• Services.

    One Future is a child safe organisation who pride ourselves on keeping the children and young people we work with safe. We do this by having stringent recruitment practices, detailed policies and procedures, attending training and a zero tolerance approach to breaches of our code of conduct, vision and values. One Future understands the importance of culturally appropriate practice, and we strive to work in a culturally sensitive and child-focused way.

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OUT OF HOME CARE SUPPORT

One Future shares the belief that supporting children and young people to achieve safety, well-being and positive life outcomes is central to the work of organisations that provide permanency support services. We can provide tailored supports and services for children and young people, carers and birth families and assist agencies to work towards the goal of achieving permanency by undertaking;

  • Guardianship/Relative kinship carer assessments

  • Carer assessments and reviews

  • Contact supervision

  • Restoration provisioning and specialised support

  • Life Story Work

  • Family Finding

  • Behaviour support

And more customised assessments upon consultation.

Relative kinship carer assessments

Where an out-of-home care placement is required for a child or young person, the consideration of a suitable kinship carer should be the preferred option before any other placement is pursued. Kinship care involves relatives or members of a child’s social network being approved to provide accommodation and care until restoration can occur, or long-term care plans are made. Kinship care is targeted at children aged 0-18 years subject to intervention by child protection agencies and who are assessed as requiring out-of-home care.

The Aboriginal Child Placement Principle requires that preference be given to Aboriginal extended family or relatives, or where this is not possible other extended family or relatives are the next preferred care option for an Aboriginal child or young person. For Aboriginal people, kinship care is a longstanding and integral part of Aboriginal cultures and communities. Despite the sustained trauma and loss experienced by Aboriginal people, Aboriginal families and communities continue to take care of each other in time‐honoured ways. Kinship care is a culturally appropriate and traditional way of caring for an Aboriginal child or young person.

Culturally competent carer assessments provide a foundation for strong, sustained kinship care placements for Aboriginal children. However, assessing kinship carers and making placement decisions is complex. Assessing the carer’s ability to promote safety, security and development for an Aboriginal child must include the child’s cultural safety, their family and community relationships and their cultural and spiritual development. The child’s culture is not separate from but is integral to their development – their physical and emotional health, their education and their relationships must be assessed with a cultural lens. Assessments conducted by One Future ensure that the child is safe, and their long-term needs and wellbeing include consideration of the strength and resilience that comes from being culturally strong and connected to their family and community.

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Service Area 

What is the difference?

Assessment of kinship carers are different to foster care assessment in that the assessment takes account of distinctive issues:

  • the pre-existing relationship between the child, family and the carer

  • the carer is being assessed to care for a specific child

  • the carers are usually identified by the child or their family

  • the expectations of carers and standards accepted may be different from those for carers who are unknown to the child.

What do we talk about?

Areas that we talk about during our assessments:

  • Motivation to care for the child/young person

  • Relationship with the child/young person

  • Relationship with the children’s family, family dynamics and contact

  • Family history

  • Parenting style

  • Spousal relationship

  • Understanding of, and attitude towards, the child protection issues and the need for an out-of-home care placement

  • Roles and Responsibilities as an authorised carer

  • Personal capacity to be a kinship carer and ability to meet the specific needs of the children

  • Carer supports; Managing stress and change

  • Working with agencies and services

One Future will also conduct a home safety assessment and can provide carer training if this is requested by the referring agency.

A report is then written up and provided to the agency with recommendations on who has been approved, for what type of placement (long term, short term, respite) and any supports that the carer or child/young person may need whilst in placement.