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5.2
Collaborated with our service delivery staff to produce public policy
submissions relating to national standards for Out of Home Care, improved
access to education for low income families, family violence law reform, child
protection reform and the establishment of a National Commissioner for
Children and Young.
Developed structure and content for the Knowledge Centre within the Berry
Street website, including a regular advocacy spotlight and introduced a
Research/Resource Spotlight in our fortnightly Berryland Banner.
Participated in State and national sector reform processes including,
Ombudsman review of Out of Home Care; review of the Northern Territory
Child Protection system; integrated standards for DHS funded community
service organisations in Victoria, and development of national standards of Out
of Home Care.
Reviewed and revised the Service Charter and Policy Framework.
Authored practice related policies and procedures relating to client records,
children’s contact services and secure transport, relocation and archiving of
client information.
Commenced projects to create an agency wide Out of Home Care policy manual
and sexual health and education policy for children and young people in Out of
Home Care.
We also contributed to research through the Felton Chair ‘Who am I?’ and on
Kinship Care, Saver Plus, Family Relationship Services Programs and evaluation
of Family Violence Safety Notices.
Quality Improvement and Accreditation
Our services are subject to seven different external quality and accreditation
frameworks.
Our approach has been to:
1.
2.
3.
Support and assist staff to meet all the requirements of their particular
regulatory and compliance framework.
Pursue the integration and cross referencing of separate regulatory
frameworks internally and advocate for integrated standards to government.
Establish an Excellence Framework across all services and activities of the
organization that integrates service evaluation, quality improvement and
risk management. The Excellence Framework signals that we will focus on
results and quality outcomes for clients and communities regardless of the
existence or otherwise of external regulatory frameworks.
During 2010 through the collaborative efforts of s