Anonymous

Question 1 – How have you adapted service delivery in response to the bushfires, floods and Coronavirus pandemic? When has it worked and when hasn’t it worked? How will this affect how you deliver services in the future? Have your service adaptations included better integration with other initiatives?

– During the coronavirus pandemic, our program was delivered from families’ homes (term 2 2020)
– Craft hampers and activities were delivered
– Facilitators contacted families weekly to discuss activities and project progress
– Facilitators filmed weekly videos with explanations of activities
– Some families received their hamper and then disengaged
– Some families saw the whole program through to the end (6 weeks)
– Now have ‘at home’ as an option during each term for families who are unable to come into the school
– This was trialled in term 4 2020; 3 families signed-up but did not fully engage

Question 2 – Are the proposed key outcomes for the families and children programs the right ones? Are there any major outcomes missing? How can we include strengths-based outcomes that focus on family or child safety?

-They look good

-Word them differently

-If outcomes were to change, we’d need to modify surveys to suit, but doubt training would be necessary

Question 3 – What tools or training would support you to effectively measure and report outcomes through the Data Exchange Partnership Approach?

None – already do this to some extent

Question 4 – Do you already have a program logic or theory of change outlined for your program? Did you find the process useful? If you do not have one, what has stopped you from developing one? What capacity building support would assist service providers to develop program logics and theories of change?

Yes, mildly useful, could be developed further/better. Some training, or examples, or outlines to follow would be useful.

Question 5 – If longer-term agreements are implemented, how can the department work with you to develop criteria to measure and demonstrate performance? How can the Data Exchange better support this?

Activity work plan (and report) is a good tool for this.

Question 6 – What does success look like for your service, and how do you assess the overall success of your service?

Participant satisfaction and net promoter scores

Question 7 – Do you currently service cohorts experiencing vulnerability, including those at risk of engaging with the child protection system? If not, how does service delivery need to adapt to provide support to these cohorts?

Yes we do – but they self refer and are never ‘targeted’

Question 8 – If you are a Children and Parenting Support or Budget Based Funded service provider, do you currently link with a Communities for Children Facilitating Partner or other regional planning mechanism to understand what other services are provided in the community and what the community identifies as their needs? How does this work in practice? Would you value the increased support of being attached to a local Facilitating Partner?

– No, but would be happy to do so

Question 9 – For all providers, are there other ways to improve collaboration and coordination across services and systems?

Yes, linking us up (e.g. meetings) so that we can meet and get to know what people are doing, etc.

Question 10 – The capability building support offered under Families and Children Activity programs has gone through several iterations. What works well? What do you think should change?

Make it clearer – let us know what’s available. and offer us things that DSS thinks would be beneficial for our programs. This could be done effectively by funding managers who know what the program is about and what support is available.

Question 11 – Aside from additional funding, how can the department best work with you to support innovation in your services while maintaining a commitment to existing service delivery?

Ask us for innovative ideas – we have lots, and often just need you backing/funding to get these ideas piloted.