Consultation Report 

Information for Phone Interviews for Strengthening Families Program Consultation

Dear Participant

Thank you for agreeing to take part in a phone interview with Adam Bode from the Australian National Council on Drugs (ANCD). As a key national body that represents services that either work with people affected by substance misuse who may have children, or that work with families and/or children who may be affected by substance misuse, the ANCD, on behalf of the Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs (FaHCSIA) is seeking your input to inform the development of a new phase of the National Illicit Drug Strategy (NIDS) Strengthening and Supporting Families Coping with Illicit Drug Use (‘Strengthening Families’) Program.

The ANCD has been commissioned by FaHCSIA to conduct an independent consultation of organisations with a particular interest in the Strengthening Families Program. The consultation is primarily focused on collecting views about the most appropriate service models, programs and investments that could be made within the context of available funding to provide the best outcomes for families and children at risk. This consultation is being undertaken through two phases:

1. An online consultation, targeting services/organisations working in the alcohol and other drug (AOD), family support and/or child protection sectors. This online consultation process is currently being conducted and can be accessed at http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=OBugC5Kykk6qp0JA7wbjjQ_3d_3d.  Closing date for responses is Monday 6 July; and
2. A number of phone interviews with key national bodies from the AOD, family support and child protection sectors.

To assist in answering the questions that will be asked during the phone interview some background information along with a copy of the questions that will be asked during the interview are provided below. It is important that you read this before the scheduled interview. Interviews are estimated to take approximately 30 minutes.

Once the two phases of the consultation have been completed the ANCD will provide FaHCSIA with a report on the responses to this consultation, highlighting the key findings which will assist FaHCSIA in developing a service model for the refocused Strengthening Families Program.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me at the e-mail and telephone numbers below.

Thanks again for your valuable support and input.

Kind regards

Denise Gilchrist
Manager
Australian National Council on Drugs
3 July 2009
denise@ancd.org.au
(02) 6166 9600

Background

The Strengthening Families Program is a component of the broader National Illicit Drug Strategy (NIDS) and focuses on the specific areas of family support rather than the health, education or criminal aspects of the strategy. The program currently assists families; including parents, grandparents, kinship carers and children of drug using parents, by taking an early intervention and family-focused approach to dealing with the impacts of substance misuse on families.

As part of a number of recent announcements by the Minister for Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs, the Hon Jenny Macklin, the Strengthening Families Program will be refocused to support vulnerable families and their children consistent with the new National Framework for Protecting Australia’s Children.

To allow for the development of the refocused Strengthening Families Program, all existing Strengthening Families Program providers were offered an extension of funding until 30 April 2010. 

As part of the process of developing a new service model, FaHCSIA is working with the Australian National Council on Drugs (ANCD) to gain an understanding of the views and needs of the drug and alcohol, family support and child protection service sectors to inform the new approach for the Strengthening Families Program.

The consultation is expected to be completed by 30 July 2009. An open tender process under the new service model is then expected to be conducted between August and October 2009 with successful applicants announced in late 2009.

It should be noted that the decision to refocus the program has not been taken in response to any issues with the existing program but rather in order to direct resources to a key government priority in a time of increasing funding pressures.

The refocusing of the Strengthening Families Program is linked to two important initiatives of the Australian Government:  The Family Support Program, a new umbrella program of which Strengthening Families will be a specialist part and the National Framework for Protecting Australia's Children which will inform the refocused policy direction of the Strengthening Families Program.

For a full copy of the Departmental Discussion Paper - Developing a Family Support Program please see:
http://www.fahcsia.gov.au/sa/families/progserv/familysupport/Pages/DepartmentalDiscussionPaper-FSP.aspx
For a full copy of the National Framework for Protecting Australia’s Children 2009–2020 please see:
http://www.fahcsia.gov.au/about/news/2009/pages/nationalframeworkprotectingchildren.aspx

Questions for telephone interviews

1. We will not be attributing any information to particular individuals or services/organisation within the main part of the report but would you be happy for us to mention your name and organisation as one of the key national bodies that participated in the telephone interviews.

1. Which sector do you represent?  (AOD, Family Support or Child Protection)

With the refocus of the Strengthening Families Program, FaHCSIA are seeking to improve coordination and linkages between services within the AOD, family support and child protection sectors to improve outcomes for families and children affected by substance misuse. The program currently assists families; including parents, grandparents, kinship carers and children of drug using parents, by taking an early intervention and family-focused approach to dealing with the impacts of substance misuse on families.

1. How well do you think each of the following service types currently link and collaborate with other services within the different sectors?
• AOD
• Family support
• Child protection
• Which (if any) sector is best situated to facilitate linking and collaboration between services in all three sectors?
2. Are you aware of the sorts of services which currently link and collaborate with the other sectors well? (This may also include services such as housing) 
• Please provide examples of how these sorts of services link and collaborate well with services from the other sectors.
• What specific features of these sorts of services help to achieve this?
3. What are the current barriers to services linking and collaborating with services in the other sectors?
4. What changes are needed to facilitate greater linking and collaboration between services in all three sectors (AOD, family support and child protection)?

One major component of improving outcomes for children and families affected by substance misuse is ensuring that individuals are able to access the services they believe can help their situation. The following questions relate to the accessibility of services and your views on barriers to access and changes which may improve accessibility.

1. How easy is it for clients to access services in each sector?
• AOD
• Family support
• Child protection
2. Are you aware of the sorts of services which currently do a particularly good job in promoting client access to their services?
• Please provide examples of how these sorts of services promote client access.
• What specific features of these sorts of services help to achieve this?
3. We are interested in understanding what are the barriers and challenges to providing access for clients:
• Can you specify what service providers believe are the main barriers to promoting access?
• Can you specify what clients believe are barriers to accessing relevant services?
4. What are the benefits and the possible problems associated with differentiating between AOD, family, and child protection services in terms of access for clients?
• Does it matter which sector the initial point of access is with?

An important aspect of the Strengthening Families Program is the provision of services that look specifically at providing family support to improve outcomes for children and families affected by substance misuse. The following questions ask about how services in your sector achieve this.

1. How high a priority is each of the following in your sector?
• Fostering more resilience within families and communities.
• Ensuring families take account of the best interest of their children in making parenting arrangements.
• Enhancing safety and wellbeing of children.
2. How feasible is it to provide each of the following in your sector?
• Fostering more resilience within families and communities.
• Ensuring families take account of the best interest of their children in making parenting arrangements.
• Enhancing safety and wellbeing of children.

With the refocus of the Strengthening Families Program to support vulnerable families and their children consistent with the new National Framework for Protecting Australia’s Children there will be a requirement for services to be able to identify children at risk. The following questions ask about your sectors ability to identify children at risk of harm or neglect in families affected by substance misuse.

1. How well do services currently identify children at risk in families affected by AOD issues?
• AOD
• Family support
• Child protection
2. Are you aware of the sorts of services which currently do well at identifying children at risk in families affected by AOD issues?
• Please provide examples of how these sorts of services do well at identifying children at risk in families affected by AOD issues.
• What specific features of these sorts of services help to achieve this?
3. What are the current barriers and challenges to services being able to identify children at risk in families affected by AOD issues?
4. What changes need to be made to facilitate better identification of children at risk in families affected by AOD issues?

Following on from the previous section which looked at identifying children at risk this next set of questions asks about your sectors ability to respond once children at risk have been identified.

1. How well do services currently respond to children at risk in families affected by AOD issues.
• AOD
• Family support
• Child protection
2. Are you aware of the sorts of services which currently do well at responding to children at risk in families affected by AOD issues?
• Please provide examples of how these sorts of services do well at responding to children at risk in families affected by AOD issues.
• What specific features of these sorts of services help to achieve this?
3. What are the current barriers and challenges to services being able to respond to children at risk in families affected by AOD issues?
4. What changes need to be made to facilitate better responses for children at risk in families affected by AOD issues?