Children, Youth and Families Preferred Providers

What we do

The Children, Youth and Families (CYF) Preferred Providers are a group of non-government organisations, including Aboriginal and Community Controlled Organisations (ACCOs). These organisations support people involved with, or at risk of becoming involved with, the ACT’s child protection system.

Preferred Providers support children, young people, families, and carers by matching them with services that give them the help they need, when they need it, in the way that works for them.

The Preferred Providers panel is a part of our reform to child and family services and is the first of its kind for the ACT.

It is a direct response to the kind of support options our community has asked us for.

Preferred Providers will see people involved with these complex systems better supported to change their lives through improved connections, experiences, and services to meet their needs.

Support services

Providers will work together to help children, young people, families, and carers.

They will deliver therapeutic and culturally safe services in:

• sustaining families (family preservation, restoration, and intensive family support)
• kinship care
• foster care
• after care (extended support for young people transitioning to adulthood)
• alternate care
• supported contact and transport arrangements
• functional family therapy in Youth Justice.

^{*Alternate Care package will not progress as part of the first stage of the CYPF Preferred Providers implementation}

A phased start

Not all organisations will begin delivering Preferred Providers services now. It will be a phased approach to ensure a smooth transition of services for children, young people, families, and carers. We expect Preferred Providers to be fully operational by January 2026.

How my organisation can apply to become a Preferred Provider

The ACT Government may at its discretion, run another Preferred Providers panel procurement in the future to secure additional providers or services. It will do this through Procurement ACT.

How Preferred Providers are selected

Procurement for Children, Youth and Families Preferred Providers panel is through an open tender process with the intent to engage providers with an existing footprint in the ACT and/or who deliver similar services in other jurisdictions and want to establish services in the ACT. Members are selected through a comprehensive evaluation and negotiation process.

How to talk to children

Refer to our Information for young people page.

More information for carers

You can download more information for carers [PDF 231KB].

The Children, Youth and Families Preferred Providers is a group of new service providers, including an Aboriginal and Community Controlled Organisation (ACCO), that offer support services for people involved with, or at risk of becoming involved with, the ACT’s child protection system.

These preferred providers ensure children, young people, their families, and carers get the help they need, when they need it, in the way that works for them.

These new service providers work together to make sure they are responsive to the needs of each family.

Who they are

Twelve new preferred providers will be delivering services. Read a full list of the preferred providers and the support services offered.

Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisations

The ACT Government is committed to eliminating the over-representation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children in out of home care. Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisations (ACCOs) were encouraged to respond to the Request for Proposal (RFP) to ensure we deliver culturally safe and appropriate services to children, young people, families and carers involved with, or at risk of becoming involved with, the ACT’s child protection system.

At this stage, one of the twelve preferred providers is an ACCO, Yerrabi Yurwang. More ACCOs will be encouraged and supported to apply for future CYF preferred provider agreements.

Provided services

Once fully operational, our new preferred providers will deliver child protection, out of home care, therapeutic and culturally safe support services across a range of packages.

Sustaining Families

This provides family preservation, restoration, and intensive family support services for children in care and at risk of entry to care.

Kinship Care

This provides care for children and young people living or placed with family or a significant person on a temporary or long-term basis. In Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities, kin may be a relative of the child or young person or someone who shares a cultural or community connection.

Foster Care

This provides care for children and young people placed with an authorised carer/s who is not related to them in a family-based environment on a temporary, short term or long-term basis.

Extended Care

This provides extended support for young people and adults aged between 15 and 25 years who have had an experience of out of home care.

Supported Contact and Transport Arrangements

This provides transport and supported contact services for children and young people aged 0 to 18 years (and their families) who are on interim orders living with kinship carers.

Functional Family Therapy – Youth Justice

This provides services for young people aged 11 to 17 years and their families where a young person has engaged in or is at risk of engaging in offending behaviour.

Reasons for the change

We are making changes so we can better help and care for children, young people and families. By working with a number of service providers, we will be able to strengthen our delivery of diverse and inclusive services, including for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, people with disability, people from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds and LGBTIQA+ people.

Moving forward

The new preferred providers will be phased in slowly over the next 12 months and will be fully operational by 1 January 2026.

The Children, Youth and Families (CYF) division in the Community Services Directorate (CSD), existing service providers, and new preferred service providers are committed to working together to ensure children, young people, families, and carers continue to get the support they need.

For some families, where transition planning is required to a new preferred service provider, this will be carefully thought through. We will collaborate closely with our existing service providers, our new preferred service providers, children, young people, families, our staff and you as carers.

This will ensure continuity of services for the children, young people, families and carers we support.

Existing service providers during transition

Existing arrangements with our current service providers, Barnardos Australia and Uniting, will remain in place. Both organisations will continue as preferred providers under the new arrangement.

Interacting with new Preferred Providers

We are committed to collaborating with you as carers and the children, young people and families you support as we transition to new arrangements. There will be more information about this process as the year progresses.

Any changes to existing arrangements will be managed on a case-by-case basis, with children, young people, families and you as carers, supported with information and opportunities to talk through any questions and concerns. There will be plenty of time and this will be a collaborative and carefully considered process with regular meetings and correspondence.

What you need to do

We want you to feel confident about what these changes will mean for you and the children, young people and families you support. This initial information is to let you know where we are up to with the process. There is nothing you need to do right now to prepare for the change.

There might be some shift of providers for some carers over time, however this will be slow and carefully considered, and you will have plenty of notice.

Some carers may have an administrative transfer occur shortly. However, this will have minimal impact on your day to day as carers. If this impacts you, you will be contacted separately.

How to stay updated

You will be provided with regular updates as we work through the process.

CYF, CSD will continue to engage with Carers ACT, ACT Together and the Carer Wellbeing Joint Committee to understand carers preferences for staying up to date with information about the new preferred providers and how best to support you as we move through this change.

You will be provided with regular updates via this website, newsletters, information sheets, emails, posted letters, information sessions and via the agency you work for.

If you have any questions about the change, please send your questions through these channels and they will inform the updates provided to you.

Contact us

For more information, please contact CBRStepsUp@act.gov.au