Innovation Projects - Family Support

The Family Support Innovation Projects are a core part of the Victorian Government's response to service issues identified in the Integrated Strategy for Child Protection and Out-of-Home Care.

The aims of the Family Support Innovation Projects are to:

• Reduce Child Protection demand by diverting a significant proportion of families currently notified to Child Protection to community-based services
• Minimize progression of families into the Child Protection system, thereby reducing the growth in demand for high cost, out-of-home care services

In September 2003 the Department appointed the La Trobe University School of Public Health team, headed by Professor Shane Thomas, as the evaluators to this project. This team has now fully relocated to Monash University. There have been three previous annual evaluation reports. These reports have focussed specifically on the activities, impacts and outcomes of the first, second and third stage projects. This current report is not intended to repeat this material but to reflect upon overall findings from the evaluation activities.

View the Evaluation of the Innovations Program and the reports.