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Post by flossyinoz on Apr 10, 2013 10:22:11 GMT 10
For all in the process of applying this might be of interest: Consultation Forum: Future Directions Start: May 1 2013, 7:30pm End: May 1 2013, 8:30pm Location: Centre for Excellence in Child and Family Welfare Phone: 03 9020 1833 Email: info@ppss.org.au The Post Placement Support Service (PPSS), Foster Care Association of Victoria (FCAV), and Centre for Excellence in Child and Family Welfare, along with the Department of Human Services, invite you to a consultation forum with parents, carers and other interested individuals to discuss Future Directions in Permanent Care and Adoption. Form more information access the event flyer. www.ppss.org.au/uploaded-files/2013..._1365134306.pdfRead the one page description of the Future Directions in Permanent Care and Adoption Project here. www.ppss.org.au/uploaded-files/Gene..._1365122397.pdf
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Post by doris on Apr 10, 2013 16:05:25 GMT 10
Thanks Flossy...
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Post by flossyinoz on May 4, 2013 20:19:49 GMT 10
The session on Wednesday was not at all what I expected. I expected someone to present a draft and ask for input on this draft to reorganise the adoption/pc system.
But that is not what happened.
There are currently 2 government projects underway to look at the adoption/pc system, one to look at each case of children currently in care to hopefully speed up individual permanent placement, scope 1 year to 18 months. The other long term project and that what the session was mostly about is about making a proposal to the government by end of June on how to reform the overall system. Sam, the project leader has been in his job since August last year and already done numerous sessions with the involved agencies and other parent/peer groups.
So we were asked to give input on what needs to be changed and tell our individual stories. The majority of people were permanent care parents and some of the stories we heard about shortcomings in the DHS system, of them being left alone without support in court cases with birth parents on an ongoing basis were heart wrenching and made me thankful we have our son via local adoption. There were also a few from international adoption which has virtually come to a stand still and most personnel have left ICAS.
On a personal note I wanted to know if in the interim international and local list will be combined which would halve our chances for no 2. The suggestion is no, international applicants however who have little chance of getting placed internationally anymore are supposed to get access to the permanent care list where there is the most need for stable placements. But I do not know what this would involve as pc does pose different issues than international adoption especially around the topic of access visits. I assume retraining and or reinterviewing with those interested would need to be done.
Sam said he is getting pretty unanimous input now about what is not working and what to do better. The future recommendations (but there were no details about these recommendations) will be to streamline the gateway, one state wide process with modules and people can be approved for more than one stream, ie local, international adoption and permanent care and you are only going off the list once you have been placed in either of these streams.
One suggestion was also to follow suit to other states in making adoption of former permanent care children possible after a certain time in a stable placement, which would probably make pc a lot more attractive to people. But if this suggestion is part of the proposal was not quite clear.
If and when, how and what in which timeframe is going to happen has to be decided by the government after end June. I would assume the timeframe after that will be around 12 to 18 months, quicker maybe for some organisational changes.
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ppss
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Post by ppss on May 13, 2013 10:41:54 GMT 10
Thanks for coming along and for posting this item on the Future Directions in Permanent Care and Adoption Forum. I hope you found it useful. Key themes that we here at the Post Placement Support Service identified from the discussions were: • the disjointed application and assessment processes across adoption and permanent care and the potential to increase the number of families available by removing the barriers between these systems; • the extended time delays between application and placement of a child; • legal issues associated with permanent care orders and support for parents through court processes; • ongoing access to services and support for children with specific needs; and • ongoing post-placement support for parents and families as their children progress through different life stages and transitions. To make sure as many people as possible have an opportunity to have their say on what they would like to see from a reformed system, we’ve established a short online survey for comments: www.surveymonkey.com/s/PQ6DSLD We'd love the input of any forum members with an interest. Our survey closes on Friday, 24 May and all submissions received will be provided to DHS for consideration as part of the first report being prepared for June 2013. Hopefully this report will answer some of the questions you've asked regarding the specifics of any revised system. With our thanks, The Team at PPSS info@ppss.org.au www.ppss.org.au
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Post by flossyinoz on May 13, 2013 16:31:55 GMT 10
Thanks PPSS for posting your summary and link. I was tempted to post the link myself, but was not sure if the survey was only open for PPSS members. You have just answered my question .
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