What family support services achieve

Family support services are helping families sooner, supporting them to provide a safe family environment for children to grow and thrive, reducing the need for child protection services.

Intensive Family Support (IFS)

Intensive Family Support (IFS)

Intensive Family Support services respond to families with children and young people who are experiencing multiple and/or complex needs and are at risk of involvement in child protection services.

Intensive Family Support services provide case management to families who agree to engage with the service.

Case managers work collaboratively with families to identify and prioritise their needs and address those needs by providing intensive support and facilitating engagement with specialist services as required.

Intensive Family Support services achieving families case plan goals

Source: Department of Child Safety, Seniors and Disability Services.

What is being counted

  1. Data is for the year ending the reference date (12 months of data).

  2. Counts the number of cases closed (where consent was given) by whether case plan goals were achieved during the reporting period as a proportion of all cases closed (where consent was given).

  3. Excludes cases closed during the reporting period where the family was unable to be located/moved out of the area, already engaged with a service, data entry error or no reason recorded.

  4. 'Other' case closure reasons can include terminated service, disengaged and refused support.

  5. Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander: A family is identified as Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander if one or more people attached to the case are identified as Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander.

  6. Non-Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander: A family where no people attached to the case are identified as Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander or their Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander status is unknown.

Definition notes

  1. Consent: Once a referral is received by an Intensive Family Support service the service then work towards gaining consent from the family to begin assistance.  Receiving services from an Intensive Family Support service is voluntary for families and consent is required.

  2. Closed case: Cases are closed when the service has ceased working with the family. A case can close for various different reasons including:
    • all or majority of case plan goals achieved
    • some case plan goals achieved
    • unable to locate family
    • refused support
    • referred.

  3. Intensive Family Support: Intensive Family Support (IFS) services are funded by the department to provide support to help families address multiple and/or complex needs and assist them to build their capacity to care for and protect their children.

Children who did not have an investigation by Child Safety after their Intensive Family Support service closure

Source: Department of Child Safety, Seniors and Disability Services.

What is being counted

  1. Counts all children who had a case closed (where consent was given) with all or majority of case plan goals achieved who were not subject to a notification within six months of the case closure date (up to the reference date) as a proportion of all children who had a case closed (where consent was given) with all or majority of case plan goals achieved.
  2. Data for cases closed is for the year ending six months prior to the reference date.
  3. 'All or majority case plan goals achieved’ includes cases with ‘all or majority needs met’ and those cases that were closed with ‘Full closure – all case plan goals achieved’ and ‘Case closure with majority of case plan goals achieved’.

Definition notes

  1. Consent: Once a referral is received by an Intensive Family Support service the service then work towards gaining consent from the family to begin assistance.  Receiving services from an Intensive Family Support service is voluntary for families and consent is required.

  2. Closed case: Cases are closed when the service has ceased working with the family. A case can close for various different reasons including:
    • all or majority of case plan goals achieved
    • some case plan goals achieved
    • unable to locate family
    • refused support
    • referred.

  3. Intensive Family Support: Intensive Family Support (IFS) services are funded by the department to provide support to help families address multiple and/or complex needs and assist them to build their capacity to care for and protect their children.

Time series notes

From 30 June 2022: Data for 31 March 2022 has been revised as a result of refinements to the data extraction process.