Background
The Strengthening and Supporting Families Coping with Illicit Drug Use (‘Strengthening Families’) Program is a component of the National Illicit Drug Strategy (NIDS) that focuses on the specific areas of family support rather than the health, education or law enforcement aspects of the strategy. The Strengthening Families Program currently funds 19 initiatives across Australia which assist 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. Services include counselling, support, advice, information, advocacy and referral.
The Strengthening Families Program has an annual funding allocation of $3.1 million.
In April 2009, the Minister for Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs, the Hon Jenny Macklin, announced a refocusing of the Strengthening Families Program’s $3.1 million annual allocation to provide focused parenting and substance abuse support where children are at risk. Under this measure, all existing Strengthening Families Program providers were offered an extension of funding until 30 April 2010.
The refocusing of the Strengthening Families Program is linked to two important initiatives of the Australian Government: The Family Support Program (FSP) which is the new overarching program that now incorporates the Strengthening Families Program along with a number of other programs and the National Framework for Protecting Australia's Children which informs the new policy direction of the Strengthening Families Program.
The three principles that underpin FSP are:
- Building the capability and resilience of Australian families and children in their communities.
- Working in the best interest of children.
- Responding to the vulnerabilities of families and their communities.
The National Framework for Protecting Australia's Children is structured around six high-level supporting outcomes with associated strategies and indicators of change. The two outcomes that particularly relate to the drug and alcohol sector are:
- Supporting Outcome 2:
Children and families access adequate support to promote safety and intervene early.
In particular, the associated Strategy 2.4 to enhance services and supports for children and families to target the most vulnerable and protect children ‘at-risk’
- Supporting Outcome 3:
Risk factors for child abuse and neglect are addressed.
In particular, the associated Strategy 3.1 to enhance alcohol and substance abuse initiatives that provides additional support to families.
To assist in the development of the new Strengthening Families Program, FaHCSIA engaged the Australian National Council on Drugs (ANCD) to undertake an independent consultation of services within the alcohol and other drug (AOD), family support (FS) and child protection (CP) sectors. The consultation which included an online survey and a select number of phone interviews was designed to primarily focus on collecting views about the most appropriate service models, programs and investments that could be made within the context of the two initiatives and the existing funding allocation to provide the best outcomes for families affected by substance misuse.
The report prepared for FaHCSIA includes:
- The design and methodology of the survey and interview questions
- The findings of the consultation, highlighting the key findings, and
- A discussion and conclusions