CAFFSA Committees, Networks and Working groups

CAFFSA offers a range of meetings, forums and working groups for members to participate in.

For more information or to nominate email admin@childandfamily-sa.org.au

Committees
Networks
Working Groups

CAFFSA Working Groups

CAFFSA New Training Requirements Working Group

Time limited working group chaired by Claire Taylor from Junction, for CAFFSA members to examine new training requirements introduced in 2022 by DCP, explore opportunities for joint training and the development of a practice framework and to facilitate information exchange, advocacy and networking.

Summary of Recent Meetings

CAFFSA New Training Requirements Working Group Summary of Recent Meetings October 2022

CAFFSA OOHC Workforce Mapping Project Working Group

In June 2022, CAFFSA began its work on the Out of Home Care Workforce Mapping project. We know that the sector has faced a growing number of challenges over the past twenty years in this sector. There has been a steady increase of the number of notifications and children entering out of home care. Families are presenting with greater complexities and challenges.

The nine-month long project will conclude in April 2023 and has been funded by Skills SA (Department of Education). The project will map three main priorities areas to identify key challenges faced by the workforce and identify current gaps that need to be addressed to equip the sector with the skills, expertise and knowledge required to improve the outcomes of children, young people and families in South Australia.

The three main priority areas are:
• Workforce Recruitment and Retention
• Qualifications, Skills and Training
• Skills, training and development needs and gaps

For more infomation email andrea@childandfamil-sa.org.au

CAFFSA Care Concerns Working Group (finalised)

A now closed Working Group that gathered sector expertise and knowledge on care concern management, discussed issues and concerns, and informed DCP internal processes on possible improvements to the Care Concern management process.

CAFFSA Transition from Care Working Group (finalised)

A now closed Working Group that gathered sector expertise and knowledge on transitions in care, including transitions into care, between placements and placement types, and transitions to independent living for young people. From these discussions, the group drafted CAFFSA’s election policy document on transition from care which formed part of CAFFSA’s 2022 State Election Policy Platform.

Transition from Care_March 2022 FINAL

 

CAFFSA Co-convened Meetings

CAFFSA co-convenes and co-chair a range of forums with the Department for Child Protection.

CAFFSA is committed to working in partnership with government stakeholders and ensuring that collaboration and problem-solving feature strongly in all of our discussions with our colleagues within DCP.

CAFFSA / DCP Executive Meeting

The DCP – CAFFSA Executive Forum was first convened in order to bridge discussions between the Department for Child Protection (DCP) and the non-government sector which is funded to deliver residential and out-of-home care services for children and young people in care. The DCP – CAFFSA Executive Forum comprised of the DCP Executive Team and the CAFFSA Board, CEO and Deputy CEO.
The forum’s Terms of Reference provide for robust discussion around issues and challenges facing the entire sector, government and non-government alike. It allows CAFFSA an opportunity to engage in solutions-focussed negotiation with our DCP colleagues, and also provides an opportunity to identify issues of joint strategic importance and areas for further collaboration, cooperation and partnership.

Residential Care Taskforce 

The DCP and CAFFSA co-conviened Residential Care Taskforce is focused on developing a sector wide approach to building capacity to deliver safe quality residential and supported independent living services to meet demand and individual needs of young people.

The Taskforce has a key role in building sector capacity for specific cohorts of young people, including Aboriginal young people and young people with disabilities, and developing pathways into family based care and independent living. Partnership and collaboration between DCP and non-government partners is crucial to ensuring that the needs of young people who need specialised responses are met.

For more information or to nominate for this meeting email melissa@childandfamily-sa.org.au

Disability Working Group 

To be co-convened in 2023 with a focus on strategies such as:

  • improving the capacity to respond to demand, including the needs of different cohorts e.g. Aboriginal young people and young people from a CALD background
  • ensuring safe and high quality services
  • improved capacity to work within NDIS
  • sharing best practice, learnings and resources

For more information or to nominate for this meeting email melissa@childandfamily-sa.org.au 

CAFFSA Supported  Meetings

Australian Children’s Safety Alliance (ACSA)

Child and Family Focus SA is the auspicing body of the Australian Children’s Safety Alliance (ACSA).

ACSA is comprised of representatives of CAFFSA member organisations in order to facilitate a collaborative partnership to advance, promote and implement domestic violence informed approaches to addressing the safety of women, protection of children and interventions with perpetrators of domestic violence and abuse.

The aims of the Australian Children’s Safety Alliance are to:

  • Provide leadership in policy and practice development for agencies, practitioners and child protections systems;
  • Act as a public voice for the safety of all women and children experiencing domestic violence and abuse;
  • Make visible and accountable the behaviour of perpetrators of domestic violence and abuse;
  • Identify opportunities to measure and evaluate the impact of the ‘Safe and Together’ Model and other domestic violence informed approaches in South Australia;
  • Proactively identify and champion models of practice that are culturally responsive, culturally valid and endorsed by Aboriginal members, stakeholders and advisory groups such as the Family Matters Working Group in South Australia.

ACSA is currently chaired by Michael Hawke, Anglicare SA.

To find out more about ACSA go to the ACSA page

Family Matters Campaign SA

Child and Family Focus SA is the auspicing body of the Family Matters Campaign in South Australia.

Family Matters is Australia’s national campaign to ensure Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children grow up safe and cared for surrounded by their own family, community and culture.

Despite numerous legal and policy frameworks protecting the cultural rights of Indigenous children, the rate of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children in out-of-home care is almost ten times that of other children and continues to grow.

 When the ground-breaking Bringing Them Home report into the Stolen Generations was released in 1997, Australia was shocked to learn that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children represented one in every five children living in out-of-home care. Today – nearly 20 years later – they are one in every three.

 The causes of over representation are complex, including the legacy of past policies of forced removal, intergenerational effects of separations from family and culture, poor socio‐economic status and perceptions arising from cultural differences in child‐rearing practices.

 Each year, the Family Matters campaign releases its annual report. In 2020, this report once again highlighted alarming results on the state of child protection in Australia for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and suggests ways forward to turn this around.

To find out more about Family Matter clcik HERE

Child and Family Welfare
Association of Australia Inc (CAFWAA)

Currently chaired by Dr. Robert Martin, CAFFSA CEO, CAFWAA is the national peak body for child, adolescent and family welfare in Australia.
CAFWAA’s aim is to promote the welfare of children and young people in out-of-home care and those at risk of placement, together with their families.

CAFWAA has membership from peak child and family welfare bodies at state and territory level as well as relevent national organisations:

CAFWAA is also affiliated with Families Australia.