Report of the Community Care Review September 2000 Author: Jan Carter

REPORT OF THE COMMUNITY CARE REVIEW September 2000 Jan Carter Deakin Human Services Australia Deakin University Report of the Community Care Review September 2000 Author: Jan Carter © Department of Human Services, September 2000 This work is copyright. Apart from any use as permitted by the Copyright Act MCMLXVIII, no part may be reproduced by any process without written permission from The Department of Human Services, 555 Collins Street, Melbourne, Victoria. IBSN 0 731160 92 4 Report of the Community Care Review Summary ii Contents Summary viii Chapter 1The context 1 Overview 1 1.1 Introduction 1 1.2 Terms of reference 2 1.3 Review approaches 3 1.4 The key questions 4 1.5 Youth and Family Services Redevelopment, 1997–99 4 1.6 Themes 5 1.7 This Report 18 Chapter 2 The past: The YAFS Redevelopment and the reaction 21 Overview 21 2.1 Introduction 22 2.2 The environment for the Redevelopment 24 2.3 The Redevelopment 26 2.4 Problems and weaknesses of the Redevelopment 29 2.5 The positive aspects of the Redevelopment 36 2.6 Summary of information from consultations 40 2.7 Models of public administration 41 Report of the Community Care Review Summary iii 2.8 Summary and recommendation 47 Chapter 3 The future: principles and priorities for reform 48 Overview 48 3.1 Principles for community care services: the consultations 49 3.2 Principles for guiding reform 53 3.3 Opportunities and priorities 56 3.4 Implications 61 3.5 Building blocks for future network capability 62 3.6 Summary and recommendations 71 Chapter 4 The future: building resilient communities 73 Overview 73 4.1 Introduction 74 4.2 Building community and community infrastructure 75 4.3 Principles of community building 80 4.4 Key issues 85 4.5 Implications for Community Care 86 4.6 Implementation: the practice of community 87 4.7 Summary and recommendations 88 Chapter 5 The future: reducing vulnerability 89 Overview 89 5.1 Introduction 90 Report of the Community Care Review Summary iv 5.2 Recognition of prevention 93 5.3 Characteristics of successful prevention 95 5.4 Connecting prevention and early intervention 95 5.5 Prevention and risk 99 5.6 Types of prevention 101 5.7 Prevention partnerships 104 5.8 Prevention and programs 104 5.9 Summary and recommendations 105 Chapter 6 The future: service structures 107 Overview 107 6.1 Introduction 108 6.2 Theme A: Service objectives 108 6.3 Ages of children and young people 111 6.4 Service clusters 115 6.5 Clusters and levels of intervention 117 6.6 Theme B: Community Care Networks and Community Zones 118 6.7 Networks: the 'portfolios' required 119 6.8 Towards service integration 123 6.9 Summary and recommendations 124 Chapter 7 Improvements in community care services 125 Overview 125 7.1 Introduction 126 7.2 Child protection 133 7.3 'Out of home' services 137 Report of the Community Care Review Summary v 7.4 Leaving care 139 7.5 Residential care 140 7.6 Foster care 143 7.7 Indigenous issues: child, youth and family 145 7.8 A framework for service review 149 7.9 Case-content analysis 150 7.10 Summary and recommendations 150 Chapter 8 Other considerations 151 Overview 151 8.1 Introduction 152 8.2 Families 152 8.3 Schools 159 8.4 Professionalisation and its place 160 8.5 Legislation 163 8.6 Accountability 167 8.7 Summary and recommendations 170 Chapter 9 Recommendations 171 Overview 171 9.1 Vision and mission 171 9.2 Recommendations 172 Report of the Community Care Review Summary vi Appendices Acknowledgements 1-1 Members of the Reference Group 2-1 Review Commissioning Document 3-1 Consultations and meetings 4-1 Consultation attendance summary 5-1 Submissions received 6-1 Summary of submissions 7-1 YAFSR publications 8-1 References 9-1 Report of the Community Care Review Summary vii Summary I Key issues I.i Context In this report it is argued that effective community care services, both preventative and intensive, are investments in the future social infrastructure of Victoria. Governments and community service organisations need a framework whereby explicit goals and effectiveness are achieved. In the Community Care Review (CCR), the past Youth and Family Services Redevelopment (YAFSR) was analysed and a framework for future directions was provided. The themes that recur are as follows. • Partnerships should be formed between government, communities, community service organisations (CSOs) and other key agencies, including local governments. • People are citizens, not merely consumers. • Practice has to be goal directed, evidence based and coordinated. • Through prevention, expansion of intensive services will be halted in the long run. • Community services organisations delivering services on behalf of government must be reimbursed the full cost of delivery. • ‘Place’ means building and rebuilding specific communities and delivering flexible local services. • Policy requires ‘joined up’ government and ‘whole of government’ responses. • ‘Process’ will require new forms of management and leadership. • Performance will require that accountabilities be met by all partners, both organisational and individual. I.ii The YAFS Redevelopment The evidence of the Review is that there has to be a more effective model of public administration to guide relations between government and non-government than that proposed by YAFSR. This model has to be partnership based, relational oriented, locally responsive, based on standards, results driven and linkage conscious. Report of the Community Care Review Summary viii Central to the partnership will be recognition of a discernible network of services over and above the identity and contribution of individual CSOs, whereby programs are matched with problems, tasks, capabilities and service standards. I.iii Building blocks In the Review, building blocks were defined whereby future capability will be determined. These are as follows. • Inclusion: a commitment to participation as the basis for moving ahead • Quality: developing learning networks • Service standards • Quality assurance through audit and inspection • Benchmarking and target setting • Quality data and information systems • Development of learning organisations • Knowledge: leveraging evidence-based activity • Localism: building ‘place’ at the local level • Linkages: getting the whole of government together • Financing: best value assessments I.iv Communities Central to the objectives of community care is the task of community building. Ingredients in building successful communities were found to be as follows. • Community is the end, not the means, of delivering a program. • A preponderance of members of a community will decide democratically what has to be delivered. • Strong leadership and advanced democracy are compatible. • Vulnerable communities have lost their ‘know-how’. I.v Prevention There is a new body of evidence in which it is made clear that if there is prevention, risk factors associated with youth and adult crime, mental illness, child abuse and violence can be reduced. Prevention is central to service design; it has to be carefully directed to all children and families (universal), and to children, youth and families determined to be ‘at risk’ (selective). Prevention has to be goal directed and transition focused. Specific points in the life cycle at which risk can accumulate, consolidate or decrease are noted. Report of the Community Care Review Summary ix Prevention cannot be substituted for intensive intervention, but over time, through coherent universal prevention programs and selective prevention aimed at population groups at risk, it should be possible to halt the escalation of intensive services and to even wind them back. I.vi The way ahead The structure of organisations is of secondary importance to purpose, process, relationships and networks. Organisations are not being abolished and new ones are not being started up. In this section a range of service objectives and service clusters are recommended whereby more focused attention will be placed on specific age groups and the evidence about respective forms of intervention will be used. Community Care Networks coterminous with local government areas and local Community Zones could plan, audit and deliver services. Local Community Zones could ‘cash out’ resources and develop service plans consistent with agreed community needs. I.vii Service improvements A major national research effort to scope the nature of family and community services, problems and interventions is required, together with a framework for regular reviews of current services, according to agreed Practice Improvement Plans. The Review also found: • that there was substantial agreement that the child protection service has to divert many families to a comprehensive family support service • that there was agreement that residential care is often not based on young people’s needs that standards fall short of good practice, and that government financing is insufficient • that the high rate of foster care breakdown is unacceptable • that the lack of effective education, training and employment for young people in care is a serious concern • that a coherent, supported, resourced plan has to accompany each young person leaving care • that service providers working with indigenous families have to understand grief and loss, and to support and resource indigenous communities to care for, guide and school indigenous children and young people. I.viii Other matters Issues central to the work of this Review are outlined in this section. Report of the Community Care Review Summary x They are as follows. Families: The Division of Community Care is the key agency for accumulating knowledge about Victorian families and for advising the Government about family matters. This means that the knowledge base about families has to be strengthened. Schools: Stronger partnerships between schools, the Department of Human Services and CSOs are needed for smooth transitions. Child and youth learning has to be enhanced (particularly for vulnerable young people) and if children and young people ‘at risk’ of abuse and neglect are to be protected.

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