| Yorganop (Aboriginal Child Care Agency) |
| Years of Operation | 1986 - ongoing |
| Role Of Facility | Placement coordination for children from Indigenous backgrounds. |
| Address(es) | 191 Bennett Street and Piccadilly Square East Perth; Short Street and Beaufort Street, Perth; Hay Street, West Perth (current). |
| Aliases | Aboriginal Child Care Agency |
| Brief History | In 1989, the supervisor for the Hostel at 191 Bennett Street, East Perth was Mr Michael Reason. This facility accommodated up to 8 young Indigenous people in crisis accommodation on a short-term basis. Grant-in-Aid received in 1984 for office equipment.
In 1994 Yorganop was funded to provide “recruitment, assessment and support for community and kinship carers for the Out of Home Placement of Aboriginal children, giving effect to the Aboriginal Child Placement Principles.”
Key Service Objectives:
“To co-ordinate the placement of Aboriginal children with assessed kinship / or community carers.
To provide a tracing service for the identification of possible kinship placements.
To provide a recruitment and assessment service to maintain placements with 50 community /kinship carers.
To monitor and provide support and training to carers.
Provide counselling and mediation services for carers, parents, family members.”
1994 Out of Home Care funded services included:
• Kinship and community care program (short and long term).
Other services included:
• Tracing service
• Counselling/mediation service
(Out of Home, Preventative and Alternative Care Services Review, “Terms of Reference”, Family and Children’s Services, 1995).
In its service agreement with the Department in 1998 Yorganop was described as providing 55 placements of which 12 were short term and the remainder (43), medium to long term for Aboriginal children and young people. The priority age group was children and young people aged 6 to 15 years. The location of the placements was in the Perth metropolitan area. (Service Agreement with the Department for Family and Children’s Services).
In 2003 Yorganop was still providing 55 short-medium term placements but in addition the service was also to provide emergency foster placements for up to 15 children and a reunification service for up to 10 families each year. (Service Agreement with the Department for Community Development).
The three year Service Agreement with the Department for Community Development which commenced on 1 January 2006 enables Yorganup to provide short and long term foster placements for up to 55 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children aged zero to 15 years who are in the CEO’s care. On occasion, some children may remain in care beyond the age of 15 years. Short term care is planned and may be up to a maximum of six months duration and is used where the assessment indicates reunification with the family is possible within that time. Long term care is planned, longer than six months and used where the assessment indicates long term, intensive work with the child or young person and their family is needed to achieve reunification.
Yoganup provided a reunification service for 10 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families in a 12 month period where the children are in a short term or long term care. Yorganup and the Department jointly agree which children and young people are offered a reunification service and the goal of reunification is determined by the provisional care plan or care plan. In some cases reunification could commence prior to the child or young person entering care.
Yorganop provides emergency foster placements for up to 15 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children aged zero to 15 years. The duration of placement may be up to a maximum of eight weeks, but is usually four weeks on average. Placements are accessible on a 24 hour basis.
Where it is in the best interests of the child or young person, each foster carer will care for one child or kinship group at a time. |
| Records | Departmental case records for young people referred to Yorganop and subsequently placed there may reside with the Department for Child Protection.
Records for young people who were resident in Yorganop placements may be held by that agency. |
| Access | While access to records is restricted to protect the privacy of individuals, people are encouraged to enquire. |
| Contact Details | Departmental Records:
Freedom of Information
Department of Communities
Locked Bag 5000, Fremantle WA 6959
Telephone: (08) 6217 6888
Country free call: 1800 176 888
Email: foi@communities.wa.gov.au
Website: www.communities.wa.gov.au
Yorganop Records:
Chief Executive Officer
Yorganop Association Incorporated
PO Box 367, West Perth WA 6872
Telephone: (08) 9321 9090
Facsimile: (08) 9321 9019
Email: admin@yorganop.org.au |
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