Our core focus is supporting people, and our key priorities in this regard is a focus on quality client outcomes through consumer-directed services delivered against a person centred approach. Our direction is set by research and agreed best-practice frameworks that are continually reviewed and improved.

Practice and Quality

During the year we formed a team dedicated to ensure client services are being developed and delivered within a best-practice framework, to ensure a more targeted, cohesive and responsive approach to service improvement activities.

The team will work together to provide leadership, critical practice support and compliance with standards, legislation and contract requirements supporting key elements and activities, being:

• practice leadership
• client outcomes monitoring
• program design and classification framework
• practice support and advice
• quality and risk management framework
• internal audit
• regulatory compliance
• policy system
• delegations of authority
• continuous improvement.

It will also lead several LWB Communities of Practice bringing together functional specialists and operations managers in Clinical Services, Disability Services, Family Support and Out Of Home Care, and Quality and Risk.

Youth Advocate Program

To expand our work in helping young people in care develop their own plans to live independently, LWB has undertaken to trial the American Youth Advocate Program (YAP) Advocates work in Australia. During the year the YAP pilot sites were confirmed, and staff and community advocates were trained to provide advocacy. This pilot gets underway in late 2014.

Research and evaluation

Our research projects shape our relationships with clients and communities, service delivery and policy submissions, advocacy and participation in social policy debates. We also used research to challenge systemic disadvantage, and sought to ensure that we built on an evidence-base of best practice for service delivery and programs.
 

• Carol Peltola Children’s Research Fund
  The Life Without Barriers Carol Peltola Children’s Research Chair was established to further the work of the late Carol Peltola, a long-time board member of LWB. Carol was a pioneer in evidence-based child protection practice, and devoted more than 30 years to improving child safety in Australia. Professor Clare Tilbury holds the Chair at Griffith University. Her research activities include:

  • research involving children, young people and their families, professionals and policy makers
  • evaluation of initiatives and strategies that aim to address the needs of vulnerable children and their families, including children and young people in care
  • publication to disseminate research findings in scholarly journals
  • speaking at conferences and policy forums to promote research-informed approaches in the child protection field
  • teaching undergraduate and postgraduate social work and human services students
  • supervision of research higher degree students undertaking research related to child protection and Out Of Home care
  • engaging with government, industry, service providers, and professional bodies to advocate for children and young people, their families and carers
  • service to the university, the school and the wider research community.

• Collective impact: Transforming the child-serving system in disadvantaged communities, in partnership with Australian Research Council Linkage Project. This is a large national study with state and federal governments and non-government agencies. Collective impact is achieved when a group of participants from different agencies commitment to address a complex social problem. The project aims to realise this outcome for children in disadvantaged communities in three pilot sites in NSW.

• Moving to prevention – Exploring outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children through intensive family support services. Funded through the Australian Government’s National Research Agenda for Protecting Children program, and in partnership with the Secretariat of National Aboriginal and Islander Child Care (SNAICC), this research examines the operation of intensive family support services for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families.

• Reducing recurrence in the child protection system Australian Research Council (ARC) Linkage Project, in partnership with Queensland Department of Communities, examining service pathways for families notified multiple times for harm and/or risk of harm to their children.

• School to work transition for young people in care Upon completion of a major study of the school to work transition (ARC Linkage 2008-2011) the project research team received funding from the Queensland Department of Communities to develop work and life planning tools for young people in care. The booklet and carer tip sheet were sent to all young people in care in Queensland (13 years plus). The project is now under further development in collaboration with a small team in Department of Communities North Coast region who have developed a ‘Career Aspirations Strategy’ to be implemented in their region, and evaluated by the research team.

Hearing our Clients’ voices

• In Western Australia we supported young people leaving our group housing to find and furnish their own privately-arranged accommodation, by acting as facilitator for decision making and goal setting; we partnered with the local council to gain access to an under-utilised facility to support clients form their own Aboriginal community group; established a Client Voice Committee where clients can identify their thoughts and ideas in relation to improving service delivery and engagement with LWB; and we acted as spokesperson for our clients to secure a council house at a reduced rate as emergency accommodation for young people in crisis. This is part of broader conversations LWB has with councils around issues affecting clients that they can positively influence.

• In South Australia, we opened our facility to the recently formed Wyalla Men’s Shed while they found and fixed-up a ‘home’ of the their own. In thanks, the Men’s Shed members created a new car park area for our consumers, visitors and staff.