Ensure refuge and crisis accommodation services can meet the needs of children

Work has commenced to ensure all refuges have access to adequate resources for the individual needs of the children they accommodate. This work will seek to address both gaps in resourcing and therapeutic responses for children and is being delivered as part of the broader work to strengthen responses to children and to enhance support in refuge and crisis accommodation.

A range of therapeutic demonstration projects have been trialled and evaluated to provide support and build the evidence around providing best practice responses to children.

A review of the resources required to meet the needs of children and young people in refuge and crisis accommodation services was completed in late 2017. The review contributed to the development of strategies to strengthen individual refuges’ responses to children and young people. The strategies included capacity building for family violence refuge and crisis accommodation services, and provision of locally based resources and supports.

A Learning and Development strategy has been developed to strengthen and support a consistent approach to meeting the needs and safety of children and young people in refuge. Training for managers and practitioners has been implemented. Three online learning modules have been developed to enable ongoing access to this training.

Additional funding is being allocated to therapeutic intervention providers to support secondary consultation and advice to refuges in relation to children and young people.

Implemented.