Berry Street Web Docs Berry Street Annual Report 2011 | 页面 9

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RIGHT: Sandie de Wolf, Berry Street
CEO, Lauren Oliver, Berry Street
Youth Empowerment Internal
Consultant, The Hon. Ryan Smith
MP (Minister for Youth), Rodalyn
Christian, previous client in care

In March, the Hon. Ryan Smith MP
(Minister for Youth) launched our Switch
On resources for young people moving to
independence. To maximise its value, we
developed this as a resource which can
be adapted by other organisations and
youth workers.

2. Professional Foster Care
With the continued decline in the number
of people available and willing to be
foster carers, a radical change is needed
for foster care to continue to be a viable
option for children who cannot live safely
at home.
Anita Pell ‘retired’ from her position as
Regional Director in Hume to dedicate
her time to developing a new model
of foster care. This is one of our key
recommendations to the Inquiry into
Protecting Victoria’s Vulnerable Children
and will require support from government.
We are most grateful for the support
of the Jack Brockhoff and Grosvenor
Foundations in this area.

3. Education
We know that education is the key to
overcoming disadvantage, yet too
many children and young people are
disengaged from mainstream schools.
We are determined to develop and
advocate for the flexible approaches,
resources and settings so urgently
required by disengaged students. We will
focus on combining high quality teaching
with a therapeutic environment, drawing
on our own experience, as well as local
and international expertise and research.
Through our partnership with the Pavilion
School we were introduced to Tom
Brunzell, until recently Dean of Studies
from the Knowledge is Power Program
(KIPP) Infinity School in New York. The KIPP
Schools have had outstanding success
in getting disadvantaged students into
colleges. We are thrilled Tom has agreed
to come to Victoria to work with Berry
Street’s teachers and also with the
broader education sector.
Other initiatives include: implementing
our new model of alternative education
developed by the Youth Research Centre
at Melbourne University; a program of
professional development for teachers;
and continued advocacy with the
Department of Education and Early
Childhood Development.

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