| Neuville (Good Shepherd Teen Centre, Forrest Street Family Centre) |
| Years of Operation | 1971 - 1987 |
| Role Of Facility | At 30th June 1975, Neuville provided short or long term care for 20 girls aged 13 to 18 in residence and a further 6 or 7 girls in day attendance at St Clare’s.
In Departmental Annual Reports, Neuville was reported as a juvenile justice facility. It is likely, therefore, that Neuville started out as a successor to the Home of the Good Shepherd [see entry], though its role changed over time until eventually no residential services were offered. |
| Sponsoring Agency | Sisters of the Good Shepherd / Christian Community Inc. |
Other facilities in
Signposts that are
related to the
Sponsoring Agency | See the entry “Sisters of the Good Shepherd” in the earlier section of Signposts, “Non-Government Agencies and their Subsidiary Institutions” |
| Address(es) | It would appear that Neuville itself was at 71 Forrest Street, North Perth.
However, other residences associated, in 1976 at least, with the Forrest Street Family Centre were located at 117 Alma Road and 41 Burt Street (both in North Perth). |
| Aliases | Good Shepherd Teen Centre, Forrest Street Family Centre |
| Brief History | In 1975, Neuville was described as offering “educational / residential treatment facilities for teenage children” in a “large scale institution broken internally into small groups, which are very isolated.” Vocational job skills training included “phones, interviews, etc”. Neuville had a garden, tennis and basketball courts, swimming pool, and hall. There were dormitory bedrooms throughout the complex,; TV and radio were available. Schoolgirls were mainly taught at St Clare’s - only three attended schools outside the complex- and lunches were provided. Holiday placements were actively sought for the children. Recreational activities included church, clubs, outings such as picnics or going to the pictures, sports and visits from family. Behavioural programs included individual and group counselling. The length of stay varied from three to thirty months. The buildings were reported as being old brick buildings around 40-50 years old. (Department of Child Welfare Submission to the Committee of Enquiry into Residential Child Care, July 1976).
Administrative returns to the Department from the Good Shepherd Teen Centre in 1975 recorded 25 young people being in residence and 40 receiving education.
The WELSTAT (welfare statistics) Collection of 1979 notes “Neuville Assessment Centre 1-14” as a ‘clustered group home’ (ie. “a family group home whose grounds adjoin those of another family group home, or other residential child care establishment, operated by the same enterprise”) that was operated by an agency other than the Department. At the same time, “Neuville Assessment Centre 1-12” was noted as a ‘campus home’ (ie. “a residential child care establishment consisting of two or more dwellings that do not share cooking or eating facilities”, with an on-site manager “who has authority over the treatment and location of all the children in the dwellings” and which are not otherwise defined as secure institutions or hostels). And “Neuville Assessment Centre” was identified as a hostel, ie “a residential child care establishment mainly for children aged 15 and over who have left school...[providing] some care, protection, control, corrective treatment or detention, as well as full board”.
The WELSTAT (welfare statistics) Collection of 1979 separately notes the “Good Shepherd Teen Centre” as a ‘clustered group home’ (ie. “a family group home whose grounds adjoin those of another family group home, or other residential child care establishment, operated by the same enterprise”) that was operated by an agency other than the Department.
Departmental administration files in 1979 record the Good Shepherd Teen Centre as non-residential, so there is some possibility of a confusion here with the St Clare’s Day Attendance program and the Neuville program.
A Grant-in-Aid was received in 1982 for a solar hotwater system.
Information held by the Department indicates that in 1985 Neuville, which had been running a residential program for adolescents, wanted to change its focus to early intervention. (Department for Community Services TRIM Administration File MA0099 VO1, 1985).
St Clare’s Day Attendance Centre was a program run by Neuville. There has been no residential program associated with St Clare’s for many years. |
| Records | It is unknown whether any records are held by the Sisters of the Good Shepherd.
Departmental case records for young people placed in Neuville programs by the Department may reside with the Department for Child Protection. Where young women were placed by order of the Children’s Court prior to 1994, the Department for Child Protection should be the first point of access for information. |
| Access | While access to records is restricted to protect the privacy of individuals, people are encouraged to enquire. |
| Contact Details | The Provincial Leader, Good Shepherd Provincialate
PO Box 182, Abbotsford, Victoria 3067.
Telephone: (03) 9419 5773
Facsimile: (03) 9419 4472
Email: archives@goodshep.com.au
Web: www.goodshepherd.com.au
For Departmental or Children’s Court 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 |
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