Parkerville CYC welcomes Lotterywest funding for innovative out-of-home care

Parkerville Children and Youth Care has received a Lotterywest grant of more than $700,000 for the roll out of a new out-of-home care model for children and young people.

This personalised share care model prototype, designed to achieve better outcomes for children and young people in out-of-home care has been co-designed by Parkerville Children and Youth Care and Innovation Unit (IU).

There are three key funded components to this prototype including personalised supports, connection planning with family and community, and a family link worker designed to enable deep connections for children with family.  The Mundahring Baldja – a learning and development Centre for carers and parents/families to assist with the work – is also part of the vision, and the two partners will continue to seek funding for this important element of the project.

Parkerville Children and Youth Care Chief Executive Office, Kim Brooklyn said this new model of care journey was radically different to the current approach.

“It focusses on the family and ensuring that children remain closely connected to them, their community and culture in whatever form that might take to ensure that children have a strong sense of belonging,” she said.

“It also focusses on being flexible to meet the developmental and safety needs of children, while ensuring that the ecosystem around them is one that nourishes and nurtures them to be all that they can be.

“It involves learning more about who each child or young person really is – what and who is important to them; what their dreams and ambitions are for their future.

“It seeks out, brokers and sustains connections with family, community and culture, and forms new partnerships across the ‘care ecosystem’ to reduce the sense of stigma associated with being in care.”

For Parkerville and Innovation Unit, giving ‘birth’ to the prototype has been an exciting experience and the Lotterywest funding assures it of a bright future.

The prototype was designed over nine months, based on experiences of former children and young people in care as well as other stakeholders from across the ‘care ecosystem’ to, firstly, learn more about their lives and their experience of care at Parkerville, and then to collaboratively design a new journey for children and young people.

The new model will be implemented and trailed in partnership with our key funding partners in two metropolitan and regional locations over the next two years, before spreading its wings wider (we hope) in 2023.