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NSW Department of Community Services Annual Report 2006/07 STRONGER FAMILIES STRONGER COMMUNITIES Table of contents The Hon. Kevin Greene MP OVERVIEW Minister for Community Services About DoCS 2 Our people 3 Parliament House Accountability and oversighting 7 Macquarie St Director-General’s message 8 SYDNEY NSW 2000 Performance summary 13 1. BUILDING STRONGER COMMUNITIES Community services Dear Minister Supported Accommodation Assistance Program 20 Disaster recovery 23 In accordance with the Annual Reports (Departments) Community development and capacity building 26 Act 1985, I am pleased to submit to you for Community Services Grants Program 26 presentation to Parliament a report on the activities Alcohol and drug abuse 27 and financial affairs of the NSW Department of Violence against women 28 Community Services for the period 1 July 2006 Families NSW 29 to 30 June 2007. Aboriginal Child, Youth and Family Strategy 30 Better Futures 30 Youth initiatives 31 Yours sincerely Strengthening communities 32 Area Assistance Scheme 32 2. HELPING CHILDREN AND FAMILIES Prevention and early intervention Children’s services 34 Early intervention 40 Neil Shepherd Brighter Futures 40 Director-General NSW Department of Community Services 3. KEEPING CHILDREN SAFE Statutory child protection Statutory child protection 44 Joint Investigation Response Teams 46 Improving capacity in community services centres 49 Improving policy and procedures 49 Intensive support for families 51 Interjurisdictional issues 52 Research 52 Improving court processes 52 Interagency collaboration 52 4. SUPPORTING CHILDREN IN CARE Out-of-home care Children and young people in permanent placements 54 ISSN 10374833 Adoption and permanent care 61 NSW Department of Community Services Children and young people restored to their family 64 4-6 Cavill Avenue Children and young people with high needs 65 ASHFIELD NSW 2131 Improving the out-of-home care system 66 DX 21212 Ashfield Ph: 02 9716 2222 5. CAPACITY BUILDING Strengthening our organisation Hours of operation: 8:30 am to 5:00 pm Monday to Friday. Capacity building 72 DoCS Helpline (ph 132 111) operates 24 hours a day, Improving service systems 72 7 days a week. Corporate services 77 This report was produced by the Media and Communication Workforce strategies 79 Branch of the NSW Department of Community Services. The External relations and freedom of information 84 total external cost of production was $30,747.85 for 300 Governance 89 hard copies and 1,000 CD-ROMs. The report is also available on DoCS website www.community.nsw.gov.au. 6. Financial statements 92 Acknowledgements 7. Appendices 131 Design Impress Design Photography Amanda James, John Halfhide 8. Funded services – Addendum 168 Models are used throughout unless otherwise stated. 9. Directory of DoCS offices 227 Note: Throughout this report percentages may not add 10. Abbreviations and terms 229 up to 100 due to rounding. 11. Index 230 Overview NSW DEPARTMENT OF COMMUNITY SERVICES ANNUAL REPORT 2006/07 1 OVERVIEW About DoCS 2000. For more information about v coordinating recovery services to this legislation, including amendments help people affected by disasters The New South Wales Department over the 2006/07 year, please see v offering community support services of Community Services (DoCS) is Appendix 1. the largest child protection agency in to help homeless people and Australia. We help keep children safe The programs and activities detailed families move to independent living. from harm and provide care for those in this annual report are based on How we help who cannot live at home. objectives and performance targets identified in DoCS Corporate Plan Together with partners in government, DoCS helps children and young people 2004/05-2008/09, as well as in business and the community, we: by providing support and care to them, our annual corporate directions their families and their communities. v assess the strengths and needs statements, meeting our statutory Our core work focuses on child of families and communities reporting responsibilities. A copy of protection. This begins early on with DoCS corporate plan and corporate v develop and deliver a range of prevention and early intervention directions are available on our website services strategies, such as children’s services www.community.nsw.gov.au. and the Brighter Futures program1, v monitor, evaluate, research and to help build strong families and analyse to improve policy and communities and help children grow service development. to have positive lives. Our vision Who we help DoCS works in partnership with other A NSW where families and government agencies, non-government communities value, protect and Our clients include: organisations, community groups nurture children and young people v children and young people in need and the public to assess the strengths of care and protection and needs of families and communities Our values v families and communities needing and develop and deliver a wide range Integrity Excellence Respect Trust help and support of services. Openness Fairness Teamwork DoCS provides services through v our partners in service the head office in Ashfield (Sydney), delivery, including service providers, local government 17 regional offices and 80 community What we do services centres delivering frontline and State and Commonwealth services. The Department’s key responsibilities are: Government agencies The DoCS Helpline (ph 132 111) v providing protection for children at v collaborators and recipients of our is a 24 hour statewide telephone risk of harm data and research findings (research service to report suspected child organisations, universities, students v providing funding, accommodation abuse or neglect. and the public). and support services for children DoCS operates within the legal and young people who can no framework set by the Children and longer live at home Young Persons (Care and Protection) v funding and regulating children’s Act 1998, the Community Welfare services such as preschools and Act 1987 and the Adoptions Act day care centres Prevention Early intervention Child protection Out-of-home care Brighter Futures DoCS crisis caseworkers & Families NSW Joint Investigation Response Teams Better Futures Out-of-home care Aboriginal Child, Youth & Family Strategy & intensive services Children’s services (preschools, childcare, etc) Supported Accommodation Assistance Program Community Services Grants Program 1 See Section 2 for more information on the Brighter Futures early intervention program. 2 NSW DEPARTMENT OF COMMUNITY SERVICES ANNUAL REPORT 2006/07 Our people v child protection: assessing reports v early intervention: assessing and providing assistance to families strengths and needs of families and DoCS employs almost 4,000 full-time to reduce harm to the child or assisting them to access a range of and part-time staff, including people young person and, if necessary, appropriate services from Aboriginal and culturally and take Children’s Court action linguistically diverse backgrounds, v Helpline: taking initial reports from to help us best identify and meet v street teams: reducing crime, people with concerns about the community needs. risk-taking and antisocial behaviour safety and wellbeing of a child or by children and young people in young person, and assessing what Our workforce includes caseworkers, areas such as Redfern, Cabramatta further actions may be taken psychologists, legal officers, community and Kings Cross program officers, researchers, v Aboriginal caseworker: consulting statisticians, economists, children’s v Joint Investigation Response and advising on Aboriginal children services advisers, communications Teams: professionals from DoCS, who are at risk, and the placements professionals, policy analysts, NSW Police Force and NSW Health of Aboriginal children and young managers and administration staff. undertake joint investigation of child people who are in out-of-home protection matters where serious care. Caseworkers make up almost half physical or sexual assault of children v multicultural caseworker: of the DoCS workforce. Caseworkers is involved can work in a number of different providing services to children from areas, including: v out-of-home care: supporting culturally and linguistically diverse children and carers where children (CALD) families and communities. are unable to live safely with their birth parents NSW DEPARTMENT OF COMMUNITY SERVICES ANNUAL REPORT 2006/07 3 OVERVIEW As at 30 June 2007, the NSW Strategy, Communication Management Department of Community Services and Governance The Director-General is the head of was administered through six The Strategy, Communication the NSW Department for Community operational areas. and Governance division provides Services. The Director-General leads the leadership in issues and relationship Executive which has responsibility for: Operations management and accountability v setting strategic policy and in DoCS, including freedom of Operations division delivers frontline operational direction by debating information, governance and corporate services across NSW and supports and determining strategic positions, and ministerial information. The Media the introduction of new policies and priorities and programs in the policy and Communication branch informs procedures and improvements in and operational context and educates stakeholders through professional practice to caseworkers. community education campaigns, v setting management directions It also delivers statewide specialist