PSP Best Practice Framework
The challenge
To support non-government organisations to achieve restoration, guardianship or open adoption for children and young people in out-of-home care.
Who we’re working with
- NSW Department of Communities and Justice
- Research Centre for Children and Families (RCCF), University of Sydney
- CareSouth (Batemans Bay)
- Wandiyali (Newcastle)
- The Benevolent Society (Hurstville, Sydney)
What we’re doing
We’re working with CareSouth, Wandiyali and The Benevolent Society to develop a PSP Best Practice Framework to support consistent practice with birth parents and carers who are working towards the goals of restoration, guardianship or open adoption.
Drawing on our PracticeWorks methodology, we are working with staff at each of our partner agencies on a framework that will be available to the whole non-government out-of-home care sector. The framework will allow practitioners to translate best practice evidence in a way that allows them to tailor the approach to individual clients and their circumstances.
Importantly, we’re focused not just on building frameworks, but on helping the agencies put them into action, monitor how they work, ensure they support staff needs and, ultimately, make sure they lead to better outcomes for families.
The results so far
We’ve developed a structure and practices with The Benevolent Society, to guide practitioners who are supporting the goals of guardianship and open adoption. Work is underway with CareSouth and Wandiyali, focusing on practices that support the restoration of children and young people to their birth family. This work will be subject to an independent evaluation by the RCCF at University of Sydney to inform the development of a final framework.
Learn more
- Read more about our PracticeWorks method
- Evidence review of permanency practices (University of Sydney)