The Association of Children’s Welfare Agencies (ACWA) is working with Fams, AbSec, DCJ, and other stakeholders in the child and family services sector to develop a groundbreaking Workforce Skills Strategy.
A Child and Family Workforce Skills Strategy Update Session will be held via Zoom on Monday 5 September at 12 noon.
You can RSVP via email here.
The project helps participants identify current workforce training needs across the Early Intervention, Permanency Planning and Intensive Therapeutic Support workforces, and explore prospective solutions to meeting those needs.
A consortium comprising the Research Centre for Children and Families at The University of Sydney; School of Education and Social Work, Charles Sturt University; Curijo, DaV’ange and the Parenting Research Centre is undertaking this work.
In order to be successful, this project relies on expert input from sector leaders and practitioners. For this reason, we invite you and others within your organisation to contribute in one or all of the following three ways:
1. Complete a survey
As a member of the child and family workforce with supervisory responsibilities, you are being invited to participate in a survey to help us learn more about the specific learning needs of practitioners. The survey will take approximately 20 minutes and will ask you questions about skills you feel you would like to improve, barriers you encounter to professional development and preferred methods of learning for yourself and your team.
[button link=”https://sydney.au1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_6SC5G0tFjZfNrnw” type=”big” color=”lightblue” newwindow=”yes”] Complete the survey now[/button]
2. Take part in a roundtable
As a practitioner in permanency planning, early intervention or intensive therapeutic care services, we invite you to participate in a 90-minute roundtable for an important study on workforce learning needs, being conducted by a consortium of community and university partners on behalf of DCJ and peak bodies ACWA, AbSec, and FAMS. We want to hear from you about what you think the biggest learning and training needs are in the sector. There are options for in-person and online attendance.
To participate, please click the link below to provide your contact information and availability by 19 September, and a member of the research team will contact you.
[button link=”https://sydney.au1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_bwjjbPWpYFXpi6y” type=”big” color=”lightblue” newwindow=”yes”] Sign up to participate[/button]
3. Invite young people, parents or carers to a focus group
Please encourage young people, carers and families you work with to contribute to this project. All participants will receive a token of appreciation for their time.
Please adapt the below text as you see fit to promote this opportunity:
Have you been in the out-of-home care system and are you aged from 16 to under 20 years old? Has your family had contact with the out-of-home care system or family support services within the last 12 months? Are you a carer in the out-of-home care system (foster or kinship carer)?
We would love to hear your feedback and ideas for improvements in the system! You are being invited to take part in a 90-minute focus group with other young people for a project aimed at making sure child and family workers have the skills to help young people and their families. We can offer a small token of appreciation for your time.
To participate, please provide your contact information and availability by Friday 16 September and a member of the research team will contact you:
https://sydney.au1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_9MIF8mhLbu5ndbM
Thank you for your support and involvement in this vital project!
