Keeping Kids Central: building capacity to support children from families with complex problems

Investigators

Tania McKenna, Professional Development Coordinator, and Jacqui Stewart, Project Manager (Institute of Child Protection Studies, Australian Catholic University)

Funding

Australian Department of Social Services

Aim

Keeping Kids Central aimed to build the capacity of workers, in specialist and mainstream services, to engage with and support children from families experiencing complex problems.

Project details

The Keeping Kids Central initiative was designed to address family and domestic violence. It also considered how parental substance misuse and mental health problems place children at risk.

The project focused on developing or enhancing service practitioner capabilities and knowledge in the following areas:

• Understanding of why child-safe and child-centred practices are important
• Appreciation of children's perspectives of how their families' complex problems affect their lives
• Ability to engage with and enable children to talk about sensitive issues and what they need from support services
• Comprehension of and compliance with relevant legal and other requirements.

The project developed ways of equipping program managers and leaders with the knowledge and skills to develop governance processes, policies and procedures that support child-safe and child-centred practice.

Project timeline

Completed 2018

Contact

For more information contact: icps@acu.edu.au