About Us
About SWCFSA
The South West Child and Family Services Alliance consists of 9 core funded Integrated Family Services (IFS) and Family Preservation, Reunification and Response (FPRR) providers, who work in cooperation with the Department of Families Fairness and Housing, Child Protection and The Orange Door within the local government areas of Warrnambool, Moyne, Southern Grampians, Glenelg and Corangamite to deliver coordinated responses to vulnerable children, young people and their families.
The Alliance enables high-level collaboration with DFFH to ensure that intervention for vulnerable children, young people and their families is available at the earliest point possible.
Vision
The South West Child and Family Services Alliance provides services to improve outcomes for vulnerable children and young people by working with families to support and maximise the opportunities for their children.
Mission
The South West Child and Family Services Alliance applies the Children’s Best Interests Principles to inform service direction and seeks to partner with key services to ensure appropriate, comprehensive and holistic services for families.
Values
- Relationships are based on respect and trust.
- Aboriginal self-determination is a clear component of all decision making.
- Democratic, participatory and transparent decision-making is encouraged at all levels.
- Working together occurs collaboratively, with the acknowledgement of mutual responsibility.
- Information is shared across the Alliance in the spirit of partnership and according to the relevant legislative requirements.
Purpose
The Alliance aims to ensure that vulnerable children, young people and their families are effectively linked to relevant services, with families avoiding or reducing their involvement with the statutory Child Protection system where possible.
Service Area
Alliance Responsibility or Structure
The Alliance Governance structure is shown below:
The Governance Group
Has an executive governance function and is responsible for leading strategic planning, implementing sector reforms, monitoring service demand, ensuring financial accountability, participating in DFFH governance & oversight meetings, and evaluating key Alliance activities. Includes Executive Officers /Managers or their delegates.
The Service Development Group
Has an operational governance function and is primarily responsible for implementing demand management strategies, practice components of the Alliance Plan, program and service delivery development, workforce professional development, community education and continuous quality improvement activities. Includes Team Leaders/Coordinators or their delegates.
The Direct Services Group
Has a case practice function and provides a vehicle for discussion about service delivery issues and opportunities, provides an educative forum and fosters the development and maintenance of cohesion across the multi-agency direct care workforce. Includes Direct Service practitioners.
The Governance, Service Development and Direct Service groups meet monthly. Minutes are circulated to all Alliance staff for information, comment and discussion.
Working Groups
Working groups within the SWCFSA contribute to data collection and analysis and provide guidance and specialist knowledge to carry out the SWCFSA Action Plan.
Membership is extended to members within the SWCFSA core-funded agencies and partnership who have relevant expertise within specialist areas and can support achievement of the goals of the working group.
SWCFSA current working groups include:
- Data and Integrity Working Group
- Community Education Working Group
- Training Working Group
Legislative Context
The Children, Youth and Families Act 2005, encompassed within the overarching framework provided by the Child Wellbeing and Safety Act 2005 provides a legislative base for the delivery of secondary child, youth and family services.
Pivotal to this legislation is that early parenting, family and placement prevention services are required to keep the child’s best interests at the centre of all decision-making.
The Roadmap for Reform: Strong Families, Safe Children – the first steps (Roadmap) released in 2016 provides a blueprint for transforming the child and family system from a crisis response to early intervention and prevention.
The three pathways to support vulnerable children and families are based on needs:
- Early help
- Targeted and specialist care
- Continuing Care
Advancing Aboriginal self-determination and self-management is embedded in the pathways approach.
The Alliance provides a strong governance arrangement to facilitate and support a strengthened child and family services system across South West Victoria.