brunswick Extended Care team organized the NAIDOC Children‘s Day this year which was held at the Aborigines Advancement League. It was a successful day for children and families.
A Carers Christmas BBQ is also held each year which involves a large number of the
Aboriginal community. The staff have also continued with the KKICNARP (Koori Kids in Care New Active
Recreation Program) program which is a recreational program for the children in residential care. They are generally held in the school holidays and all the children
enjoy the days so much as they get to see other children in care. 6.2 RESIDENTIAL CARE PROGRAM
Dave Simmons has continued in the role of Program Manager. Dave has had some assistance from Maureen Hogarty, the Registration Project Officer in improving
systems in the group homes and building the capacity of the staff. Targets
The target for the program which is 7.6 daily average occupancy has been met. The program has provided placements for 17 children in the last financial year.
Presently there are four children under 12 at Reservoir and a sibling group of three young people aged 12-16 years at Coburg.
Staff Training Theresa McNally has been working on completing the Certificate IV in Community
Services (Protective Care) and is due to complete it in November this year. Several staff attended the Bruce Perry training on the impact of trauma on brain development in December. Other training attended by staff are:
Protective Behaviours training in November 2007. Koori Faces training
Fire Safety Training Incident Report Writing
CRISSP training START training with consultant psychologist Gregory Nicolau
There is an ongoing cycle of training in relation to Fire and Emergency Safety to ensure that we comply with regulations.
Staff also attended the ―Resi Rocks‖ forum in May which involves some training sessions.
Outcomes for Children Four good outcomes for the children in the program were that:
In November last year two children (siblings) who were at Reservoir group home returned to their mother‘s care
Two brothers, aged 14 and 13 years returned to their grandmother‘s care. There was some very good work done by the team in teaching these boys how to manage their feelings, providing them with positive
experiences, and helping them plan for their futures, which resulted in the grandmother being able to have them return to her care.
One 13 year old boy who was in and out of the group home for about six months of the year went to live with his grandfather.
One 13 year old boy has been attending school regularly and has had his
hours at school increased to four days a week.
Change to Adolescent Residential Care (Coburg) Although the program is funded for children less than 12 years of age, and has previously had children who have become adolescents whilst in the group homes,
we have seen a marked shift in the behavior of the four adolescents that we have cared for in the last 12 months.
Since February a pattern of absconding developed in all the adolescents. The whereabouts of the young people has sometimes not been known and at various
times throughout this year the young people have all been placed in the DHS Secure Welfare facilities for short periods for their own safety. Due to the young
girls who are 12 years of age being missing for several nights at a time, and the high risk behaviours that they have been involved in such as drinking alcohol, dabbling in drug taking, and socializing with males much older than themselves,
DHS has obtained Safe Custody Warrants to apprehend the girls and either return them to placement, or hold and assess them for placement in Secure Welfare.
Of great concern is the young people‘s involvement in criminal activity which has involved theft, burglary and assault. All the girls have been given Formal Cautions
by police, and the 14 year old boy has had to attend the criminal division of the court.
The other major change at Coburg group home is that the three girls do not attend
school or any other day program, despite our best efforts to encourage them to return to school.
This has created a major challenge for us, as like other agencies working with adolescents who are school refusers, we need to develop day programs that can
meet their needs. With the request to place a sibling group of children less than 10 years of age in
one group home in May, we decided to move the three older girls at Reservoir to Coburg with a 13 year old boy who is the sibling of two of the girls. This has
changed the Coburg group home into an adolescent unit. The intensity of the work with the adolescents has caused us to change our staffing
roster as workers are not able to do more than two nights in a row in the group
home. With the constant changeover of staff, we realize that we need to have a House Supervisor in each house to facilitate communication between shifts, ensure
consistency of approach to the management of the young people, and to ensure the smooth running of the house.
As mentioned earlier we have appointed one House Supervisor.
Children under 12 Group Home (Reservoir) This group home has a sibling group of three and one other 10 year old boy. The
children get on well together and the staffing group is very stable. Because the work is less intense and the children usually are settled at night, staff are able to work for 2-3 nights in a row without many problems. We have two workers who
cover the alternate weekends with support workers.
The children are happy, have a good routine, and are developing well. Lindsay Holmes, the Senior Caseworker, is particularly good at ensuring that all the children have the maximum contact possible with their parents and extended family
members.
Education Support Worker The Education Support work has been enhanced with the employment of Sue Molnar in the Residential Care Program. Sue has been able to implement the
Partnering Agreement ensuring that all children attending school have Individual Education Plans and School Support Groups.
Sue has also been able to secure some funding for some Cultural Activities Program for the children and young people in the group homes. The activities include
cultural camps, excursions, and return to country trips. Namatjira Morgan will be assisting in the planning and facilitating these activities.
The other key challenge for Sue is to find alternative day programs for the young people who are not engaged in school.
6.3 PERMANENT CARE PROGRAM
Melissa Brickell has been the Permanent Care Co-ordinator for the last financial year. From October 2007 with the departure of May Andy, Pauline Fennell was the
only other worker in the program until early June. Targets
The target of 16 Permanent Care assessments was met in that 23 assessments involving 35 children were completed in the last twelve months. Of these 23
assessments there were 15 Aboriginal carers and 8 non-Aboriginal carers. There were 14 children in placement with family members, and 10 children in placements with non-related carers.
Nineteen Permanent Care Orders were made in the last financial year.
There were 17 cases awaiting assessments as of June this year. Possible strategies for managing the backlog of cases include:
a) For the seven children in VACCA care, Extended Care caseworkers will complete what is known as ―Foster Care Conversions‖ meaning the
process for converting a foster care placement to a permanent care placement.
b) Where children are placed with Aboriginal kinship carers, on a case by case basis, assistance will be sought from DHS protective workers to do the Permanent Care assessment after a VACCA Permanent Care worker
has established contact with the children, their parents and their carers to advise them of VACCA support if a Permanent Care Order is made and
DHS close the case. It also enables VACCA to have a record of Aboriginal children in Permanent Care placements.
c) Where children are placed with non-Aboriginal carers, on a case by case
basis, assistance may be sought from DHS protective workers to complete a joint assessment with the VACCA Permanent Care worker
completing the Cultural Component of the Permanent Care assessment only.
Impact of the CYFA 2005 to date In the Gippsland region, in relation to cases where the carers are Aboriginal kinship
carers, the cases awaiting have been managed by Melissa doing joint visits with the DHS worker to the children and their carers, and reaching agreement with the Aboriginal carer that DHS will conduct the permanent care assessment and advise
VACCA of the outcome. Carers and children were given information about VACCA and how to contact VACCA if any help and support is needed in the future,
particularly as the children reach adolescence. Once the VACCA Permanent Care worker obtains information that the carers have been approved as permanent carers, VACCA would provide a letter of support for the making of the Permanent
Care Order to the court.
We think that this is a good way to manage the volume of cases with such limited resources.
Review of the Permanent Care Program A review of the program has now become urgent in light of the implementation of
the Children Youth and Families Act 2005, and due to the changes in child protection practice and other programs that surround the Permanent Care program.
7. FUTURE DIRECTIONS
The major work for the Residential Care and Extended Care programs is to develop an Aboriginal therapeutic approach to working with Aboriginal children in care with
culture as the foundation for any new model. We look forward to the commencement of Case Contracting as I believe that we are
in a strong position to take on this responsibility as a first step to taking on more responsibility for Aboriginal children in the Child Protection system.
In conjunction with the Aboriginal organizations, we are also keen to develop a model of Aboriginal Kinship or Customary Care that can be rolled out across the
state.
8. CONCLUSION
The new funding for Residential Care is greatly welcomed and will enable the
agency to move forward in providing adequate staffing models in the group homes in the long term, as well as improving the therapeutic response to the children in
our care. The funding for an Aboriginal Kinship or Customary Care program is also welcomed
as it is well known that there are many Aboriginal grandmothers, aunts and uncles caring for their family‘s children with minimal support. The opportunity to progress
the principle of self-determination for Aboriginal agencies via the case contracting of cases is also welcomed particularly by the Extended Care staff.
I would like to thank all the workers in the Placement and Support Unit for their dedication, hard work and commitment to the children in VACCA Care. Out of
Home Care work can be very emotionally draining work at times that requires workers to draw on all their inner strength to manage the complex and difficult behavior of some of the children, and I thank the workers for ‗hanging in‖ there
with some of our troubled children and young people.
I would also like to thank Muriel for her strong, always inspiring leadership, the Executive and my senior staff Julie, Dave, Melissa, Maureen and Yolanda for their hard work, good humor and unwavering personal support throughout the year.
Gwen Rogers Operations Manager
EARLY INTERVENTION & FAMILY SUPPORT AGM Report 2007-08
The Early Intervention & Family Services Programs offers Aboriginal families a
varied choice of interventions across a continuum of support ranging from early intervention & prevention to the provision of both secondary and tertiary services.
Detailed below are the different programs offered and available to Aboriginal families across the continuum of support:
_______Prevention______________Secondary______________Tertiary___________
Early Intervention Program Family Support Program Family Preservation Program
Play groups / Home visiting / Volunteers program / Innovations /Family Links / Family
Support / Bargoongagat Indigenous Case Coordination Panel / Aboriginal Family Decision
making / Family Restorations Program
Whilst staff have a primary role and expertise in the work of the Program that they were employed under, we offer an integrated service where staff may and do work
across all the different program areas and will generally follow a client form one program to another.
We offer a range of programs to families. In general the work we do is the same, with the difference between programs generally being about:
The level of intensity we provide – how many hours of service are provided per client
The resources available to help support a client How many workers are involved with a family The number of presenting problems or issues that can be targeted.
We offer families the following:
Home visits to provide parenting advice & support, Limited Counseling for adults and children in relation to family matters Behavior management strategies
Referrals to other Programs and advocacy in relation to housing, income security, education etc. for allocated clients.
Linking families to community activities and supports Limited Emergency Relief – Food vouchers only Group programs
Coordination of support services
Families can be involved in more than one program at a time. This year there has been further growth to the Team with the implementation of
the Aboriginal Liaison positions to Child FIRST in two further catchments as well as the expansion of existing services. We currently employ 25 staff across all our
programs. This year we prioritized the restructuring and development of our senior management group, increasing from 4 senior positions to 8. A number of key vacancies within that senior team for much of the year placed significant stress and
an increased work load on those remaining. The Senior Team is to be congratulated for managing above and beyond their roles in supporting staff and
ensuring that quality services are provided to our families.
The direct service team must also be recognized and congratulated for the incredibly difficult and valuable work provided to families. Again throughout the year, vacancies, annual leave, maternity leave and work cover issues resulted in
the Team having to work under increased pressure. Their commitment to families was demonstrated by the fact that many worked flexible hours including weekends
and early mornings and evenings. Also a number of staff are pursuing further study in their fields.
Whilst staff retention has had an impact, filling vacancies with the right people has been a significant issue and has taken considerable time. What we have found is
that a number of workers do struggle to balance the family work with administrative tasks and once they get behind it becomes overwhelming. As a result we have increased the role of Admin within our team and developed a
documentation system which will be better managed by direct service staff. We have a lot of younger workers who are very keen to develop themselves and be of
service to their community. We have a good balance of gender which is important in role modeling and being able to deal more appropriately with gender issues when they arise.
Our funding sources come from a range of sectors and again demonstrate the
support and recognition we receive from Federal and State governments as well as the Corporate and the mainstream Family Services sector:
The Commonwealth government funds much of our Early Intervention
programs DHS funds the majority of our other programs
A corporate grant from Telstra Foundation funds our Volunteers program Contributions from other CSO‘s within various Child FIRST Alliances in the
North & West catchments fund our Aboriginal Liaison workers
Aboriginal Best Start Project funds some early year‘s projects.
We have been fortunate in enjoying a very supportive and productive relationship with all our funders.
2. Program Overview
In general all Programs except the Aboriginal Family Decision Making program meet funding targets. Families had access to a range of programs and interventions
tailored to meet the needs of families rather than families having to fit into a particular program. A focus on our planning and assessment skills throughout the year has resulted in better and more relevant service plans being developed for
families and children which will then increase the likelihood of achieving positive outcomes.
Supported Playgroups Playgroups support families with children 5 years or below in a group work model
focusing on child development, parent-child interactions and basic advice on parenting issues. The advice can be provided directly by our workers or from
consultants that can be invited to the group or by referring a family to an appropriate service.
Each playgroup runs for 2.5 hrs per week during school terms 3 & 4 of 2007 and 1 and 2 of 2008. Parental input towards the planning of sessions is sought at the
beginning of each term and encouraged throughout term. Session plans are developed for each session and incorporates suggestions and advice from families. Session plans focus on providing activities that are culturally attuned and assist
children in meeting developmental milestones. In particular, activities over the year targeted:
Cultural identity Development of fine and gross motor skills Socialization skills
Literacy and numeracy (reading/story telling is a regular part of session)
Activities planned for every session include a focus on Aboriginal culture and 2 sessions a term in NMR & EMR were planned around the theme of Aboriginal culture. Elders were invited and attended as were Aboriginal dancers and
musicians. Through cultural activities and play the children have opportunities to connect to their Indigenous communities and to increase their knowledge of
culture. Staff plan for a healthy and nutritious lunch and snacks for each session. Parents
are encouraged to share healthy recipes with staff who buy the ingredients and help the parent prepare the food at the session. Feedback from evaluation forms
suggest that parents have benefitted from the range of recipes and different foods that their children are prepared to try and enjoy. Children are eating fruit and yoghurt as regular snacks and there appears to be less junk food being brought into
playgroup.
Feedback generally indicated satisfaction with activities and staff. Parents enjoyed the music and dance programs and the opportunity to talk informally with other
professionals. Many parents valued the social interaction with other parents and commented positively about the cultural activities provided.
Our ‗Transition to Kinder‘ program (NMR playgroups only) was delivered in Terms 3 & 4 and staff monitored and encouraged parents of all 3 and 4 year olds to enroll
children in kinder/school programs. KECFOs visited twice in term 4 and twice in Term 3 and offered encouragement and advice to parents. In the NMR playgroups, 2 children went to 3 year old Kinder, 8 to 4 year old Kinder, and 4 to Prep. In the
EMR playgroup, 3 children enrolled in Prep and 1 child moved into 4 year old Kinder. In Swan Hill 3 went to Prep and 1 in 4 year old Kindergarten. In
Frankston, 2 went to 4 year old kindergarten and 3 went into 3 year old kindergarten. Developmental milestones checklists were completed for all children in NMR playgroups.
All groups had visits from local M&CH nurses and all groups offered opportunity for
immunizations to occur at playgroups. Other visitors/consultants invited to
sessions included:
Drum club Sing & Grow Kindergroove
Nutritionist Parent Zone
Dentist Speech pathologist Women‘s health
Many of the group programs offer dance and music programs which require the
parent to participate with the child and therefore encourages closer relationships. Other consultants offered parents advice and support on a range of needs from financial, housing, parenting etc, in an informal and one-on-one manner.
A photographic diary of every child‘s journey through playgroup was developed and
provided to the family. This record reinforces the part that playgroup plays in supporting children‘s development. Swan Hill and Dandenong playgroups were unable to provide this service.
Regular attendance of a core group of parents and children attending each
playgroup has been a feature this year. Also there appears to be a greater knowledge and understanding within the Aboriginal community about the value of
playgroups with parents promoting the benefits more openly in various forums. Most parents were keen to be involved in the Playgroup video despite being shy about being video taped.
Partnerships with other significant organizations, Aboriginal and non Aboriginal such
as MCHN, Parentzone, KECFO‘s, Sing and Grow, Drum Club, Dental checks, Local councils, Kindy Grove enhancing parent education, health needs and service delivery. Without these partnerships our families would be unable to access the
range of support services that are currently available to them.
This year we worked hard on having consistent planning and recording processes across all the sites and some training and shadowing for less experienced workers by attending groups that were operating particularly well. Swan Hill in particular
underwent a thorough review and strategic planning for the next financial year.
The use of playgroups for families accessing our Family Services programs has been of great benefit in terms of providing families exiting from such services to still remain connected to some level of minimum support. Also playgroups have
provided a support for families on active holding lists who are awaiting entry into the family support programs. Use of playgroups as a venue for access to occur has
also been a positive and less anxiety provoking experience for those parents in spending time with their children.
Development of a manual for running supported playgroups for Aboriginal families was completed this year and included a Koorie Playgroup Kit to be distributed to
Aboriginal playgroups. Two of our playgroups were also involved in a promotional video of Aboriginal playgroups with participation of VACCA staff and parents in that
video. An Aboriginal reference group established by Playgroup Victoria played a central role in the development and distribution of the Playgroup kits.
Family Support General Family Support services provide support and advice to parents in their own
home 1 to 2 times a week. With our Innovations funding we can provide a more intensive service to parents in their own home - 2 x week at a minimum. Intervention can involve 2 workers per family and brokerage funds. We also have a
program called Family Link which provides support and advice to parents in their own home 2 x week at a minimum and involves joint case work with a Mainstream
Agency worker. This year we had 67 new referrals and worked with 99 families - 12 of these
families required a second period of intervention throughout the year. DHS were the referrer in 33% of families, 36% were referred by other community service
organizations, 14% were self-referrals and 13% were referred internally. We closed with 72 families in the year. Of the families we worked with, 57 families had between 6 and 12 presenting issues and a further 28 families had between 3 and 6
presenting issues. This demonstrates the vast complexity of the families we are working with and the range of issues that we need to target. It also clearly
indicates why we work much longer than the 12 week turnaround expected by funders. The major issues for our families were family violence (53 families), substance abuse (37 families), managing children‘s behavior (59 families) and
education issues (39 families). Forty-two families received more than 50 hours of service and a further 10 families received more than 35 hours of service.
We have also introduced some regular assessment templates that periodically ensure that workers are continually mindful of the wellbeing of the child and the
environment in which they live.
Our Emergency Relief program assisted 70 families with 23 families being first time clients. We also delivered a non-substantive (one off advice & referral) service on
304 occasions.
Aboriginal Restoration Program
The Restorations program is an intensive family preservation & reunification program which provides support and advice to parents in their own home or at a
residential unit for up to 20 hours a week as well as an after hours on call service over 12 weeks. It involves a team of workers per family and brokerage funds. This program is limited to the North & West Metropolitan region.
Our Residential Unit was not available from the end of November 2007 as it had
been an interim arrangement and had to be returned to DHS. In July 2008 we were able to reopen the residential unit thanks to negotiations involving DHS, Elizabeth Hoffman House and North East Housing with a different property
becoming available.
Pre-referral consultations occurred for 16 families and 5 families received significant
pre-referral assessment and support. Three of these families did not proceed to the Program. Restorations worked with 7 families over the year and all were home
based interventions. Four of the seven families were long term chronic multi-issue families and with two families there were positive outcomes for parents and children. With the two other families, the interventions were characterized by
difficulties in engaging the parents on working towards agreed goals. However, our observations and assessments did play a central role in identifying and clarifying
the risk issues for children as well as the strengths of the parents. Two of the other three families we worked with also had positive outcomes which enabled children to remain at home safely. One of these was a young mum with a newborn who she
was considering adopting out because of her circumstances.
Thanks largely to the efforts of Restorations staff in supporting her, this mother worked hard to change many aspects of her life and is now parenting all of her children with greater confidence. What has become very clear is that the intensive
nature of the program, although very intrusive, also allows us a concentrated opportunity to work with a family in a way that not only allows us to really see what
is happening for them but also provides us with the momentum to affect change. An indication of the programs success and effectiveness was demonstrated by the
fact that we also received enquiries from three separate community members who had heard about the program and felt that someone in their family required such a
service.
Aboriginal Family Decision Making Program (AFDM)
AFDM gathers together the family of a child involved with Child Protection and supports and prepares them to come up with a suitable and safe plan of action for
the child. In supporting the family, the worker will also talk with and prepare workers and other key people whose opinions or services are relevant in guiding the family.
This year we again did not meet our target of providing a service to 30 families. In
part, we strongly believe that the target itself is somewhat unrealistic and all other AFDM‘s across the State were in a similar situation. However, we were significantly
hampered by vacancies in the Program over the year. From July until December, the DHS Convenor positions were under staffed and from December to May, the VACCA positions were under staffed.
However despite this constraint the Program did offer pre-consultations in relation
to 44 families and a service was provided to 21 families with more than 20 hours of support. Five families received more than 50 hours of service, 9 families received more than 100 hours of support and 2 families received more than 200 hours of
service. Eleven referrals concluded in the family participating in an AFDM meeting. The feedback from families has been overwhelmingly positive in relation to the
process. The majority of referrals have been about supporting placement planning decisions.
Some of the issues identified as impacting on the effectiveness of the program include the length of time taken between a pre-consultation and the lodgment of a
referral and also the under reporting of work hours by DHS. We will be looking at strategies to address these issues over the next year. On a statewide basis there
has been reporting that generating referrals from DHS has been a problem. However, in this region we have found that introducing a regular roster for pre-consultations at Child Protection offices, had resulted in significantly increasing
awareness and demand.
Bargoongagat Case Coordination Panel This is a panel of Mainstream and Aboriginal Welfare Agencies that can offer workers guidance, support and resources to help support complex families. This is
limited to the North & West Metropolitan region.
The Panel is generally convened once a month and has met 10 times over the year with only 2 cancellations. Two cancellations occurred due to Christmas leave in December and the VACCA conference in June. Ten families have been referred to
the panel with good results. Three referrals were from VACCA, 3 from the Community based Child Protection worker, 2 from other mainstream CSO‘s and one
was a self referral. There is a core group of about 18 Agencies from family support, drug and alcohol, education, health and Aboriginal agencies who remain committed to meeting and providing a care plan for families referred to the service. In
general, attendance has been very good and the care plans developed have reflected the commitment by different sectors to work together for the benefit of
the client. Through the Panel membership clients have received priority of access, financial resourcing, information about different service options that may exist and support in a more coordinated and effective way.
Aboriginal Liaison Workers to Child FIRST
These positions offer consultation to the Community Based Intake Teams and mainstream Family Support agencies, in relation to Aboriginal families referred to Family Support programs via Child FIRST. This service is about ensuring that a
culturally responsive service is delivered to Aboriginal families.
This has been an area of considerable growth and significant amounts of time have been invested in developing and implementing the service. We now provide
Aboriginal Liaison workers to three catchments in the North & West metropolitan region and are in negotiations in relation to the 4th catchment in that region. The North East catchment has been operating for over 1 year and is going very well.
The Hume-Moreland and Brimbank-Melton catchments have been operating since March 2008 and we are in the early stages of implementation. The North-East
catchment funds 1 EFT, Hume-Moreland funds 0.6 EFT and Brimbank-Melton funds 0.4 EFT. All positions have been filled and we have met our responsibilities in these catchments. We participate and contribute at executive, operations and service
delivery levels.
In the North East catchment, 45 families were referred to Child FIRST and consultations occurred in relation to all but 2 referrals. In the case of the two referrals where no consultation occurred, this was as a result of the client refusing
permission for even a de-identified consultation to occur. The Aboriginal liaison
workers have also provided consultation to Agency workers in relation to Aboriginal families entering through local intakes.
In Hume Moreland, since March 2008, 9 Aboriginal families have been referred to
Child FIRST and consultations have occurred in relation to all of them. In Brimbank-Melton, 11 families have been referred to Child FIRST and all were consulted on.
Consultations regarding Aboriginal families are detailed below:
Month NE catchment Hume-
Moreland
Brimbank-
Melton
July 2007 25 episodes
August 2007 34 episodes
Sept 2007 23 episodes
Oct 2007 19 episodes
Nov 2007 26 episodes
Dec 2007 15 episodes
Jan 2008 19 episodes
Feb 2008 30 episodes
March 2007 31 episodes 19 episodes 4 episodes
April 2007 61 episodes 12 episodes 9 episodes
May 2007 11 episodes 27 episodes 18 episodes
June 2007 40 episodes 7 episodes 24 episodes
Episodes of service can include practice advice, facilitating engagement, joint home
visits, exploring cultural issues and assessment.
In two of the catchments, Child FIRST had demand management issues and was restricted in the services they could provide to Aboriginal families. During these periods VACCA played a critical role in ensuring that Aboriginal families received a
service in a timely manner.
A recommendation was made to two Alliances that any contingency plans for dealing with demand management issues need to have a response which acknowledges the high needs of Aboriginal families and prioritises the need for
Aboriginal families to access services in a timely manner. This recommendation was endorsed and special provisions now exist in relation to servicing Aboriginal
families during periods where demand management becomes an issue. Feedback indicates that the value of and respect for the Liaison workers is
constantly growing as workers across the service system draw on the support offered by that position. It is now being seen as a core component of the Child
FIRST and the integrated family services system and is being replicated in other catchments.
In the North East catchment a working group has been established to progress the Aboriginal ‗best interests‘ project and reinforce the need for developing culturally
responsive practice with Aboriginal families. It is hoped that through this group we
can explore in greater detail some of the practice issues that arise and a better picture regarding the outcomes for Aboriginal families.
Eastern Metropolitan Region services
VACCA will offer three programs in this region being AFDM, limited family support and Aboriginal Liaison worker to child FIRST and Integrated Family services. A lot of time was spent in negotiating what services would be offered by VACCA in the
Eastern region. Funding for the AFDM position was received at the beginning of the financial year but the position of Aboriginal Community Convenor was only filled in
February ‘08. A considerable amount of energy and time was spent in building and negotiating with Aboriginal and mainstream networks and providers with good results.
Our networks, particularly with the Aboriginal organizations in that region have
strengthened and the opportunity for collaborative work has greatly increased. We have also been fortunate enough to co-locate with Uniting Care Connections and have also forged a strong working relationship with DHS. Next year will focus
on delivering the services to the Aboriginal community in the Eastern Metropolitan region.
Southern VACCA Aboriginal Child & Family Services The Southern Team has had a very unsettling year with a lot of change to staffing.
At a senior level, there has been significant disruption with the Coordinator having to resign due to ill health and the executive manager resigning in April of 2008. In
a small team, absence and vacancies can impact significantly on ability to deliver services. Despite these constraints, the team has come together and supported each other in delivering services to the Aboriginal community in the southern
metropolitan region.
Wilka Kwe Aboriginal Family Preservation Program: Wilka Kwe continues to work, intensively for twelve weeks, with families where children are at risk of being removed from home or where children are being
returned to their parent‘s care.
During the past financial year Wilka Kwe has worked intensively with 16 families. The two main reasons which have prevented us reaching our target are referrals
from DHS have been considerably slow and with the Coordinator having to supervise 4 workers it is impractical and irresponsible for that position to also carry a caseload.
Out of the 16 families two were Reunification cases and fourteen were Placement
Prevention cases. Four cases were Community referrals and the remainder were all referred by the Department of Human Services (DHS). However out of the four Community referrals two of these families had the Department of Human Services
involved and had requested Wilka Kwe. In both case DHS provided referrals to Wilka Kwe.
The presenting issues consisted of: substance abuse/misuse
domestic violence trans generational trauma
environmental neglect physical disciplining three cases were with single fathers
five cases involved single mothers.
In both Reunification cases children were successfully reunified with their families.
Southern Extended Care:
Southern VACCA is funded to provide six placements in our Out of Home Care program. For this financial year we continue to provide six placements (average
daily occupancy) having provided a total of 16 placements. Of these, ten were emergency placements, with Interim Accommodation Orders; three were respite placements. Ten were short term placements and six have been long term. Five of
these six are still current. Two of these cases are proceeding to Permanent Care Orders.
Southern Kinship Care:
During the past financial year we continue to work one case. However, we have
completed two Kinship Assessments and are commencing with another. Difficulties in generating referrals from DHS has also been a factor in not meeting our targets.
Foster Carer Recruitment:
We now have three registered carers with Southern VACCA. We are near
completing the assessment of another carer and we have six potential carers who have received information packs.
Southern Koorie Cultural Support:
Consultation continues with the Department. We have met with the new
Coordinator of the Placement Coordination Unit with the view of identifying clear referral pathways.
More information regarding the Out of Home Care Program is detailed in the Out of
Home Care programs report by Gwen Rogers. 3. Public Voice Conferences/ Presentations
This year we have played a significant role in ensuring that the Child FIRST intake
system delivers a culturally responsive and respectful service in eight of the nine metropolitan catchments. We have been involved at the Executive level, the Operations level and the service delivery level. Our focus has been on the
catchments in the North & West metropolitan regions and we are very pleased with the progress to date. Over the next year, we will focus more on the catchments in
the Eastern & Southern metropolitan regions. We have also been involved in promoting early year‘s services such as playgroups
and produced a Manual to support other Aboriginal organizations in establishing
supported playgroups. As part of the Playgroup Victoria Aboriginal Reference Group we were involved in the development and distribution of 50 playgroup kits across
the State.
Many of the presentations this year have focused on the Aboriginal liaison worker‘s role with Child FIRST‘s and Integrated Family Services. We have also delivered two 3 session cross cultural–relationship building workshops to mainstream agencies in
the Hume Moreland Alliance and the North East Alliance and feedback has been very positive. A lot of work and time goes towards running these sessions and their
success is heavily dependent on the commitment by the presenting agency as well as attending agencies in sending as many staff as possible to the workshops. Presentations were also made at the VACCA conference and to the Eastern region
Family Services sector.
4. Community Engagement
As part of our community engagement strategy, we committed to organizing 2
activities in each financial year. These activities require significant planning and organizational time and are done as extra work to the daily tasks of service
delivery. The two activities this year were Christmas hampers for Aboriginal families and an event to celebrate National Aboriginal & Islander Children‘s Day. In December 250 Christmas hampers were packed and delivered to 165 families
across the metropolitan region. For our Children‘s Day over 200 children attended the event and the theme was ―Raising Children Strong in Culture‖. Show bags with
cultural and educational items were provided for 170 children. 5. Planning - Strategic Planning/Operational
Two of our significant priorities this year focused on getting our programs ready to
meet Agency registration requirements and the development of a solid leadership group who can share the responsibilities of ensuring that all programs fulfill their obligations to funders and community and deliver quality services. Senior staff
struggled to balance the competing needs of providing service delivery and the development work that needed to be undertaken to ready ourselves for Agency
registration. However, the bulk of our development work in terms of documenting operational manuals, working templates, cultural resources and the establishment
of monitoring systems has now been completed. By the end of this financial year we had also achieved significant progress in filling our senior positions as well as casework positions.
6. Conclusion
The Early Intervention & Family Support Programs continue to be committed to pursuing best practice models and to ensuring a high quality of service to Aboriginal
families. We are investing in building a strong and skillful team with pathways for growth. We are focusing on ensuring that Aboriginal families receive a timely and
responsive service which is based on solid assessment and planning. Staff have embraced the integrated model, acknowledging and understanding that it is the best way of meeting the needs of our families as well as ensuring that other factors
such as leave and vacancies do not overly impact on our ability to deliver a service.
The team as a whole has taken on the commitment to continually improving
practice and ensuring that we meet Agency registration requirements. Together we have decided on 9 strategic priorities for the next year with the two central
priorities being: a. Consolidation and enhancement of practice skills and team building b. Ensuring that quality services are delivered to Aboriginal families and that
our responsibilities to community and funders are met.
I would like to thank VACCA for the opportunity of sending Nathan Fenelon to Padova this year and believe this experience to be of value to staff of VACCA to expand their awareness and understanding of other Indigenous peoples and hope
that VACCA continues to provide this opportunity in the future.
In closing I would like to acknowledge that I have a great team of enthusiastic workers and strong support in my senior management group to deliver on the programs objectives.
Sepi Weerasinghe Operations Manager
COMMUNITY OUTREACH PROGRAM AGM Report 2007-08
Introduction The Community Outreach Program brings together a range of programs to provide
overall coordination and support which has enabled VACCA to strongly support our outreach programs. These programs include:
The Indigenous Leaving Care Program Kurnai Youth Homelessness Program
Koorie FACES Program Swan Hill Aboriginal Child and Family Service
The following programs were transferred from the Community Outreach program over to other VACCA programs
Koorie Cultural Placement & Support – transferred to placement and support in September 2008
Southern Aboriginal Child and Family Service – transferred to
Early Intervention and Family Support in April 2008
1. THE INDIGENOUS LEAVING CARE PROGRAM 1.1 Overview:
Funding for this program is through the State Government‘s Department of Housing and has been funded to June 2009. This program‘s focus is on addressing the
issues Indigenous young people have when leaving care, such as assisting young people to make meaningful connection with their families and culture, to gain access to stable accommodation, develop necessary life skills, secure employment
or training and it can allow for young people to be provided with access for a limited period of time to transitional housing where that is deemed useful.
The transition from care to independent living is a crucial period in the lives of young people in care. Indigenous young people leaving care are particularly
vulnerable given the current level of disadvantage experienced by Aboriginal people. There is also the added layer for families of the impact of past policies and
practices which at times makes families unsafe for young people to transition into. For a number of Aboriginal children who have been raised in non Aboriginal placements, significant issues emerge in to their inability to transition both into
mainstream society and into an Aboriginal community.
This program is aimed at young people between the ages of 16 to 18 years of age living in out of home care placements. The Leaving Care Program is operational in three regions – North/West (Metro), Loddon Mallee (Bendigo) and Morwell
(Gippsland) regions.
This program was established as a pilot program and funding was to cease in December 2007. We have however been able to procure funding at this stage until
June 2009.
VACCA has been working closely with the Department of Housing in regards to this program and they made available a project worker for 1 day a week for 12 weeks. This project officer revised the Indigenous Leaving Care Program document.
This program is currently undergoing registration for the Homelessness Assistance
Service Standards (HASS). With VACCA already undertaking agency registration standards this means that we have already met most of the HASS standards. A work plan will be submitted to DHS by December and auditing will take place later
within the New Year. There is a great deal of assistance offered to the agency in supporting them with meeting these standards
1.2 Staffing: The program is comprised of the following staff: The North West worker is employed to work .5 in the North West Region and .5 in
Bendigo region. The position in the Gippsland region is .5.
All positions within the Indigenous Leaving Care program are currently vacant. We have 2 new workers starting within the next month.
1.3 Program performance: The target for this initiative is 12 targets per year with 3 young people from each of these regions to be given a service response.
Within this financial year the program worked with 12 young people. North/West:
We currently have 2 clients within this region and the Lakidjeka ACSASS worker has been able to help out with limited support whilst there is no worker.
We currently have 3 referrals for this region and will be picking these up when the new worker starts.
Bendigo:
We currently have no clients within Bendigo at the moment - 2 recently exited the program. A young person in this region has been identified for the program and we
are waiting on the referral from the Department of Human Services. Gippsland:
Within this region the Kurnai Youth Homelessness workers are currently working with the Leaving Care clients. They are currently working with 2 young people and
another 2 young people have recently exited the program. Five young people within the Gippsland region have been identified for the program
and we are waiting on these referrals from the Department of Human Services.
2. KURNAI YOUTH HOMELESSNESS PROGRAM
2.1 Background: The Kurnai Youth Homelessness Service provides a culturally appropriate support service for Indigenous young people and families. The
program aims to assist young people with their accommodation needs. The staff of the Kurnai Youth Homelessness Service provide a case management approach to Aboriginal young people in the La Trobe Valley who are homeless or are at
imminent risk to homelessness that we believe is culturally engaging and appropriate. Kurnai provides an assessment, support and referral service to
Aboriginal young people. The Kurnai Youth Homelessness Service provides an accommodation referral
service and support service regarding all Indigenous youth aged between 15 – 25 years.
The program also focuses on the prevention and providing early intervention reduce homelessness for the Indigenous young people and families in the La Trobe region
by assisting our clients to access support services that meet the needs of both individuals and families.
2.2 Staffing: The program has 2 full time positions with a Co-ordinator and a Senior Caseworker
2.3 Program performance: In the past year we have assisted 92 clients aged
between 15 – 25 years. The targets for this program are 96. VACCA has discussed with the Department on falling 4 short of the targets. In discussion with DHS issues were raised relation to the system of communication between DHS and the
Kurnai Program. Regular meetings with the Department are now in place which assists in clear communication.
Kurnai currently is assisting 24 clients and at full caseload capacity. There are another 4 referrals from La Trobe Community Health Drug and Alcohol services and
another 2 referrals from Berry Street which are currently on the waiting list.
This program is currently undergoing registration for the Homelessness Assistance Service Standards (HASS). With VACCA already undertaking agency registration
standards this means that we have already met most of the HASS standards. A work plan will be submitted to DHS by December and auditing will take place later within the new year. There is a great deal of assistance offered to the agency in
meeting these standards.
Staff have attended one of the two Indigenous Homelessness Network Forums which they must attend as part of the service agreement.
The staff also attend a wide variety of meetings and are creating some very valuable partnerships as well as promoting the program within the region.
The Kurnai Youth Homelessness program was nominated for a Wurreker Award in the field of Community Participation. By receiving this nomination I believe it shows
the hard work and dedication of the workers of the program.
3. KOORIE FACES PROGRAM
3.1 Background: The program aims to build confidence in parents and families of
Aboriginal children, with an emphasis on an increased understanding and knowledge of self, Aboriginal culture and parenting practices and styles to build resilience against drug and alcohol misuse in children. A tremendous amount of
developmental work was done by VACCA‘s New Programs and Initiatives Unit including the development of program materials such as a program manual,
Facilitator‘s Manual, Facilitator training manual and training framework, and the development of a training strategy to be rolled out across the State. The Koorie FACES program was managed for a period of time by VACCA‘s Early Intervention
and Family Support Program until it transferred over to Community Outreach.
3.2 Staffing: There are currently no staff employed specifically for this program as the funding has been fully utilized.
3.3 Program Performance: This program is currently being rolled out to VACCA staff and feedback from the staff that have attended has been positive. There will
be another 2 programs to be rolled out for staff. VACCA is still holding funding for one program to be run in the Gippsland region by
local facilitators. VACCA has been in discussions as to when this program will be rolled out but are unable to secure a date as yet. In spite of requests to run more
programs in other regions, VACCA has been unable to procure funds to do so. 4. SWAN HILL ABORIGINAL CHILD AND FAMILY SERVICE
4.1 Background: The Swan Hill VACCA office has been operational for almost
three years, having commenced in December 2004. The Swan Hill office provides the following programs: Extended Care, Aboriginal Family Preservation Program (Muthi Miah), Early Intervention (Supported Playgroup), Family Support and
Lakidjeka Aboriginal Child Specialist Advice and Support Service. The Extended Care Program, Muthi Miah and Lakidjeka are funded by the Department of Human
Services, the Supported Playgroup by the Commonwealth Government, and the Family Support program by VACCA Brunswick office.
The service aims to support Aboriginal children and families in the Swan Hill District, including Kerang and some families from Nyah West, as well as providing
home based care placements for Aboriginal children who are unable to live with their parents. The DHS funded programs work with children and families who are
involved with Child Protection. The Supported Playgroup and Family Support program provide a service to voluntary clients, although the Department refers some families to the Family Support program.
In July of 2008 VACCA, in conjunction with the Swan Hill Aboriginal Health Service,
held a joint community meeting to inform the community of the future directions of the service and also to obtain community feedback on their wishes and concerns of the service. VACCA has been in discussion with the Aboriginal Health Service and
DHS in regards to giving the service back to the community, as was the original
intention when VACCA was asked to provide this service. This will be a gradual process over a 12 month period. The goal is to hand the service over to the Swan
Hill Aboriginal Health Service once they themselves have become an independent body. Over the next 12 months VACCA will assist the Swan Hill Aboriginal Health
Service in preparing for the hand over of the service. 4.2 Staffing: The program is comprised of the following staff:
Program Manager, Capacity Building Project Officer/Team Leader, Extended Care Caseworker, Muthi Miah Aboriginal Family Preservation Program Caseworker and
Family Support/Playgroup Co-ordinator. 4.3 Swan Hill Aboriginal Child and Family Service Events:
A reconciliation morning tea was held at the VACCA office and was attended by Mainstream CSO‘s, Aboriginal organisations and DHS Staff - 60 people attended.
The Swan Hill staff gave an overview of the programs that are offered to the community and the playgroup children had their artwork on display.
A School holiday program was conducted over 3 days in July for children ranging 5 to 12. Over the 3 days we had 42 children attend the program.
During NAIDOC week a Children‘s Family Fun day was held and was very successful with over 200 people attending.
A Launch of the literacy bags was held at playgroup and facilitated by Annette Sax
where 7 families attended. 4.4 Program Overview
4.4.1 The Extended Care Program provides home based care placements for
Aboriginal children. The worker‘s role is to ensure that the needs of the children in placement are met, to recruit, assess, train and support caregivers; to monitor placements and facilitate access with parents, siblings and extended family
members. Presently 2 children are in long-term placements, 1 respite placement which is on a fortnightly basis.
4.4.2 The Muthi Miah Aboriginal Family Preservation Program receives
referrals from DHS, community based organizations and the community. The program works with Aboriginal families to prevent children being placed in care and with children and parents for whom there is a reunification plan. It is an intensive
case management service that enables the workers to work with 2 families at any one time, for 15-20 hours per week. The program has worked with no families for
the year, but has taken on a family support client and are currently still working with them.
4.4.3 The Family Support Program has mainly been dealing with community members seeking Emergency Relief, referrals to other mainstream services and
letters of support. There have been no DHS referrals to the program.
4.4.4 The Supported Playgroup has been attended regularly by many children this year. Various speakers have been invited to the group, and the Nutritional
Program has continued. The program is improving the number of Aboriginal children enrolling in pre-school and kindergarten. (See early intervention for more
detail) 4.4.5 Project Officer’s Role
As part of the Department of Human Services Capacity Building Project, the Project Officer‘s role has changed to incorporate both planning and auditing functions. The
planning aspect involves the development of a five year strategic plan to develop and enhance the Aboriginal Child and Family Service response in the Swan Hill and District area. The auditing function involves assisting the agency to comply with
the new Community Service Organizations Registration Standards. The Swan Hill Action Plan, arising out of the Registration Standards, is in the process of being
implemented. This role will also be the team leader for the caseworkers and provide supervision and guidance where needed.
5. KOORIE CULTURAL PLACEMENT & SUPPORT
5.1 Background: The Department of Human Services North and West region funds this position to ensure that the cultural needs of Aboriginal children placed in mainstream care are met, and to explore and if possible, locate alternative
placements with family or community members. The worker is to educate children, carers, and workers about Aboriginal history and culture and how this manifests
itself today. 5.2 Staff: This program has 1 full time caseworker
5.3 Program performance: The program has been working with children and
young people placed with various agencies in the North and West DHS Region. The worker attends case conferences and case planning meetings in relation to his clients and provides opportunities for the child or young person to be more
connected to their family and Aboriginal community.
The program also assists in building the self-esteem of children and young people by forming a strong connection with them and linking them into age-appropriate
cultural activities. Due to some miscommunication between VACCA and DHS and also the change over
of staff no intake meetings were occurring early in the year. VACCA and DHS now meet on a regular basis and have made progress on the slow start.
This program for this year has closed 2 cases and currently is working at full capacity with 7 clients. There is currently 1 referral on a waiting list.
With VACCA and DHS having regular meetings and updates on where everyone is at
the process is much easier and clearer and the partnership is working very well. Within these meetings the program documents are going to be reviewed and updated to keep the program delivering a quality service.
6. CONCLUSION This has been a year of significant change for the program and has required staff to
work often in an unsettling environment. In spite of this, the program has achieved good results. The decision to withdraw from Swan Hill was not taken lightly but
was based on VACCA‘s belief that an independent local governance structure incorporating both the health and child welfare domains would be in the communities‘ best interest.
Sue-Anne Hunter Manager
LINK UP VICTORIA AGM REPORT 2007-08
INTRODUCTION
The Link-Up Victoria, established 1992, plays an important and special role in the lives of many Aboriginal people who are looking for assistance in searching for their family whom, through Government policies, have been forcibly removed or
separated from their family. The Link Up program works with Aboriginal people over the 18 years of age. The Link-Up program assists Aboriginal and Torres Strait
Islander people to trace and reunite with their families. The Link-Up program assist clients search for their families and in accessing their
records. The Link Up program assist clients obtain any relevant files and manage the ongoing work of our clients reunion. The Link Up program provides support to
the client and the client‘s family. Apart from assisting Aboriginal people with reunions, the program provides a referral services to support services and practical support wherever possible.
In this financial year the Commonwealth Government significantly increased its
funding for counseling. The program now provides counseling services for clients throughout the reunion process.
Whilst asked by the Commonwealth to deliver a service to Tasmania until a decision was made as to where to place the service, it was decided by Link Up that the
program would be best delivered in Tasmania by local services. STAFFING
This year the program has undergone significant change. Previously our staffing
comprised of a Program Manager, Administration worker and two Caseworkers. We now have a Program Manager, an Administration Worker and four Counsellor
Caseworkers. Apart from increases in staff numbers this year has seen a numbers of changes in
staffing, with Angela Swindle going on maternity leave for 12 months and Eric Harrison, a long serving and valued staff member, leaving the program. Colin
Harrison transferred to VACCA‘s Extended Care Program and has recently resigned to take up a vocation working outdoors.
PROGRAM SERVICES
This has been an exciting year for the program and with the increase in funding it will enable the program to take on new challenges. We now have the capacity to deliver a comprehensive service to clients in prisons and we have allocated regions
to the caseworkers to expand our outreach services. We now have a Casework/Counsellor position permanently based at the VACCA Southern office in
Dandenong which is proving very popular.
Link Up Client Services: The program provides:
1. Guidance and Support: file search, supported reading of personal files, general information, listening, demonstrated understanding of their issues,
and open and honest discussion with clients regarding family concerns.
2. Counselling: This aspect of Link Up‘s services has increased significantly
and the program now offers one on one counseling, group counseling and access to healing programs developed for clients of the service in Victoria.
3. Referrals: Link-Up has a strong network of supports and will refer clients
where professional or specialist counselling may be required. Link Up has
well developed networks from which referrals are received and actioned in a timely and professional manner.
4. Reunion Service: The reunion process for Link-Up is quite involved and is
classified as three staged: pre-reunion, reunion and post-reunion. It requires
a lot of time, effort and understanding.
The program is fully funded by the Commonwealth Government through the Office of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health (OATSIH).
PROGRAM OVERVIEW
Compliance This year has seen the program establish a Service Development and Reporting Framework which was endorsed by the Commonwealth. We have found this
process, whilst initially daunting, to be a positive experience in providing direction to the allocation of work and resources for the program
The Link Up Program participated for the first time in the OATSIH Risk Assessment process and successfully completed this process in March this year.
All staff comply with the conditions of employment and undertake Working with
Children Checks as well as police checks.
The Link Up Program also has a responsibility to report to OATSIH on outcomes achieved in accordance with contractual requirements as well as acquit the funding allocated to the program. This we have done in a timely and efficient manner with
support and mentoring from Terrie Tregenza from OATSIH.
Performance Training has been organized for the new staff on the Foxtrot data base and at this stage exact program data is not available.
However, to the best of our knowledge the Link-Up Statistics for this last financial
year and until October 2008 are as follows:
Number of clients o Breakdown of clients
Active – 79 Inactive – 910
Closed – 475 New clients – 18
o Reunions
Families – 11 Family members participating in reunions – 185
o Field Visits Clients – 35 Information/Community/Other – 54
o Searches – 57
o Referrals – 7 o Support group sessions - 3
The target for reunions was increased to 23 and the Program is well on the way to achieving this target.
PARTNERSHIPS
This year the program has in particular strengthened its partnerships with regional services, with the Bringing Them Home Services and with the Stolen Generations
Victoria organization. The program also has partnerships with the following organizations:
Koori Heritage Trust Victoria
Public Records Victoria Link- Ups nationally spiritual and Emotional Wellbeing Programs
Corrections Institutions Registry of Birth, Deaths and Marriages National Archives of Australia
Vanish Melbourne International Tracing & Refuge Services
ACHIEVEMENTS
This year has seen many program achievements.
Reunion – The staff of the Link Up Program undertook a successful reunion recently which was a real team effort. We received a letter with feedback from the
clients family and this was a major boost to the staff. Reunions are our priority and successful reunions are to be celebrated.
The Apology by the Prime Minister – 13th February 2008 was a momentous occasion for the entire country, especially for ‗Stolen Generations‘. The Manager of
Link Up Victoria travelled with the National Sorry Day Committee to meet with the Federal Minister for Indigenous Affairs Jenny Macklin and provide input into the wording around the Apology Speech. Whilst compensation has not resulted so far,
this was raised with the Minister.
To mark the occasion Link-Up Vic did a mail out and invited all Link-Up clients to
attend and watch the Prime Minister deliver his apology speech to the Nation with other community members at the Aborigines Advancement League. It was a truly
great day for the nation. Induction - Given the number of new staff, a comprehensive two week induction
program was provided by VACCA‘s New Programs and Initiatives which was well regarded by staff.
Family Camp – Link Up this year received funding through the new Stolen Generations Organisation to conduct two family camps but due to sorry business in
one of the proposed communities we were only able to complete one camp.
Link Up Victoria organized a family camp at Coonawarra from the 24th– 28th September 2007 for the Gippsland Stolen Generations. This was attended by 12 people from Bairnsdale, Sale and one from Morwell.
There were many other activities that the families enjoyed, including sharing their
stories, children‘s activities and plenty of socializing. This camp was enjoyed by everyone who attended.
There were a number of highlights including Mr Bruce Trevorrow giving a very powerful presentation on his life story and his successful claim for compensation in
South Australia. We were not to know at the time that we would lose Bruce a few short months later. Our deepest sympathies to the family.
Community Event - The program organised a Community BBQ for Stolen Generation members at Edwardes Lake in Reservoir on 9th November. The BBQ
was attended by about thirty people which was seen as a great turn out given the shocking weather that day.
Training - all Casework staff have begun or are in the process of gaining a counseling qualification which is now a requirement of all case work positions within
Link Up.
PLANNING The program‘s Service Development and Reporting Framework provides an ideal
planning framework. The program has also developed an operational plan which is aligned to VACCA‘s strategic plan. Currently work is being finalized in ensuring that
the two planning tools complement each other. As a result of these planning tools each staff member now has a clear work plan
with clearly articulated deliverables.
PUBLIC VOICE The program was involved in a number of public voice activities. These included:
Link Up Victoria and Stolen Generations Victoria organized a gathering at the Aborigines Advancement League for Stolen Generation members and the
community as well to hear live the long awaited apology from the Prime Minister.
Link Up Victoria attended and presented at the National Link Up Conference and Coordinators meeting in Adelaide in May 2008
Link Up Victoria attended two Bringing Them Home statewide forums in
Echuca and Halls Gap Link Up is heavily involved annually in the Sorry Day Activities.
Presentation at the VACCA conference on the impact of past removal and its relationship on families today.
COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT
The program participated in a number of community engagements. Activities include:
Attendance at NAIDOC week functions such as the NAIDOC unfurling of flag
NAIDOC ball NAIDOC march and the Elders Luncheon
VACCA‘s National Aboriginal and Islander Children‘s Day Activities Attendance at the ACES Breakfast Participation at regional and National Link Up and Stolen Generations forums
FUTURE DIRECTIONS
The key priority for the future is the implementation of the Service Development and Reporting Framework and the program operational plan.
This means the program will, as an example of work proposed:
host a range of forums with key stakeholders such as Out of Home Care providers
Strengthen its partnerships and coordination of services to members of the
Stolen Generations Improve the program‘s website and develop further promotional activities
Continue to undertake public voice and community engagement activities Develop policy and procedures manual and program standards
Develop a group healing program for program clients
This year has seen the Link Up Victoria Program expand significantly. We have also engaged in processes to develop and implement planning frameworks which will
provide a solid base for the program to achieve continuing success. I would like to acknowledge all the staff of the program for their dedication and
commitment and thank also the Board, Muriel and the Executive staff of VACCA for their support over the year.
Lance James
Program Manager
