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The News Room 2005 Media Releases The Awards wrap-up
The News Room 2005 Media Releases The Awards wrap-up
| The Awards wrap-up |
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| Written by Michelle Collins | |||||||
| Thursday, 01 September 2005 23:56 | |||||||
Page 1 of 4 THE 2005 CHILD PROTECTIONAWARD WINNERSVolunteer The Volunteer Support Mentoring Program THE Volunteer Support (Mentoring) Program, run by Western Districts Child Protection Services since 2003, exemplifies the importance of creating child-friendly communities. The program, the first of its kind in Australia, is designed to provide timely and meaningful support to children and young people going through the alternative care system and to strengthen their resilience and capacity to cope. Under the program, volunteers are recruited, trained and supported as they offer their time to act as positive role models for foster children. The program team is presently undertaking a research project in which the children are asked to show, through photos and artwork, how they feel about being a volunteer. The research, and the artwork, will be displayed next month at the Queensland College of Art - Southbank campus. Public Sector The Future Families Program THE Future Families Program has developed, implemented and evaluated a collaborative infant and early childhood mental health program in the Royal Children’s Hospital and Health Service District.
The program aims to develop strong attachment relationships between parents and their babies and young children. It takes referrals of families, who have infants and young children aged up to three years, where there are severe and complex needs and the risk of a disrupted attachment relationship between the child and its primary caregiver. More than 100 referrals have been received and provided with clinical services since the program was launched in 2002. Therapeutic interventions are offered in multiple settings including the home, community health settings and non-government service settings. At a policy level, the program has worked to ensure a skilled workforce is available to provide the specialist intervention needed and it has taken a leading role in training and developing collaborative partnerships across the primary and secondary health sector services.
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