In early December 2024, the NSW Government released a System Review into out-of-home care, with the primary focus on DCJ as the stewards of the system as well as the NGOs providing service delivery. Allambi Care took part in a survey and on-site visit as part of this review.
The review assessed:
- The effectiveness and efficiency of the current hybrid model of government and non-government service delivery, residential care, and the drivers of High-Cost Emergency Arrangements.
- Key issues impacting outcomes for children and young people and value for money.
- Current arrangements for foster carer recruitment and support, and the effectiveness of foster carer utilisation by out-of-home care providers in meeting placement demand.
- The contractual and fiscal management arrangements for out-of-home care and how taxpayer value could be better realised, including the suitability of subcontracting.
Allambi Care are in support of a number of the 13 recommendations which already point to practices and programs we are proud of at Allambi, including strong outreach and early-intervention work, data collection, integration of health care, a focus on education and trauma-informed care models and evidence-based practice.
The System Review can be found here.
Allambi Care have taken the opportunity to provide formal feedback in response to the System Review. Although responses were not formally called for, we want to be part of the solutions and are very keen to continue to engage in dialogue about the current challenges in the sector and offer potential innovative responses that have been created within the existing funding envelope. We want to stand with the government in finding and refining the levers that can improve the sector. After careful consideration by the senior practice experts and program directors at Allambi Care and connected respected leaders in the field of child protection we offer the following specific and generalised observations.
Our response provides general observations based on our extensive experience and addresses each of the recommendations in the report. Our feedback is offered in the spirit of shared goals and the understanding that children and young people do best when all the adults charged with their care collaborate to provide the support they require to achieve the best outcomes.
Allambi Care's response can be found here.
