Child, Youth & Integrated Families
In case of emergency please contact Victoria Police: 000
Benalla Rural City
Services:
- regular in-home support, outreach and office-based visits working with you and your children under a whole-of-family approach
- delivering parenting programs tailored to your child’s age and each family’s individual needs
- supporting the development of boundaries, responses and parenting strategies
- strengthening family relationships, including those with your child
- assisting you to reflect and meet new challenges as they arise
- helping you assess the various services involved with your family to ensure everyone is working together
- assisting your family to identify and link with specialist services where needed
- supporting your family to link with your community and enjoy positive experiences
Referrals via the Orange Door
Telephone: 1800 271 157
Email: oma@orangedoor.vic.gov.au
Child Protection
Services:
- Receiving reports from people who believe a child needs protection from abuse or neglect
- Providing advice to people who report cases of abuse or neglect
- Investigation when a child is believed to have been abused or is at risk of abuse or neglect
- Referring children and families to services in the community for ongoing support and harm prevention
- Taking matters to the Children’s Court if the child’s safety within the family cannot be guaranteed
- Supervision of children on legal orders granted by the Children’s Court.
Telephone: Ovens Murray Division Intake 1300 360 452 (State-wide after hours: 13 12 78)
Address: 43–47 Rowan Street, Wangaratta VIC 3676
Family Relationship Advice Line
National telephone line that helps families affected by relationship or separation issues, including information on parenting arrangements after separation. It can also refer callers to local services that provide assistance.
Telephone: 1800 050 321
Website: https://www.familyrelationships.gov.au/talk-someone/advice-line
Family Violence Child Safety Team
The team supports children and families impacted by or living in family violence situations. It empowers and supports them to create meaningful change in their lives, recover, and stay safe. The team works with children and families to create safety plans for home, school, access visits, or any situation where children may become unsafe, as well as healing the parent-child relationship after trauma resulting from family violence.
The Family Violence Child Safety Team offers group work programs for parents and carers of children who have been impacted by Family Violence and information sessions to community members to help build their capacity to respond to children who have experienced family violence.
Telephone: (02) 60558000
Email: fvcst@umfc.com.au
Homeless Children's Brokerage Program
About:
The Homeless Children’s Brokerage Program aims to enhance opportunities for children experiencing
homelessness and family violence to:
• Reduce social isolation through access to a range of support, social and recreational
opportunities
• Engage in social/emotional growth opportunities and increase relational bonds with parents or
carers
• Maintain education, including early education services such as childcare and kindergarten
• Encourage access to preventative health and dental services
Funds are for accompanying, dependent children aged 0-18 years of current clients of homelessness and
family violence funded support services receiving case management.
Funds are limited to grants of $400 per financial year and may be taken in a lump sum or a number of
applications.
Telephone: 0456 703 505
Email: SCRPNorthEast@junction.org.au
Junction Support Services Intensive Family Services
The intent is that Family Services will work in partnership with Child Protection (and other services where required) working intensively with families to achieve Child Protection case plan goals. Child Protection, or a contracted case management service, will retain case management responsibility. Family Services will support families to meet case plan goals by promoting child safety, permanency and development, increasing parenting capacity, and family functioning.
The Intensive Family Services response will be provided to families whose children are subject to a family preservation or a family reunification order. The Intensive Family Services response can also be provided where a protection application by emergency care has been issued and the child/children are subject to an interim accommodation order (IAO). In this instance there must be an endorsed case plan with a permanency objective of family preservation or family reunification.
How to Access
Intensive Family Services is available by referral only from the Department of Families, Fairness and Housing, via the Child Protection Case Manager.
Telephone: 1300 360 452
Junction Support Services
Services:
- regular in-home support, outreach and office-based visits working with you and your children under a whole-of-family approach
- delivering parenting programs tailored to your child’s age and each family’s individual needs
- supporting the development of boundaries, responses and parenting strategies
- strengthening family relationships, including those with your child
- assisting you to reflect and meet new challenges as they arise
- helping you assess the various services involved with your family to ensure everyone is working together
- assisting your family to identify and link with specialist services where needed
- supporting your family to link with your community and enjoy positive experiences
Referrals via the Orange Door
Telephone: 1800 271 157
Email: oma@orangedoor.vic.gov.au
Mansfield Shire Family Services
Services:
- regular in-home support, outreach and office-based visits working with you and your children under a whole-of-family approach
- delivering parenting programs tailored to your child’s age and each family’s individual needs
- supporting the development of boundaries, responses and parenting strategies
- strengthening family relationships, including those with your child
- assisting you to reflect and meet new challenges as they arise
- helping you assess the various services involved with your family to ensure everyone is working together
- assisting your family to identify and link with specialist services where needed
- supporting your family to link with your community and enjoy positive experiences
Referrals via the Orange Door
Telephone: 1800 271 157
Email: oma@orangedoor.vic.gov.au
For open cases
Telephone: 03 5775 8555
Address: 10 Davies Street Mansfield
McKillop/UMFC Family Preservation and Reunification Response
Families are referred by the Department of Families, Fairness and Housing, with children aged from pre-birth to 17 years of age.
The program aims to support and empower you and your family towards long lasting change. This is achieved with an initial phase of rapid, intensive, and flexible support delivered by the practitioner by completing in home visits for approximately one hour at a time, three times per week (approximately 200 hours). This intensive response is then followed by a stepping out process where the practitioner supports you and your family to transition to other services or community supports of a less intensive nature (approx. 40 hours).
How to Access
Connection to the Victorian Family Preservation and Reunification (Response) program occurs through the Child Protection Navigator.
To be eligible, the subject child/ren must be a current Child Protection client and one of the children in the family must meet the specified eligibility requirements.
Enquiries for the Ovens Murray area can be directed to the Child Protection Navigator
Telephone: 03 5722 0555
Mungabareena Aboriginal Corporation
Mungabareena’s Family Service program offers assistance and support for Aboriginal children, young people, and their families to promote healing, support & advocacy. We employ a holistic approach to ensure the cultural needs of our families are met too. Family Services provide culturally safe support and assistance to Aboriginal families with children and young people from pre-birth up to and including 17 years of age, who reside in the local Ovens & Murray region.
As the local Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisation for the Ovens & Murray region, we at Mungabareena understand the needs of the community as we are accountable to the community. We work in partnerships with families that are referred for Family Services support. Family Service staff work with family members to improve outcomes, safety and development of children, young people, and their families.
Family Services Practitioners work alongside families toward identified goals that will support them to thrive in the future.
Referrals via the Orange Door
Referrals via the Orange Door
Telephone: 1800 271 157
Email: oma@orangedoor.vic.gov.au
Self/direct referrals
Telephone: 02 6024 7599
Queen Elizabeth Centre
he Queen Elizabeth Centre (QEC) offers the Parenting Support Program, a home-based, intensive parenting skills development initiative. This program is designed to provide a flexible intervention framework aimed at enhancing the parenting skills of families with children aged 0 to 48 months. It includes a specialized home visiting Sleep and Settling Program, complemented by home-based visits and phone contact.
The QEC Parenting Support Program recognises that each family’s needs are unique. By offering flexible interventions, it tailors its support to the specific requirements of families with young children. This ensures that parents receive guidance and assistance precisely when they need it.
The program is available to parents with children aged 0 to 4 years, with a primary focus on children aged under 4 years. It serves families residing in the Indigo, Towong, Wangaratta, and Wodonga areas, extending a helping hand to those in need of parenting guidance and support during the crucial early years of childhood.
Referrals via the Orange Door
Telephone: 1800 271 157
Email: oma@orangedoor.vic.gov.au
Upper Murray Family Care
Services:
- regular in-home support, outreach and office-based visits working with you and your children under a whole-of-family approach
- delivering parenting programs tailored to your child’s age and each family’s individual needs
- supporting the development of boundaries, responses and parenting strategies
- strengthening family relationships, including those with your child
- assisting you to reflect and meet new challenges as they arise
- helping you assess the various services involved with your family to ensure everyone is working together
- assisting your family to identify and link with specialist services where needed
- supporting your family to link with your community and enjoy positive experiences
Referrals via the Orange Door
Telephone: 1800 271 157
Email: oma@orangedoor.vic.gov.au
UMFC Victorian & Aboriginal Family Preservation and Reunification Response Community Connector
The Community Connector will complement the work of our FPRR teams at UMFC, MacKillop and VACCA in Ovens Murray by addressing the growing and highly concerning issue associated with pre and adolescent children, where they are using violence in the home (physical and psychological) towards parents and other children.
The Community Connecting role is to support children and families focusing on pre and adolescent children within the family preservation and reunification approach. This allows the concentration of this role in supporting children and youth’s pro-social skills, confidence, ability to participate in mainstream education, and contribute to the health of the family unit. It also concentrates on supporting community and social connection for children and youth who can all too easily slip into isolation and retreat from activities such as sport.
How to Access
To contact the Community Connector practitioner
Telephone: 02 6055 8000.
VACCA
This program provides Aboriginal children and families support at home to improve their quality of life. It focuses on their strengths and the strengths gained through their culture.
The program aims to help families:
- Identify and work on the challenges that make it hard to care for their children
- Build and strengthen capacity to safely care for children
- Strengthening Aboriginal identity and connection to community
- Connect to local services
Services:
- A detailed assessment of a family’s needs
- Child and family care planning, referrals, information, and advocacy
- Practical assistance
- Cultural strengthening and community connection
Referrals via the Orange Door
Telephone: 1800 271 157
Email: oma@orangedoor.vic.gov.au
Self/direct referrals
Telephone: 03 5756 9000
Email: omintake@vacca.org.au
VACCA Family Preservation and Reunification Response
The Aboriginal Family Preservation and Reunification Response is an intensive program that provides in-home support to Aboriginal families with children at risk of entering out-of-home care or have entered care within the last three months.
This program aims to keep Aboriginal children with their families and reunify children who have been placed in care with their families.
Practitioners will support families to draw on their strengths, identify risks and seek the assistance they need to be safe and strong.
VACCA’s AFPR Response primarily focuses on supporting families involved with Child Protection or Community-Based Child Protection, including pregnant women, children from birth to five years, and child and young people aged 10 to 18 years.
How to Access
Connection to the Aboriginal Family Preservation and Reunification (Response) program occurs through the Child Protection Navigator.
To be eligible, the subject child/ren must be a current Child Protection client and one of the children in the family must meet the specified eligibility requirements.
Enquiries for the Ovens Murray area can be directed to the Child Protection Navigator
Telephone: 03 5722 0555
VACCA Intensive Family Services
This program provides intensive support for Aboriginal families whose children are at risk of being removed from their home or are in out-of-home care (foster care, kinship or residential care) for the first time.
Services:
- Access specialist support services, including therapeutic help
- Address the issues that have placed children at risk of being removed
- Help parents build their capacity to safely care for their children.
- Cultural strengthening and community connection
How to Access
Intensive Family Services is available by referral only from the Department of Families, Fairness and Housing, via the Child Protection Case Manager
Telephone: 1300 360 452
VACCA Specialist Disability Support
VACCA Specialist Disability Family Service practitioners work with families to provide support to children, young people, and families with disability-related support needs, including accessing NDIS support.
The program provides:
The family services specialist disability practitioners support families with NDIS access and participation and assisting families to navigate systems of disability support, including the NDIS, disability advocates, disability service providers and mainstream services.
They also provided disability-related case consultations for Aboriginal Children & Families to the broader family services system within the respective area. The secondary consultation role aims to support practitioners working in family services to maximise the disability supports and outcomes for children with disability now available through the NDIS.
Referrals via the Orange Door
Telephone: 1800 271 157
Email: oma@orangedoor.vic.gov.au
Self/direct referrals
Telephone: 03 5756 9000
Email: omintake@vacca.org.au
Wodonga City Council
The Enhance Maternal Child Health (EMCH) program provides an outreach service, led and primarily delivered by MCH nurses. It is focused on achieving improved outcomes for infants, children, mothers and their families who are experiencing a period of increased needs, and who could benefit from targeted actions and interventions. The program also supports parent-child interactions be providing more focused and intensive MCH support when parents are experiencing significant early parenting difficulties. The program may also work to address parent or family risk factors that affect child development or the capacity of the family, such as parent emotional wellbeing and family violence.
Families must meet three key requirements to be considered for entry in the EMCH program: families receiving the service must have as the primary referral focus a child aged less than 3 years; families must have two or more vulnerability risk factors and the EMCH program must be able to respond effectively to provide interventions and support.
Referrals via the Orange Door
Telephone: 1800 271 157
Email: oma@orangedoor.vic.gov.au