Strengthening Practice Committee Terms of Reference

Context

Child and Youth Protection Service (CYPS) is the statutory child protection agency which services the ACT. CYPS has legislative responsibility under the Children and Young People Act 2008 for facilitating and coordinating services for the care and protection of children and young people believed to be at risk of harm.

In April 2016 the Glanfield Review (the Review into the system level responses to family violence in the ACT) specifically identified that there were no formal, internal, dedicated, and regular quality assurance mechanisms for CYPS decisions, and this was a major risk to quality service delivery and the transparency of care and protection decisions.

The Child and Youth Protection Quality Assurance and Improvement (CYPQAI) Committee (now Strengthening Practice Committee) was one of the primary mechanisms established in response, to strengthen the quality of child protection policy and practice in the ACT and to foster ongoing improvement of the child protection system. The Committee was renamed the Strengthening Practice Committee to better represent its focus on practice.

The Committee, established by the Director-General, Community Services Directorate (CSD) is independent of the internal operations within CYPS, which means it is well placed to provide strategic advice for policy and practice changes.

Purpose and Functions

The Committee will assist with supporting a culture of best practice to improve outcomes for children and young people. It will do this by reflecting on practice, considering internal and external reviews, focusing on quality assurance to assist CYPS to build a culture as a learning organisation, and
promoting a culture of practice improvement. Specifically, the Committee will:

• analyse, consider, and reflect on practice recommendations from various sources, including internal and external reviews, and monitor outcomes and system improvements with the aim of improving practice;
• recommend system and practice improvements within the context of current key reforms and the priorities for implementation;
• consider research that may contribute to child protection and youth justice practice;
• examine best practice frameworks to promote organisational learning and change to support quality child protection and youth justice practice; and
• support the research/practice nexus to strengthen evidence-informed practice.

The work of the Committee will be informed by:

• consideration of case analysis reviews: providing independent analysis of individual cases at key decision-making points;
• active engagement with CYPS practice leaders at each meeting;
• consideration of a range of evidence including, but not limited to, CYPS data, current research and literature, and practices in other jurisdictions to inform discussions; and
• the individual expertise, knowledge, and networks members bring, including connection to other child protection and youth justice systems and international best practice.

Meetings

The Committee will be chaired by the Director-General, CSD and meet on a quarterly basis. A meeting quorum will include two members and the Chair or a designated Deputy Chair. Meeting agendas, supporting papers and minutes will be provided by the Secretariat (based in the Regulation, Assurance and Quality Branch) to the Committee.

Meeting Structure

The Committee will identify, through its work plan, key areas it will focus upon for the year ahead. In addition to any business as usual, which will include updates from the Case Analysis team and discussion of adverse events, each meeting’s agenda will be determined at the previous Committee meeting or by Committee members identifying matters of relevance between meetings.

Membership

Core Committee membership will comprise the Director-General, CSD; the Co-ordinator-General, Domestic, Family and Sexual Violence Office; the Executive Group Manager, Children, Youth and Families (CYF), a representative from Canberra Health Services; and independent members with high level experience in child protection practice; knowledge of work in other jurisdictions and expertise including research and national and international best practice.

Invitations will be extended for each meeting to the Deputy Director-General, CSD, the Executive Group Manager (Deputy), CYF and the Executive Branch Manager, Regulation, Assurance and Quality, CSD. In addition, there will attendance each meeting from key senior leaders from CYF to contribute their practice experience and to raise any practice or policy challenges. The Chair will include others on occasion, to provide advice and expertise.

Reporting

The Chair will provide a verbal report to the Minister for Families and Community Services at the first opportunity following the Committee’s quarterly meeting. A Communiqué will be produced following each meeting and will be available on the CSD website.

Confidentiality

The Committee will ensure its work is carried out with regard to the information secrecy and sharing provisions of the Children and Young People Act 2008 and other relevant privacy provisions.

Review

The Terms of Reference will be reviewed on an annual basis, or sooner if deemed necessary.