Family Services
Taking a whole-of-family approach, we make a positive difference to families through services ranging from early intervention and prevention to intensive casework.
Service Users: Children & Families
Taking a whole-of-family approach, we make a positive difference to families through services ranging from early intervention and prevention to intensive casework.
The main objective of the Family Service Team is to support the safety, permanency and well-being of children. It provides family intervention comprising of supervision and also reports to the courts (for purposes of both private and public law), as well as local and international agencies.
The Team also handles an array of referrals and requests from both local and international courts for investigation and preparation of reports.
Activities & Programmes
Social Work Intervention
– to create case and care planning for children
who have emotional, mental health and physical needs, and/or
who are living within families affected by domestic violence and/or abuse.
Counselling
Counselling is also an important part of social work intervention with children and families -- to help them work through issues they are experiencing. Counselling may be done on a one-on-one basis or with a family, depending on the situation and needs of the individual and the family.
The Children Act (2012) addresses (inter alia) all areas related to the welfare of children, parental responsibility and the Department’s duty to provide particular services with respect to children in family proceedings.
Referrals to the Family Services Team (FST) come from:
Other DCFS Teams in the form of case transfers for long-term monitoring and intervention
Department of Community Rehabilitation
Court for the preparation of investigative reports, such as Children’s Act Section 9 Reports, and also to monitor cases.
International agencies to provide investigative reports from other jurisdictions
The Court requests reports from DCFS’ Family Services Team with respect to Means Reports, Welfare Reports in Residence Order (custody) cases, Relocation Reports and Guardianship Reports.
The Family Services Team upon assessment also makes petitions to the Court for:
Care Orders for children who are at significant risk of harm or who have suffered harm from parents/caregivers
Supervision Orders seeking permission from the Court to be involved in the child/s family life due to concern of potential risk or harm to the child/ren
Emergency Protection Orders when there is an immediate risk e.g. sexual/physical abuse to a child.
Guardianship in cases where parents of the child(ren) are deceased