We support NAPCAN National Child Protection Week. This year the theme is ‘Every Child in Every Community Needs a Fair Go’. Children and young people thrive when they grow up safe, connected and supported in their family, community and culture. They have the right to grow up in environments that support them according to their needs – now and into the future.
Since 1991, Yorganop has been working together as part of the Aboriginal Community to achieve our vision of ‘nurturing our children to flourish’. Yorganop believes in empowering Aboriginal children and moort (family) to grow strong in themselves, their culture, and their future. In Aboriginal ways, the community is moort and provides a strong cultural foundation. This strong belief in the value of moort is what guides our work and the way we do it. We also have a strong commitment to our values of being strong in culture, caring for our kids, working together, following through, and embracing continuous learning.
We work alongside a community development model, and a critical part of this is providing culturally secure therapeutic care within the home so that the whole moort can flourish. In our foster care programs, this means day-to-day care of the child or young person – their physical, emotional, psychological, educational, recreational, and health needs- as well as proactively helping them develop life skills.
According to the Western Australian Department of Communities 2020-21 Annual Report, 57% of children in out-of-home care (OOHC) are Aboriginal.
The Department’s Earlier Intervention and Family Support Strategy is aimed to provide intensive support to safely reduce the number of children entering out of home care, particularly Aboriginal children. 91% of children diverted to the Aboriginal In-Home Support Service program (keeping children safe) and 86% of children referred to the Intensive Family Support Services program (reunification) were still with their families 12 months after being supported by these programs.
These statistics go some way to evidence that non-statutory moort-led earlier intervention and support programs are the to the future of reducing the number of Aboriginal children in OOHC.
About National Child Protection Week
For over 30 years, NAPCAN has been running the annual National Child Protection Week (NCPW) campaign. Each campaign builds on the strengths of previous years and has evolved to provide support to communities to act on the core message, “protecting children is everyone’s business”.
As it stands today, NCPW aims to engage, educate and empower Australians to understand the complexity of child abuse and neglect and work together to prevent it. The campaign does this through sharing evidence through webinars and events as well as creating resources in order to empower communities to have conversations regarding children’s safety and wellbeing.
Learn more about the words behind this year’s theme https://www.napcan.org.au/ncpw-theme/
View the NCPW 2022 webinar series (All webinars are free and will be recorded)
https://www.napcan.org.au/final-official-program-webinars-events-2022/
- Safe and Supported: How is Australia coming together at the national level to protect our children?
- How deep connection to culture is keeping children safe and supported.
- Supporting young parents with an out-of-home care experience
- Are Aussie kids OK? Preview data from the Australian Child Maltreatment Study
- Creating a ‘one-stop shop’ for the needs of families: Co-design, evaluation & sustaining change
When you foster a child with Yorganop, it changes everything for the better – a child’s future, their outlook, and our community. It will transform your life too. We welcome carers from all walks of life and backgrounds to join our growing community of carers. Register your interest to make a difference and start your journey to become a foster carer.
