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There are a number of challenges impacting upon current Out of Home Care (OOHC) service delivery. This strategic framework seeks to collate a diverse range of activities intended to address these challenges with the view to progressively building a better out of home care system. Drawing these activities into a single document creates a blueprint to plan, prioritise and implement change.
The strategic framework recognises that all out of home care stakeholders share a common purpose, which is to provide the optimum care for children and young people1 unable to live at home. All stakeholders play a critical role in building a better out of home care system, and have a mutual objective for the future of Out of Home Care in the Northern Territory.
A Shared Objective
A system that embraces continuous improvement to maximise the delivery of positive outcomes for children and young people entering, living in, and leaving care.
A robust and responsive system which values the role all stakeholders play in delivering quality services and providing safe places of care. A system which recognises diversity and is culturally responsive to the needs of Indigenous children.
Aims
The aim of this Strategic Framework is to tackle the challenges of achieving this shared intent, whilst at the same time balancing the need to:
- address the diverse needs of all OOHC stakeholders and all OOHC
placement types;
- tackle current needs and demands, whilst being responsive enough to address emerging OOHC needs and trends; and
- develop new services to respond to changing needs without losing sight of maintaining and supporting the delivery of existing services.
Key Action Areas for Change
Four key action areas are featured in this framework. The action areas reflect central themes emerging from out of home care aims, priorities and needs. They highlight the areas of the system that will be the main focus of change over the next four years. The proposed key action areas are as follows:
A Working Document
This Strategic Framework is intended to be a living, working document. A ready source of reference utilised to inform:
- on-going business of the Out of Home Care Partners Reference Group
- annual business plans for Family and Children’s Services and non-government providers
- future program budget allocations
- planned, consistent change across the whole of the NT.
To ensure that this Framework continues to be a document that accurately reflects the work to be done to address current NT Out of Home Care trends and challenges, the Out of Home Care Partners Reference Group will review the Framework annually.
Annual reviews will take place towards the end of each calendar year. This provides an opportunity for the Reference Group to develop an Annual Action Plan to identify those strategies which will be actioned in the forthcoming year. This is also an opportunity to review the progress and achievements of the previous Action Plan and re-prioritise strategies as required.
Trends and Challenges
Each action area proposes a variety of strategies intended to address Out of Home Care trends, challenges and needs experienced in the NT. These include:
- an increase in the number of children and young people entering care;
- a steady increase in the number of Indigenous children and young people entering care. Indigenous children consistently represent the greater proportion of children in out of home care in the NT;
- a widening ratio between the number of children and young people entering care, compared to the number of registered carers;
- growing complexity of the needs of children and young people entering care, many of whom present with difficult and challenging behaviours;
- increasing utilisation of kinship and relative care placements, yet parameters on how the Department extends support to these
placements remains undefined;
- increasing Out of Home Care service demands result in a concurrent increase in the cost of delivering these services. Ways Out of Home
Care services can be delivered within limited resources need to be continually appraised; projects will be completed to the best abilities within the bounds of available resources;
- an increased organisational focus upon the delivery of quality services,
and the inherent need to be able to measure and monitor quality to continuously improve service delivery.
Shared Understandings
This strategic framework recognises that all partners in the out of home care system have a shared focus and purpose, that is to care for children and young people in need. To reflect this universal commonality, this framework nominates strategies intended to benefit all stakeholders. For example, children and young people, carers, funded organisations and FACS staff would benefit from improved access to training, up to date policies and standards and responsive services. Therefore, unless otherwise specified, the majority of strategies in this framework apply to all key stakeholders of the OOHC system.
Other shared understandings implicit in this framework include:
- The full participation of all stakeholders, including children, young people and carers is fundamental to this framework in recognition that all stakeholders play a critical role in shaping the out of home care system.
- Partners respect that change is a gradual and continuous process and understand that it is not possible to tackle all tasks at once. A staggered approach is required in recognition that change is incremental. Actioning one task creates a scaffold upon which to build further change.
- A ‘one size fits all' out of home care service does not meet the diverse needs and interests of children and young people in care.
- Family and Children's Services is committed to working in partnership with all out of home care stakeholders. Every effort will be made to explore and promote better ways of working together.
- The needs of all out of home care placement types must be afforded equal consideration.
- Although delegates of the Minister hold primary responsibility for meeting the needs of children and young people in statutory care, other Departments and providers also deliver services considered essential to meet the holistic needs of the child.
- When seeking the views of children and young people, every effort will be made to ensure that information and consultations are young people friendly. The system must promote inclusive practice, decision-making and full participation of children and young people in care.
- Communication is an essential ingredient of successfully planning and achieving change. All OOHC partners agree to openly communicate in a respectful manner with one another.
- Partners represented on the Out of Home Care Partners Reference Group take responsibility to disseminate information and consult with other representatives from their respective organisations. Reference group members will endeavour to seek the views of a broad cross section of their organisation regarding any of the proposed out of home care reforms.
Sources
In addition to the trends, challenges and needs impacting upon the NT Out of Home Care system, this strategic framework has also been developed with reference to the:
- Identified priorities from members of the Out of Home Care Partners Reference Group
- National Plan for Foster Children, Young People and their Carers 2004 – 2006
- CREATE “being our best. A report on Australia's children and young people in care'. August 2004.
- The Secretariat of National Aboriginal and Islander Child Care (SNAICC) ‘Achieving Stable and Culturally Strong Out of Home Care for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children' 2005.
- Australian Foster Care Association Priorities and Position Statements 2005
- CAFWAA ‘A Time to Invest in Australia's most Disadvantaged children, young people and their carers'.
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