The Year’s Highlights
In our 130th year, our capacity,
spread and diversity of services
was greater than ever before.
Our commitment – WE NEVER
GIVE UP – was demonstrated
every day as our staff and foster
carers earned trust, understood
pain and anger and forged
relationships to provide hope
for the future.
Key achievements are listed under our
5 Strategic Goals
Services – Berry Street delivers the highest quality services
Five themes of innovation:
Empowering young people – through mentoring and
a Road-2-Safety driving program in Gippsland; Our Kid’s Kitchen
life skills program and trip to the Northern Territory; and creation
of a new position to drive this area of work.
Creating new pathways in education – BEST@TheShed
in Morwell becoming the second campus for our registered
school and a new Youth Transition program; through a strategic
directions project funded by the Felton Bequest; and an Artist in
Residence program in Shepparton.
Strengthening responses to family violence and
child abuse – through our lead role in the new integrated
Family Violence services in the Northern suburbs; taking on
responsibility for family support in Banyule and Nillumbik as
part of Child FIRST; being part of the new Family Relationship
Centre in Greensborough.
Berry Street Annual Report 2007
Growing our capacity in the early years – evaluating
and then extending our very successful group work program,
First Steps; securing resources to promote our innovative Early
Learning is Fun (ELF) program.
Working in partnership with Aboriginal
organisations and communities – with the Victorian
Aboriginal Child Care Agency (VACCA) joining the Take Two
partnership; supporting VACCA to develop tools to help
mainstream organisations to become culturally competent;
and a number of joint research activities.
People – Berry Street has the best staff and foster carers
Introducing a Code of Conduct, based on our Berry Street Values.
Extending our very successful Employee Assistance Program
to foster carers.
Further reducing our WorkCover premium from 5.7% of
total remuneration in 2005/06 to 4.3% of total remuneration.
95 new people joined us, taking the total number of staff
to 499 (385 EFT).