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July 2022
Upcoming Events

Contents
Regular update: Premier’s Priority for Permanency  
In late May and early June DCJ held the ‘Pathways to Permanency’ workshop services on restoration, guardianship and adoption. Both workshops included sessions delivered by researchers, practitioners and practice leaders, and were attended by around 200 staff members from non-government PSP Providers. Videos from the restoration sessions are available at the PSP Learning Hub website, and videos of the guardianship and adoptions sessions will be uploaded shortly. 

DCJ’s Permanency Taskforce is now fully operational and progressing guardianship matters through legal and casework support. Work on other initiatives to support permanency has commenced, including streamlining of the guardianship and adoption processes and additional support for prospective guardians and adoptive parents. 

We look forward to continuing our work with agencies on achieving permanency outcomes, particularly in the restoration space where each and every child who enters out-of-home care must be given every opportunity to live safely with their families.
  
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Available now: The Practice Framework Standards Family Resource

The Practice Standards Family Resource was recently published on the DCJ Website to give families, carers and the wider community clear information about what to expect from DCJ child protection and permanency practitioners.  

The NSW Practice Framework Standards for child protection and out-of-home care practice guide the work of DCJ child protection and permanency staff. 

The Standards set out what is expected of DCJ practitioners in how they work with children, families, network and community. The Standards place children’s rights at the centre of practice and are based on the latest evidence, best practice and consultation with young people with experience of the care system. 

We want families to understand how we work so they can better participate, advocate for their rights and be better able to work together with DCJ to keep kids safe at home or safe in care, and connected to family and culture. Included on the webpage is a one page easy read version of the standards as well as translated versions in Dari, Samoan, Chinese (simplified), Vietnamese, and Arabic. 

The support the sector provide to families is invaluable. Please have a look at this new resource when you can and consider how it may be used in your own work to support families to better understand what they can expect from DCJ and how they can provide feedback about their experience. 
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PSP Permanency Q&A Webinars are back - Register now! 
DCJ is bringing back our PSP Permanency Q&A Webinar series to help increase practitioners’ knowledge and skills to support children and young people to achieve permanency.

The webinars use an 'on the couch' Question and Answer format with key subject matter experts. Attendees can submit questions they would like answered prior to the Q&A.

The schedule of topics includes:
Subscribe here to be notified of when registration opens for future webinars.
 
We would love for you to be one of the subject matter experts! 
If you, or a member of your team have a passion for one of the above topics, and about 3-4 hours to spare we would love for you to participate as a Q&A panellist. Please contact permanency.support@facs.nsw.gov.au to flag your interest. 

Questions or comments?
Contact permanency.support@facs.nsw.gov.au.
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Transition to Independent Living Allowance (TILA) survey
Deadline - 30 JULY 2022
The Department of Social Services (DSS) provides support to people leaving out-of-home care (OOHC) through the Transition to Independent Living Allowance (TILA), a one-off payment of up to $1,500 to help eligible young people cover some basic costs while they transition to independence.
 
A national online survey is open on engage.dss.gov.au until 30 July 2022.

The TILA survey has been designed to gain an understanding of the TILA payment from the view of young people transitioning from OOHC, gather information on how young people engage with the payment and how the TILA payment process can be improved to better meet their needs. The survey is anonymous and all of the questions are optional. It only asks for information to help DSS understand what is important to different groups of people.

The results of the survey will inform how the administrative process for TILA can be simplified to enable more young people to access the payment. A final survey report will be published on the DSS website.
 
Who should do the survey?
  • Share it with young people who are leaving care or who have left care
  • Caseworkers working with young people in care and care leavers
  • Carers supporting teenagers
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Keeping kids safe: Launch of online safety resources for children in care and carers 
Helping carers navigate conversations and technology with children and young people to keep them safe online can be challenging. Help is at hand!

ACWA has launched some new resources to help carers engage with children and young people about this topic and really support with conversations and information. The project, funded by an online safety grant from the eSafety Commissioner, is the result of a co-design approach and aims to raise awareness of online safety among children and young people in care and their caregivers.

The resources include a series of short videos for children and young people in out-of-home care, as well fact sheets and an online training course for caregivers. They are now available on the ACWA website and are ready for hosting, distribution and sharing.

The direct involvement of children and carers in the content development and creative design means the advice is real and relevant. ACWA worked with SNAICC and CREATE to develop the resources and get the feedback and input of more than 300 children and young people.

Encourage your caseworkers to reach out to carers about the new resources and remind caseworkers that children and young people in care can be particularly vulnerable to sexual exploitation and online grooming.

Check out the new resources at: www.acwa.asn.au/esafety-resources/.
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Myth Busting 

MYTH: All siblings need to have the same legal permanency arrangements. 

FALSE!
While legal permanency may be right for one or some siblings, it might not be right for others. Decisions about permanency must prioritise each individual child’s best interests and should focus on their holistic needs.

Maintaining connections to the most important people in a child’s life is essential to meeting a child’s developmental needs. It’s always important to prioritise their connections with their siblings, no matter the care arrangement. Involve the child, family and others who love the child to consider permanency options and to make these decisions.

Speak to a permanency coordinator today if you would like more information, or book a consult!
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Spotlight: The Alannah & Madeline Foundation's Buddy Bags program

The Alannah & Madeline Foundation's Buddy Bags program provides vital support for thousands of vulnerable Australian children each year, including those in Out-of-Home Care. 

Buddy Bags are a source of comfort, packed with everyday items such as pyjamas, toothbrushes, toothpaste, teddy bears, hairbrushes, face washers, underwear, socks, and books. They are packed by volunteers and distributed to a variety of government and non-government agencies to support children in crisis. Buddy Bags help children redevelop a sense of safety and security when they need it most by giving them things to call their own.

The Alannah & Madeline Foundation is back packing and distributing Buddy Bags after the COVID-19 lockdowns. Learn more about their program here.

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Carer Survey 2022 - My Forever Family

To support ongoing improvement in policy and practice across the sector, My Forever Family NSW is conducting the NSW Carer Survey 2022 and it will be released in July.
 
You may be a foster carer, relative / kinship carer, guardian or adoptive parent from care, and if so, this survey is for you.  If you are a DCJ or agency caseworker or manager working in out of home care, we need your help promoting the survey and sending it to your carers.
 
Please sign up to the My Forever Family NSW community newsletter to find out more here.
 
Survey results provide an indicative snapshot of carer perceptions of services for the children and young people in their care, their own experiences and their views about possible improvements to practice.  Survey findings will be published on our website later in the year.  
 
We greatly value the feedback to help improve the experience of carers.

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FACSIAR Lunch and Learn webinar: Improving mental health outcomes for children and young people in out-of-home care

Tuesday 26 July 2022 12-1:00pm AEST, online via MS Teams. Register here.

FACSIAR would like to invite you to join their Lunch and Learn webinar: Improving mental health outcomes for children and young people in out-of-home care on Tuesday 26 July 2022 12-1:00pm AEST, online via MS Teams.

Mental health issues affect children from all walks of life, but children in care or at risk of entering care are particularly vulnerable as they often come from homes with there are multiple complex issues. In this webinar, researchers will talk about understanding and managing the mental health needs of children in out-of-home care. Find more information about the webinar and register here.

The most recent FACSIAR Lunch and Learn took place on Wednesday 29th June on the topic of: Infants entering out-of-home care - health, developmental trajectories and services. The recording will be available within one week of the webinar on the associated webinar page here.

Questions or Comments? Contact: ResearchPartnerships@facs.nsw.gov.au.
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Register for AbSec's Learning Development Centre (LDC) courses

The only registered training organisation owned and managed by community, the AbSec Learning and Development Centre offers courses in child and family welfare, disability services, governance and leadership.
 
Facilitated by Aboriginal experts, our flexible workshops offer specialised training for people working with Aboriginal children, families and organisations.
 
Whether you want to understand intergenerational trauma, build effective cultural planning or if you’re looking to upskill, our experts offer the personal support and professional guidance you need to excel.
 
Courses offer:
  • ongoing cultural support and mentoring throughout the course,
  • small class sizes that maximise your education experience,
  • self-paced, online or offline delivery, and
  • guidance in a supportive and culturally sensitive environment.
Popular short courses are back for July and August, but they’re filling up fast.
 
Group booking and membership discounts are also available, so contact us on (02) 9559 5299 or email admin@absecldc.org.au.
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New ‘leaving care’ social media campaign launching soon

Transitioning to adulthood is a critical time in a young person’s life, so it’s important that they feel connected, supported and well-prepared for their future. That’s why we are launching a social media campaign to encourage young people in care to start future planning early so that they can transition successfully and work towards achieving their goals.
 
The campaign, launching in July, highlights the importance of actively participating in the process of leaving care planning with their caseworker. It will cover goals such as education, getting a job, living independently and learning life skills and will also highlight resources and supports for care leavers up to the age of 25.

You’ll see a variety of posts across DCJ’s social media channels over the next six months including Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and TikTok. It will include videos, animations, tiles and case studies.
 
Tools for caseworkers
Conversations about future planning should start from age 15. The first video in this campaign will be an animation that centres on the young person in the process of leaving care planning. This can be used as a resource to start the conversation about future goals.
Caseworkers should also talk to young people about:
  • what is important to them
  • what motivates them
  • what they want their future life to look like
  • where they want to live
  • what they want to do for work, whether this involves studying or apprenticeships
  • what they think their needs will be once they move out of care
  • what bothers them about transitioning to independent living
  • what mental and other health and well-being supports they think they will need
Some children may not have answers to all these things, and that is okay. Early planning allows more time for preparation and building connections to family and personal support networks that will last them beyond their time in care. Preparing for the transition to adulthood should be an ongoing discussion.
 
Keep an eye out on social media for the campaign.
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Debunking myths and celebrating permanency

Be sure to follow DCJ and PSP Learning Hub Facebook for all the latest campaign news raising awareness of permanency for practitioners.
 
You will have seen the mythbusting content popping up in your newsletters, aiming to shine a light common misconceptions about adoption, guardianship and permanency casework – there are more to come.
 
On DCJ social media you’ll be seeing uplifting stories about how life changing permanency is, as well as practical videos you can use with families to better understand open adoption including this animated explainer.

Have you been enjoying this campaign? Have you learnt something? What else would you like to see? We’d love to hear your thoughts – drop us a line at permanency.support@facs.nsw.gov.au and be sure to ‘like’ and ‘comment’ on social media.

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