Fathers, family violence and intervention challenges. Men who use family violence remain a strong presence in the lives of their children. In this project, a research consortium of government, Indigenous organisations, and Non-Government Organisations (NGOs) will identify the fathering issues and develop standards for practice interventions in this contentious area in which the need is great and the evidence is partial.
Farming 4 Care: Using nature to cultivate resilience in young people. This project aims to explore how passive and active engagement with nature might influence outcomes for young people who have experienced trauma, maltreatment and disrupted families. These people are extremely vulnerable, but often slip through the system. As they rarely engage in traditional therapy, non-traditional interventions may offer a viable alternative that should be explored and harnessed for this population. In addi ....Farming 4 Care: Using nature to cultivate resilience in young people. This project aims to explore how passive and active engagement with nature might influence outcomes for young people who have experienced trauma, maltreatment and disrupted families. These people are extremely vulnerable, but often slip through the system. As they rarely engage in traditional therapy, non-traditional interventions may offer a viable alternative that should be explored and harnessed for this population. In addition, traditional interventions are delivered at enormous cost and with minimal success for this group. Using an innovative multidisciplinary design, the project plans to test four hypotheses about nature engagement to contribute to the growing field of nature-based interventions. Our approach offers an alternative that draws on existing community resources and benefits local organisations, young people and farmers.Read moreRead less
Reducing recurrence in the child protection system. The project examines the factors associated with once-only and repeated notifications of child abuse and neglect. It is important that early intervention services for vulnerable children are targeted to ensure an evidence-based match between child and family needs and services.
A study of best practice in intervention with parental agreement: creating change with families in statutory child protection services. This project will explore how parental agreements can be used in statutory child protection services as an alternative to more intrusive forms of intervention. Expected outcomes include better use of parental agreements to enhance the protection of children and promote the well-being of vulnerable families.
How are decisions made in Children's Court care matters and what are the outcomes for children? How are decisions made in Children's Court child protection cases and what are the outcomes for children? This research will examine, for the first time in Australia, the evidence provided to the courts, how it is used and viewed by legal and non-legal professionals, and how these link with children's experiences and their developmental outcomes.
The impact of incarceration on children's care: a strategic framework for good care planning. This project will study best practice for care planning of children whose primary carers are incarcerated within the Australian criminal justice system. It will develop a strategic framework for future policy and practice in Australian care planning with the aim of improving outcomes for both parents and children.
Improving contact between children in out-of-home care and their birth parents: developing and trialling a contact intervention. There is little evidence on how to best manage contact between the 37,648 children in care nationally and their birth parents. The aim of this project is to develop and trial a new model of contact which will reduce distress, improve children's relationships with their birth parents and increase successful reunifications in the long term.
Towards Better Practice: Enhancing collaboration between mental health and domestic violence services. This project tackles the urgent problem of access to appropriate services for women experiencing both mental illness and domestic violence. Informed by women's accounts of service provision, the study explores barriers to, and opportunities for, improved inter-sectoral collaboration. New models of collaboration will be identified and trialled using action evaluation methodology. Anticipated out ....Towards Better Practice: Enhancing collaboration between mental health and domestic violence services. This project tackles the urgent problem of access to appropriate services for women experiencing both mental illness and domestic violence. Informed by women's accounts of service provision, the study explores barriers to, and opportunities for, improved inter-sectoral collaboration. New models of collaboration will be identified and trialled using action evaluation methodology. Anticipated outcomes include reduced homelessness in this vulnerable group of women with complex needs; more appropriate responses to women when domestic violence underlies presentations to mental health services; and incorporation, for the first time, of mental health services into coordinated community responses to domestic violence.Read moreRead less
Exploring the impact and implementation of family group conferencing for Aboriginal children. This ground-breaking study aims to transform child protection services and improve the safety and wellbeing of vulnerable Aboriginal children. This project will explore new models to assist compliance with child safety plans developed through family group conferences in child protection matters in Alice Springs.
Early intervention in stopping gendered violence: developing an evidence based intervention program for young men using violence against their girlfriends. This research aims to develop and evaluate an intervention program targeted to young men using violence against their girlfriends. This intervention program focuses on dating violence with young men who are not yet involved with the criminal justice system. This innovation addresses a gap in stopping male violence, positioned between universa ....Early intervention in stopping gendered violence: developing an evidence based intervention program for young men using violence against their girlfriends. This research aims to develop and evaluate an intervention program targeted to young men using violence against their girlfriends. This intervention program focuses on dating violence with young men who are not yet involved with the criminal justice system. This innovation addresses a gap in stopping male violence, positioned between universal primary violence prevention programs and the tertiary prevention of the criminal justice system's adult domestic violence perpetrator programs. The research outcomes include:an evidence based intervention program aimed at stopping young men's violence against women;a training program for professionals;and documented standards of practice for working with young men and gendered violence.Read moreRead less