SafeCare
SafeCare® is an evidence-based training program to help parents of young children at risk of neglect and abuse. There is extensive research to show SafeCare is effective – it has been shown to reduce child neglect and harm by 26 per cent.
The Parenting Research Centre is working with the NSW Department of Communities and Justice (DCJ) to trial SafeCare in eight agencies at 17 sites across NSW that are part of DCJ’s Brighter Futures initiative. Currently the program is only available to families participating in the trial. It will be independently evaluated to determine whether it is feasible on a broader scale.
Participating families have children aged 0-5 and they focus on three key things:
- building strong and positive interactions between parents and their children
- child health
- home safety.
The Parenting Research Centre is now home to Australia’s largest group of SafeCare coaches, with a number of our staff trained to deliver, coach and train on SafeCare within the NSW trial. To date, the program has reached more than 140 families in NSW.
Elsewhere in Australia, SafeCare is also being run by Act for Kids on the Gold Coast, Wanslea Family Services in metro Perth and OzChild in Victoria. SafeCare is a product of the National SafeCare Training and Research Center (NSTRC) at Georgia State University in the United States.
Learn more
- Read more about how SafeCare works
- Read about our SafeCare support unit and our coaching expertise
- Read about the SafeCare pilot in NSW
- Contact us about SafeCare
- Watch the Four Corners program on how SafeCare is helping families