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Families and Children Activity: Review of Children, Youth and Parenting Programs - Department of Social Services - January 2025
In January 2025, The Salvation Army provided a submission to the Department of Social Services’ (DSS) Review of Children, Youth and Parenting Programs (the Review).
The programs reviewed by DSS included:
Children and Parenting Support (CaPS) Communities for Children Facilitating Partners (CfC FP) Family Mental Health Support Services (FMHSS)
The purpose of the review was to understand the benefits of these programs for families and children, as well as the opportunities and challenges in relation to the service provision and program implementation.
We approached this submission from the perspective of Salvation Army services funded under these grants, which included the:
Children and Parenting Support Service in Victoria; Doorways to Parenting in Tasmania; and Communities for Children Facilitating Partners in Logan Queensland, Salisbury South Australia, and Hobart Tasmania.
Our submission highlights the need to ensure that Children, Youth and Parenting Programs are focused on whole-of-family needs, are accessible and inclusive, and are community-led to ensure best outcomes for all families accessing these services. At the heart of our recommendations, is the critical need to ensure that the recommendations of the Review reflect the experiences of children and families across Australia and focus on addressing the structural elements that act as barriers to families accessing supports.
In this submission, The Salvation Army covers:
Meeting the diverse needs of families. We discuss the need for integrated, holistic, place-based and culturally competent services responses. We also highlight key reforms for priority cohorts. Communities for Children Facilitating Partners. We discuss the need to strengthen Facilitating Partners’ ability to maintain strong community partnerships and outline some key considerations when measuring actions and outcomes. Child and Parenting Support. We discuss the need to fund primary prevention and early intervention supports, to remove barriers to programs, and to evaluate existing successful initiatives within these services
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