Support services are available to children, and their families who are either at risk of being placed, or are in out-of-home care.
Intensive youth support services
This is a multi-disciplinary intensive case management service for young people, aged 12 to 17 years, who are, or have been subject to statutory protection intervention. These young people may be residing with their family, living independently or in a placement.
The aim of this service is to maintain young people in the community when they are at a high level of risk. It's also when less intensive services have not been, or would not be effective in reducing this level of risk.
Adolescent support
This is a case management service which aims to maintain young people (aged 12 to 17 years) in their families and community, when they are:
- In immediate crisis
- At risk of physical, emotional or sexual harm
- Require immediate or ongoing support and supervision.
Family preservation
This is a service that is:
- Intensive
- Short term
- Home-based
- Family centred service.
The service is targeted to families at imminent risk of having a child or young person, aged from 0 to 18 years, removed because of suspected or unresolved child abuse concerns. It aims to strengthen the ability of families to protect and care for their 'at risk' children, thereby avoiding child removal and placement.
Experienced professional workers intervene and provide families with support for 6 to 8 weeks.
Family preservation - Koori family preservation
This service targets Koori families and is:
- Intensive
- Home-based
- Family centred
- A counselling support service.
It focuses on families at imminent risk of having a child or young person, aged from 0 to 18 years, removed due to suspected or unresolved child abuse concerns.
The service has a strong emphasis on community development work and it supports families for approximately 3 months.
Family preservation - other family preservation
These are regional initiatives outside of the standard support service programs. They provide in-home support, which may have a role in supporting the family, preventing out-of-home care and assisting family reunification.
Innovative support
These are services provided outside of the standard support service program. They aim to maintain children and young people in their families and community by providing support during an immediate crisis. They also work with children and young people who are at risk or in need of additional support or supervision.
Centre for Excellence - Child and Family Welfare
The centre represents over 100 Victorian organisations working across the continuum of child and family services, from prevention and early intervention to the provision of out-of-home care. It supports Community Services Organisations (CSOs) to ensure adequate resources, quality and excellence in service provision.
Services include:
- Research
- Policy advice to government
- Advocating for the needs of members and their clients
- Providing training for member organisations.
The centre also manages the Victorian foster care recruitment project, which coordinates statewide foster care promotion, public relations and volunteer recruitment.
For more information, see Centre for Excellence - Child and Family Welfare.
Step by step
The Step by Step resource for foster care agencies is a secure section of the site, and as such may only be accessed by authorised users.
If you have login credentials for the Step by Step resource already, see Step by Step Victoria Home website and log in when prompted to do so.