Specialised Services and Support

About

The Targeted Family Reunification Service will provide two key service components: • Reunification: individualised support services for children and their families aimed at resolving relationship difficulties or conflict and facilitating the child’s return to the family.

• Respite and short-term accommodation: safe temporary accommodation for varying lengths of stay for the child, as respite for the child and family unit, while support is provided for reunification.

Support for reunification The service provider will work therapeutically with children and their families, by providing culturally safe family counselling and facilitating access to services for families to support the safe reunification of the child with their family.

The service will: • deliver both centre-based and outreach support to children at risk of family breakdown and homelessness and their families.

• purchase further support identified through a case plan to stabilise the family environment through brokerage of specialised therapy or practical assistance that increases the opportunities for reunification.

• work with the secondary support system, including family support and youth support, and/or Child Safety services where safe reunification is not possible or not appropriate and ensure safe and suitable care and housing arrangements are provided.

• Support children to attend school or alternative education programs to retain their engagement with education, and to stay in regular contact with parents and caregivers.

Please note: up to 5% of total grant funding may be utilised for brokerage to address issues linked with the child's case plan.

Respite and short-term accommodation The proposed model will include temporary accommodation for children where they require respite accommodation while issues at home are resolved.

This may also provide time for an appropriate alternative to be negotiated and sourced.

Suitable houses will be sourced via a headlease arrangement.

The houses will be used to provide respite (up to 7 nights) and short-term accommodation (up to four months) to support the target cohort of children (aged 12 – 15 years).

For the respite accommodation, assuming three young people accommodated at a time, it is estimated up to 138 children per year will be assisted.

For the short-term accommodation, assuming three young people accommodated at a time, it is estimated up to 12 children per year will be assisted.

Children will be accommodated on a voluntary basis with the consent of parents or guardians, with support and accommodation provided flexibly to meet the unique circumstances of each child and their family.

The Department and BYS will co-develop a tailored IS70 reporting template to capture both the number and period of time that children and young people are placed in temporary accommodation.