FAQ: Child and Family Services

Child and Family Services Assessments are assessments provided to case workers in Government or non-Government organisations as they endeavour to provide nurturing homes for children in Out of Home Care (OoHC).

We provide a range of assessment services including (but not limited to) Relative and Kinship Carer, Foster Care, Step by Step Assessments, Restoration and Parenting Capacity and Guardianship Assessments.

Our clinical team can work with you to design a customised assessment or training program to support your organisation as you work alongside children and families, in early intervention and OoHC.

We have a dedicated quality assurance (QA) process to ensure you receive reports of the highest quality.

Every Assessment referral is allocated to both an assessor who completes the report, as well as a senior Peer Review (PR) assessor who is available to the assessor throughout the life of the referral. The PR assessors are senior clinical members matched to provide the necessary supervision and peer support that is required.

A vital part of this support is conducting the final read of the report ensuring it is accurate, reliable, child focused, evidence based and trauma informed.

Our Child and Family Services assessors are experts in assessing.

Our team is comprised of specialists who focus entirely on the assessment and training aspect of case plans, meaning you can focus on other aspects of family care. Each assessor comes to us with over three years’ experience in child welfare assessments.

Each report is securely emailed to the referring case worker and manager via a secure email link

Each assessment is unique, with differing time agreements with different agencies. A typical turnaround time following the participant interviews is 3-4 weeks.

When there are complex issues to be resolved, the Child and Family Services Team will work with you to optimise your time frame, working to accommodate specific requirements of your assessment’s needs.

When there is a critical time frame such as a court date, please ring our office and we can activate a special plan to meet your needs.

We will provide you with a quote based on the information in the referral form. Once this quote has been approved and returned to us, we will allocate the referral to a suitable assessor within one business day of receipt.

The assessor will then contact the caseworker and the carer or applicant to arrange an appointment within the agreed time-frames. As each assessment and agency is unique the time-frames are established on an assessment specific basis.

To refer a family to an assessment or training with us, you can start by completing a referral form. If needed we will work with you to develop a referral form that meets your specific assessment requirements.

Completed forms may be emailed to the Child and Family Services Team via cwa@assessments.com.au.

After we receive your referral, will review your requirements and provide you with a quote within 24 hours.

We work with clients to determine the best type of assessment support for each individual brief. We complete a range of essential tasks including, but not limited to:

• Relative and Kinship Carer Assessments and training
• Foster Care Assessments and training
• Step by Step assessments and Shared Lives training
• Restoration Assessments and Parenting Capacity Assessments
• Guardianship Assessments
• Carer Review Assessments (annual and five yearly) and training
• Supervision of Contact Assessment
• Permanent Care Assessments
• Permanent Care Assessments
• Placement Reviews
• Family time reviews and recommendations
• Adoption assessments and Court Reports
• Family Group Conferencing
• Other training and assessments, including accommodation customised requests.

AKG’s Child and Family Services Team conducts assessments Australia wide. Our assessors are situated in NSW, SA, VIC, QLD and WA.

Travelling is no issue for many of our assessors, who are happy to fly across the country to assess a family. We also have assessors who keep their passports handy in case an international assessment is required.

Our team is comprised of specialists who focus entirely on the assessment and training aspect of case plans, meaning case workers can focus on other aspects of family care. Our administration team relieve the pressure from you by matching the requirements of your case to a trusted assessment expert or training facilitator.

Our team of Psychologists, Social Workers, Occupational Therapists, Speech Pathologists and allied health professionals are senior clinicians with specialist training in trauma-informed family partnership. All staff have undergone a rigorous screening process and validated state and national checks to work with children and vulnerable people. Combined with our comprehensive quality assurance framework, you can have the greatest confidence in our assessments and recommendations.

We are flexible in approach and work within your parameters while working to provide a seamless and positive experience for children and carers.

You can contact our Child and Family Services team anytime by calling us on 1300 556 266 or emailing cwa@assessments.com.au to follow the status of any referrals that you make.

Child and Family Services assessors typically travel to the residence of the participant to conduct a face to face interview. Our team specialise in entering a home at a difficult time and engaging with a family who may be in crisis. By providing a compassionate human face while gathering information, they help to put families at ease.

This assessment forms the basis of a formal report making recommendations to the referring case worker. Before the report is released it is subjected to AKG’s formal peer review process ensuring consistent, professional results and an assured level of quality.

Throughout each process, our team are transparent, process driven, innovative and open to feedback to ensure the best outcomes for you and the family you are caring for.

Yes. Our assessors are trained in Shared Lives training as well as the training for Relative or Kin Carers. We can also conduct customised training if a need arises. Talk to our team to find out more.

Your Child and Family Services Team includes highly qualified Psychologists and Social Workers who are experienced in conducting comprehensive out of home care assessments, together with assured and accountable assessment professionals overseen by a National Professional Services Manager and Clinical Specialist.

Our team is comprised of specialists who focus entirely on the assessment and training aspect of case plans, meaning you can focus on other aspects of family care.

Our team of Psychologists, Social Workers, Occupational Therapists, Speech Pathologists and allied health professionals are senior clinicians with specialist training in trauma-informed family partnership. All staff have undergone a rigorous screening process and validated state and national checks to work with children and vulnerable people.

Our assessors and facilitators are supported to grow and develop personally and professionally and in turn each is committed to providing high quality, unbiased, child-focused assessments and training.