- Published:
- Thursday 13 August 2015
Victorian children and families will benefit from $36.7 million over four years for early intervention and family services to immediately reduce pressure on the system.
Service providers will be asked to analyse current demand drivers of service gaps in their catchment areas and make submissions for funding, which will be provided across all Child and Family Services Alliances.
The Andrews Labor Government is investing more to support vulnerable children and families through Child FIRST and Family Services, which help families to develop a plan that addresses their specific needs and helps them receive the right support.
This could include working to improve parenting skills, in-home support and linking families to other specialist services like family violence and alcohol treatment services.
Investing in early intervention and family services is critical to tackling issues early on and reducing future demand for child protection and other support services down the track.
The Auditor-General has recently highlighted a significant increase in referrals to early intervention services, as well as an increasing complexity of cases coming into the system.
This investment comes as the Labor Government had announced its Roadmap for Reform: Strong Families, Safe Children – an ambitious reform project to shape the long-term future of the support service system for vulnerable children and families from the ground up.
It builds on the Government’s record $257 million funding boost to child protection and family services in the 2015–16 Victorian Budget.
Quotes attributable to Minister for Families and Children Jenny Mikakos
“The Andrews Labor Government is boosting investment in early intervention services to improve the lives of vulnerable children and families.”
“Early intervention services help families and children early on to prevent an issue escalating to crisis point, where more drastic intervention may be required.”
“This year’s budget provided the biggest boost in a decade for child protection and family services, but these issues run deeper than money - we need to examine our service delivery from the ground up to achieve better outcomes for children.”