Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Shared Stories Shared Lives Victoria and Step by Step Victoria
Shared Stories Shared Lives Victoria and Step by Step Victoria
Three parts of SxSV are available in Word format. You may only forward your password to staff in your
This enables adaptation of the ‘Foster care program if they have completed familiarisation
information pack’, and ‘Assessment resources’ to training and are undertaking assessments and
enable Community Service Organisations (CSOs) training of foster carers. Under no circumstances
to add letterhead, logos, policy and personal should you forward these details outside your CSO.
touches. For enquiries about online access and passwords
The ‘Assessment record’ is available in Word please contact the Home Based Care team on (03)
format to allow electronic completion of each 9096 7366.
assessment undertaken, however must not be
streamlined or altered. The prompts in this record Is the training delivery method flexible?
are important to guide the assessor. Once SSSLV consists of approximately 16 hours duration,
completed, it will become the record of assessment. divided into eight two-hour sessions. Each session
The SSSLV ‘Participants’ Workbook’ contains an contains one module, and modules must follow in
‘Organisational Chart’ and ‘Commonly asked sequential order. All modules are essential.
questions’ in Module 7. Trainers may adapt these The course can be run over several days, evening
pages to ensure they reflect up to date CSO policy sessions, or a combination of these. Group sessions
and practice. No other parts of SSSLV or SxSV are important; however some sessions may be
may be adapted or changed. SSSLV materials are delivered individually.
not available online.
Version 1 – 2011-07-22 1
Training may include special guests, varied What is included in an annual review?
locations, even a residential weekend.
Foster carers must be formally reviewed on an annual
The case studies within SSSLV provide examples basis to confirm performance, continuing
to help participants explore issues that arise for appropriateness, availability and capacity to care.
children and foster carers. At times, issues may
Many CSOs have developed their own review tool
need to be explored in more depth or addressed in
based upon core requirements and competencies
an additional training module to adequately equip a
included in SxSV. Annual reviews are conducted
foster carer to meet a particular child’s needs.
through visits to the carer’s home and must cover:
The activities, DVDs, handouts and games are all
• placements during the past twelve months
purposeful and required as part of this training and
• training received and required
assessment approach.
• police, working with children, medical and home
and environment checks
Do applicants with fostering experience
• personal readiness and capacity to continue
need to be re-assessed or re-trained? caring
It is a requirement that prospective Victorian foster • ability to work effectively as part of a team
carers must be screened, assessed and trained • ability to provide a safe environment that is free
using SxSV and SSSLV. Experienced carers from abuse
approaching a new CSO or returning to a CSO will • ability to promote the positive development of
be required to participate in the full SxSV and children and young people
SSSLV process if they have not previously done so. • carer files, including exit interviews, quality of
care reviews and any other relevant issues.
Some foster carers may wish to transfer from
another CSO. SSSLV and SxSV are intended to
allow for portability of accreditation. Foster carers
How long can a foster carer be ‘on hold’
should not automatically be required to complete before they require re-assessment?
the full training and assessment program if they There will be occasions when foster carers require
have successfully done so recently. time out from fostering due to the inherently
However, to enable a foster carer approval panel to challenging nature of the role. The decision to be
placed ‘on hold’ must be made with a foster care
confidently accredit carers, a review similar to an
annual review is required. This review must include worker, for a set timeframe, and must be clearly
documented as part of a plan.
a thorough exchange of information and referee
checks with all previous CSOs (including foster CSOs must ensure that upon their return to fostering,
care providers interstate or overseas). This hand carers are competent, are provided with up to date
over, mandatory checks such as police checks and information and still meet all of the key requirements.
a review will assist the new CSO to determine
For example, if a foster carer has been on a short
whether an applicant requires refresher training or
holiday, and has been on hold for less than twelve
further assessment prior to recommending
months, full review or re-assessment may not be
accreditation at panel.
required. If however a foster carer has been on hold
If an applicant has previously been rejected by a for six months following a quality of care investigation,
foster care approval panel, appropriate weighting a full review and presentation at a foster carer
must be given to this decision. approval panel may be required.
Wherever possible, the assessment and training Many CSOs maintain regular contact with foster
components should be undertaken by one CSO. carers who are on hold to ensure they remain
This aids timely communication between trainers connected to the CSO, and are up to date with
and assessors, and limits potential loss of training. CSOs may conduct annual reviews of their
information or conflicting assessments. foster carers regardless of whether they are on hold
or not, and may set a maximum timeframe allowed for
foster carers to be ‘on hold.’
If a foster carer decides not to return to fostering,
CSOs must conduct an exit interview, acknowledge
Version 1 – 2011-07-22 2
the foster carer’s contribution and remove them from • Applicant’s preferred options
the carer register. • 13.1 Approval panel recommendations and
minutes (partially completed prior to panel
Do partners or adult children need to be including a summary of each competency, and
recommendations about accreditation status for
assessed, trained and accredited? panel consideration).
The decision about who to assess, train and accredit
Panel comments on competency and accreditation
as a foster carer must be made by registered CSOs.
are added during or after panel. A foster carer
SxSV ‘Manual for assessors’ section 1.1.7 states: applicant is considered accredited only after the
panel chairperson signs the completed SxSV
• the process of assessing suitability to become a
section 13.1 report. The accreditation status in the
foster carer involves all household members including
report should include detail about:
children, in at least one information session. Adults in
the household will need to be part of training • the type of care for which approval is given
sessions.
• numbers, ages and genders of children
Police checks are a core requirement for all persons
• special conditions including priority training
aged 18 years and older who reside or regularly stay
overnight in the household. • level and type of support to be provided
• 10.1 Summary report, recommendations • swift responses to inquiries and holding regular
coversheet and geno-gram information sessions
• The assessment record checklist (a record of • sharing resources and delivery of joint training
assessment activities completed, including between CSOs
background checks, interviews and training) • having dedicated foster carer assessment and
• 10.2-10.5 Evidence of competencies A-D (‘stop’ training staff and adequate materials
and ‘proceed with caution’ signs may be • proactively assisting applicants to complete the
deleted) required tasks
• a regular schedule of foster carer training and
• 11.1 Life history
accreditation panels to meet the demand.
Version 1 – 2011-07-22 3