NSW Health / Roll-out of Family Referral Services 2011/12 &2012/13 - HAC 12/09

To establish and operate three Family Referral Services in Liverpool/Macarthur, the Mid North Coast and the Far North Coast. All three Family Referral Services will have a region focus and operate a service culturally appropriate to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and people from culturally linguistically diverse (CALD) backgrounds. The Liverpool/Macarthur Family Referral Service will also have a specific focus on people from culturally linguistically diverse (CALD) backgrounds, including refugees. The service for the Mid North Coast will also specifically focus on developing culturally appropriate referral pathways for Aboriginal children, young people and their families and foster linkages with organisations that have the capacity to address the specific support needs of Aboriginal children, young people and their families.

Under a contract with the Health Administration Corporation (T/as the NSW Ministry of Health), successful respondents will, over 14 months, establish and operate Family Referral Services that link vulnerable children, young people and families in need of assistance with the most appropriate support services in their local area. Family Referral Services assist vulnerable children and young people who do not require child protection statutory intervention and their families by providing information on and referrals to services that may meet their support needs.

Successful respondents will operate a region intake and referral service, being a service which provides telephone advice; conducts telephone referrals as well as offering face to face referrals from shop-front location(s) and outreach services; case coordination; and can supplement access to support services with the use of brokerage funding.

Successful respondents will determine appropriate support services for children and families in the region, building on rather than supplanting existing services, and will improve links between government and non government services in the region.

Successful respondents will work closely with other Keep Them Safe funded agencies to support the development of effective referral pathways and a reflective approach to service development, and to identify service availability and capacity to inform ongoing improvements to the system of child protection and wellbeing in NSW.

An optional Industry Briefing will be held on Tuesday 21 February at 1pm. Please refer to Section D, Clause 2 for full details.