Revised Joint Protocol Now Available

The Joint Protocol to reduce contact of young people in residential care with the criminal justice system has been revised to reflect changes to the service system since it was originally introduced in 2016. The latest edition, which can be downloaded here, has also undergone a design refresh. The Joint Protocol was prepared by the […]

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ACWA Webinar: Rational Use of Psychotropic Medications with Youth in ITC settings

In this March 22 webinar, which runs from 9am to 10:30am, Dr Christopher Bellonci will discuss current patterns of medication use and the opportunity to use residential stays as a setting for thoughtful medication reassessment. In this presentation, participants will learn current prescribing trends and some of the causes of these trends in children’s mental […]

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Measuring Therapeutic Outcomes for Children: Visiting Cornell University Child Welfare Implementation Experts Share Their Key Learnings

Distinguished implementation expert Martha J. Holden, Dr Debbie Sellers, Research Director at Cornell University Residential Child Care Project and Dr Diana Boswell, Cornell Instructor, Therapeutic Welfare Interventions, were welcome return visitors to ACWA’s Best Practice Unit (BPU) last week. Martha and her colleagues, joined by their Australian child welfare agency partners, gave a day of […]

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Common Sense Prevails Amid a Flurry of Contracting Talks

The announcement by FACS this week that it is suspending its Intensive Therapeutic Care tendering process until further notice is a win for collaboration and common sense, writes ACWA CEO Andrew McCallum: In what can only be described as an ‘interesting time’, the sector has been ‘knee-deep’ in the tendering/recommissioning of out-of-home care services and […]

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