Summary

The South Australian Department of Human Services (DHS) engaged the Parenting Research Centre, in partnership with the Cultural and Indigenous Research Centre Australia (CIRCA) and Deakin Health Economics at Deakin University, to undertake an evaluation of a pilot child safety program -that provided intensive family preservation support for vulnerable families with complex needs. The Safe Kids, Families Together Program has been trialed in South Australia since July 2019 as a way of identifying approaches to reduce the entry of children into out-of-home care by responding to, reducing, and preventing child abuse and neglect.

CIRCA’s Research Approach

The evaluation covered four periods of the implementation of Safe Kids, Families Together, from July 2019 until February 2022. A range of data was used to examine the implementation of the program, assess client outcomes and determine program costs and cost-effectiveness. CIRCA contributed to the design and establishment of the evaluation, ethics submission, conducted and analyzed qualitative interviews with families, AnglicareSA and government staff, and contributed to report writing.

Research Findings and Outcomes

The research findings provided valued insights relating to the program implementation, family functioning and child protection outcomes, as well as the program cost and features of effectiveness.
The evaluation findings and recommendations informed the South Australian Department of Human Services (DHS) on the design and development of the family prevention program that will be replacing the previous Safe Kids program.