An overview of the ADFACT initiative:
Early Intervention for Children at Risk and
Effective Parenting for Families with Complex Needs

The ADFACT Family program particularly assists families with young children who have been exposed to parental drug use during their early lives. Many of these children suffer a range of social and health problems as a result of poor parenting and disorganised attachment during their early lives. The parents of these children are themselves seeking help and rehabilitation for substance abuse problems.

The program is working to develop cooperative partnerships with other organisations to improve the lives of these children by developing early intervention and effective parenting strategies.

Under this program, ADFACT is able to increase assistance to families to provide:

• Skills training in parenting;
• Support for personal and family relationships, in particular those relating to kinship placement of children;
• Outcomes for children at risk through early intervention activities;
• Employment opportunities for clients re-entering the workforce; and
• Working partnerships with other agencies.

Program objectives

• To improve the parenting skills of parents who have identified as having substance use problems and who are seeking treatment within a therapeutic community/residential service;
• To improve the parenting skills of parents who have identified as having substance use problems and who are seeking treatment within a community-based agency;
• To improve the level of support to families seeking treatment for substance use problems who do not have full-time care of their children;
• To improve family and couples relationships for clients seeking treatment for substance use problems;
• To improve the quality of support for families involved in kinship care arrangements with clients seeking treatment for substance use problems;
• To strengthen and sustain effective relationships and communication between ADFACT services and family services/child protection agencies in the ACT and interstate where there is a joint responsibility for clients undertaking a treatment program;
• To improve the health, education and social learning for children of substance using clients undertaking treatment; and
• To improve the work skills of clients undertaking treatment for substance use to assist them to re-enter the workforce at the completion of their treatment program.

Child and Family Team

ADFACT's Child and Family team consists of a Manager, Psychologists and a Child and Family Support Worker that provides specialsed services within the Karralika Family Program and to other ADFACT services.

Specific Interventions

• Development of parenting programs in conjunction with Marymead Child and Family Centre and Tuggeranong Child and Family Centre for clients in ADFCT programs;
• Solution focused therapy with the outcome of the development of parenting action plans;
• Provision of Sand Therapy to Child and Adult clients in ADFACT programs;
• Extended services of Psychologists to the children and families in the Nexus Program;
• Development of joint case management processes between ADFACT and ACT child protection services to support;;
• Provision of specialised services and support to Communities@work in the delivery of children's programs for children in ADFACT programs;
• Support families through liaising with community agencies and services, particularly Child Protection in ACT and interstate;
• Coordinate family and children’s court matters;
• Arrange the contact visits and restoration/care plans with family services agencies;
• Arrange court reports briefing specialist services and coordinate children’s program within ADFACT services; and
• Support clients of ADFACT in relation to care plan