Community Services and Disability Services Minister Eric Ripper will this week attend an Australasian forum in Melbourne on a successful new Victorian program which works to keep troubled families together.
Mr Ripper will attend the forum on 'The Families First Program - A New Direction in Child Welfare' during a three-day visit.
During the Victorian visit, Mr Ripper will also examine a range of services for people with disabilities, including various accommodation options and transport services.
The Minister said the Families First Program worked to give intensive counselling and support in the homes of families with children who would otherwise be placed in foster homes or residential care.
The program worked on the philosophy that it was better to remove the risk to the child in the family home than to remove the child from the parents.
Child protection was one of the key roles of the Department for Community Services and in the last budget more than $24 million was allocated to services and non-Government agencies to provide out-of-home and alternative care for children. At any one time in this State there were more than 1,000 children under such care.
"Early intervention and prevention are key foundations of the Government's philosophy as outlined in the $180 million Social Advantage package, and I will be examining the Families First program with great interest," Mr Ripper said.
