Inquiry Forum set for 20 March

Posted on March 5, 2012 by

RSVPs are now invited for a Melbourne forum on 20 March that will offer a vital opportunity for open community sector discussion of key issues flowing from the Protecting Victoria’s Vulnerable Children (Cummins) Inquiry. The final report of the Inquiry was released last Tuesday by Premier Baillieu at Parliament Victoria.

The PVVC Inquiry Forum will feature six prominent panel members including Inquiry panellist, Mr Bill Scales AO, Chris Asquini, Executive Director of Children, Youth & Families with DHS, and the Centre’s Board President, Angela Forbes. Continue reading →

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Real work begins with launch of vulnerable children report

Posted on February 28, 2012 by

The Victorian peak body for community child and family services says the real work begins today following Premier Baillieu’s release in Parliament of the report of a year-long inquiry on Victoria’s vulnerable children.

The Centre for Excellence in Child and Family Welfare says the Inquiry’s 90 recommendations now pose the challenge for government of taking the once-in-a-generation opportunity to respond to what the panel has recommended and to invest in really helping vulnerable children, young people and families.

“Victoria has lagged behind other states and territories for quite some time in what it spends per child on family services, out-of-home care and child protection – that has to change Continue reading →

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December Inquiry Communiqué out now

Posted on December 21, 2011 by

The December PVVC Inquiry 2011 Centre Communiqué is now available for download. As we head into the Melbourne sittings over the next two weeks, it’s time to take a look at the major themes so far, and to encourage the broadest possible engagement in the public sittings still to come.

Feel free to leave a comment here, or send your feedback or questions to inquiry@cfecfw.asn.au

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Inquiry issues papers now available

Posted on November 10, 2011 by

Two of three planned issues papers developed by the Centre in response to the Protecting Victoria’s Vulnerable Children Inquiry are now available for download.

Issues Paper One
Their outcomes: local governance and outcomes frameworks for vulnerable children, young people and their families

and

 

Continue reading →

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September Inquiry Communiqué out now

Posted on September 5, 2011 by

The September PVVC Inquiry 2011 Centre Communiqué is now available for download. As we head into the Melbourne sittings over the next two weeks, it’s time to take a look at the major themes so far, and to encourage the broadest possible engagement in the public sittings still to come.

Feel free to leave a comment here, or send your feedback or questions to inquiry@cfecfw.asn.au

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Minister must be open on why community services fail

Posted on August 24, 2011 by

A doorstop media interview given today by community services minister Mary Wooldridge has raised serious questions regarding the potential closure of an unspecified number of community organisations providing child and family services for vulnerable Victorians.

The minister failed to rule out further closures following her announcement in the interview that Orana Family Services would not continue to be funded by the Department of Human Services following a service review by the department. Continue reading →

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Volunteers subsidise cost of caring for vulnerable children

Posted on August 24, 2011 by

A forum will today hear that volunteers who house and care for thousands of Victoria’s vulnerable children and young people are subsidising the real costs of care due to inadequate government reimbursement.

Carer reimbursements by the Victorian Government are lower than the national average,and fall well below the true costs of foster care for different age groups, according to recent estimates from the Social Policy Research Centre at the University of New South Wales. Home-based carers care for at least 90 per cent Continue reading →

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Bairnsdale hosts child protection Inquiry tomorrow

Posted on July 21, 2011 by

The peak body for child and family services in Victoria is calling on the State Government to boost support for regional child and family services to intervene much earlier with vulnerable children and young people to prevent harm accumulating in their young lives.

The call comes as Bairnsdale hosts a public sitting of the Baillieu Government’s Protecting Victoria’s Vulnerable Children Inquiry (PVVCI) tomorrow, Friday 22 July.

“Many of our nearly 100 member organisations around Victoria have told us that child and family services are dealing with increasingly complex cases. Continue reading →

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Local governance the focus of first Inquiry Forum

Posted on July 18, 2011 by

The first of the Centre’s forums on the key themes of its submission to the Protecting Victoria’s Vulnerable Children Inquiry was held today with a focus on local governance and outcomes frameworks.

The forum considered a draft issues paper on this theme that will be submitted to the Inquiry in early August and published online here.

An audience of about 30 representatives drawn mainly from the Centre’s member organisations heard chief executive officer, Dr Lynette Buoy, set the context for the forum before introducing four presenters on specific aspects of local governance. Continue reading →

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Good practice needs broad support to help vulnerable children

Posted on July 15, 2011 by

An article by Michelle Griffin in today’s edition of The Age highlights the benefits of family group conferencing, which is being used in Warragul to address problems that might otherwise escalate to the removal of vulnerable children and young people from their families.

It’s good to see that the program is successfully diverting some children and young people from the Continue reading →

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