ANNUAL REPORT - CatholicCare€¦ · Youth, Mental Health, Homelessness and Family Support Services 24 Reaching Out Program 24 ... report against the achievements of the organisation

ANNUAL REPORT2018–2019

Who we have helped 6

Organisational Chart 8

CEO Report 10

Achievements 12

Services 12

Regional Footprint 12

Partnerships, Networking and Collaboration 12

Future Sustainability 12

Leadership Team 15

CHOICES & Aged Care 16

Hands On Studio 18

LINC 19

Community Assistance and Support Program 19

Dorothy Sales Cottages 19

The Lodge transforms into ARAMAC House 20

Seniors in Networked Communities 21

Partners in Recovery 22

Home Care Packages 22

Youth, Mental Health, Homelessness and Family Support Services 24

Reaching Out Program 24

Sobering Up Shelter 24

AOD Support Connections 25

ASSIST 26

MINOSA House 26

Reconnect ACT 26

Reconnect Central West 27

Youth and Family Case Management Service 27

Youth Housing Support Service 27

STEPS Program 27

Youth & Wellbeing Program 28

Throughcare 28

Counselling and Therapy Services 30

Speech Pathology 30

Behaviour Management Service 30

Counselling and Psychological Assessment Services 31

Next Step Program 32

Jasmine’s* story 33

Student and Family Counselling Program 34

Better Access Counselling Program 35

Employee Assistance Program 35

Pre and Post Release Counselling 35

Family and Relationship Services Programs 36

Family and Relationship Counselling Service (including family law counselling) 36

Family and Adolescent Counselling Service 36

Parenting Groups 37

Relationship Education 37

Housing, Property and Facilities Management 38

Property and Tenancy Management 38

Gardening and Home Maintenance Services 38

CatholicCare Retirement Villages 38

Corporate and Staff Services 39

Human Resources 39

Staff Profile for 2018-2019 39

Quality Improvement 40

Information Technology and Communications 40

Mission Engagement 41

Reconciliation Action Plan Working Group 42

Financial Report 43

The Office of the Chief Financial Officer 43

Financial Management 43

Audit report 44

Contents

C AT H O L I C C A R E C A N B E R R A & G O U L B U R N A N N U A L R E P O R T 2 0 1 8 – 2 0 1 9 3

VISION

OUR VISION IS FOR AN EQUITABLE SOCIETY WHERE THE RIGHTS, DIGNITY AND WORTH OF ALL INDIVIDUALS IS RECOGNISED AND PROMOTED.

4 C AT H O L I C C A R E C A N B E R R A & G O U L B U R N A N N U A L R E P O R T 2 0 1 8 – 2 0 1 9

MISSION

CatholicCare Canberra & Goulburn is the welfare arm of the Archdiocese of Canberra and Goulburn. In keeping with the Catholic Church’s Social teachings we uphold the dignity of each person by:

• providing high quality accessible services

• empowering individuals, couples and families

• promoting healthy, inclusive communities through relationships and collaboration for the common good.

VALUES

Respect – We recognise and provide services that uphold the inherent dignity of each individual.

Stewardship – We use our gifts and resources in a responsible way that helps provide justice for all.

Solidarity – We commit ourselves to work with others in a way that enables all in our community to share in the common good.

Excellence – We aspire to the highest standards of service for the people we care for, in all that we do and for all in our community.

“CatholicCare as an organisation is made up of people who do live and reflect the values,

mission and vision of the organisation. This is the place I belong to live out through our work

the values, mission and vision that we share. This work is a privilege.”

–Staff survey 2019


Who we have helped

10,000

100,754

19,959+

319

649

2,037

INDIVIDUALS AND FAMILIES SUPPORTED

HOURS OF CARE PROVIDED TO PEOPLE WITH A DISABILITY

HOURS OF SUPPORT PROVIDED TO THE ELDERLY

STAFF AND VOLUNTEERS

ELDERLY PEOPLE SUPPORTED ACROSS THE ACT & NSW

NIGHTS’ ACCOMMODATION PROVIDED THROUGH OUR MEN’S HOMELESSNESS

SERVICE


220+

74

5,000+

250+

450+

61

PEOPLE HOMELESS OR AT RISK OF BECOMING HOMELESS SUPPORTED BY CATHOLICCARE

STUDENTS ATTENDED OUR ARTS STUDIO

INDIVIDUALS AND FAMILIES ATTENDED COUNSELLING SESSIONS

YOUNG PEOPLE ASSISTED

PEOPLE SUPPORTED BY OUR SPECIALIST ALCOHOL AND OTHER DRUG SERVICES

INDIVIDUALS HOUSED LONG TERM THROUGH COMMUNITY HOUSING


Organisational Chart

Archbishop of Canberra & Goulburn Trustees of the Archdiocese

Chief Executive OfficerAnne Kirwan

Deputy Chief Executive Officer

Lisa Higginson

CFOBeryl Tsao

Director People & Culture

Melissa McCarthy

Director Business & Development

Sue-Ann Polden

AccountantMalini Radha

Payroll CoordinatorJayne Cole

Next Step Manager Helen Maxted

Housing ManagerDin Pla Hongsa

Accounts/Admin officer Chwan Foo

Assistant AccountantDavin Heng

HR & Payroll AssistantMary-Anne Felton

AOD Programs Manager/Special ProjectsAbbey Andrews

Senior Operations Manager Quality & Staff Resources

Jeremy Grainger

IT Coordinator & Website Administrator

John Ha


Mission EngagementToni La Brooy

CHOICES & Aged Care Manager

Karen Roberts

Dorothy Sales Cottages/ The Lodge Manager

Cindy Campbell

Hands on Studio Manager

Tilly Davey

DirectorYouth, Mental Health,

Homelessness & Family ServicesJoshua Vaughan

Youth Mental Health ManagerSam Gill

Acting Homelessness Services Manager

Christie Bishop

DirectorCHOICES & Aged Care

Robyn McKay

CHOICES & Aged Care Manager

Kate Thornthwaite

DirectorCounselling & Therapy

ServicesKim Linsell

Senior Operations ManagerCounselling & Therapy Services

Jaclyn Dunkley

Counselling Services Manager

Sue Pobjie

Student & Family Counselling Manager

Kirsten Stafford

As at 30 June 2019


CEO ReportIn my 5th year as Chief Executive Officer of CatholicCare Canberra & Goulburn, I am pleased to report against the achievements of the organisation over the last financial year.

The past 12 months have seen further change within the context of social policy and funding across Australia, with a new Prime Minister, an unexpected election outcome and continued movements of key personnel within both state and commonwealth governments, departments and funding agencies causing major disruption to our networks, priorities and partner relationships.

Mindful of these changes and the need for social service agencies to operate as lean and efficient businesses, CatholicCare has continued to deliver upon our promises to clients, families, stakeholders, staff and the community, to be person centred, responsive, and provide quality services that make a real difference in the lives of the most vulnerable.

This transition over the last few years has not been an easy journey for our organisation and our staff. While the challenges have been significant, CatholicCare has thrived and adapted to this new operating paradigm, continuing to support and deliver services to over 10,000 individuals and families across our Archdiocese over the last year. We have cemented a cultural expectation of continuous renewal and improvement within our oganisation, and welcomed new clients and personnel into the agency who have endorsed this mandate to respond to need.

As part of this continuous improvement approach, we undertook our third bi-annual management system review this year noting significant improvements in communication, systems and risk management practices. We passed our mid-season progress review with QIP against the Quality Improvement Council’s standards, leaving us well placed for our external Quality Assurance Audit in 2020.

Over the last 12 months we have finalised several large projects and closed off key actions within the 2017-2018 Strategic Plan. With input from clients, families, stakeholders and staff, we have developed our new Strategic Plan for 2019-2024, setting ambitious long term goals for the organisation to deliver within the community over the next 5 years.

In the last year our Aged Care services began delivering Home Care Packages to older Australians. Our Hands On Studio won an ACT Arts Fund grant to deliver “Meet

the Makers” where we paired students with established mainstream artists to work together on projects and hold an exhibition. In January we commenced Cool Kids and Cool Little Kids programs for children experiencing anxiety which have been well attended by children and their parents in the ACT. In addition, our Family & Relationship Services commenced RAP – P groups at Canberra Recovery Services and Chitter ‘n Chatter group for mums with young children in Queanbeyan.

Our CHOICES (NDIS) and housing services worked in partnership with Housing ACT to transition a large group of people living with co-occurring alcohol and other drug and mental health conditions to move out of an outdated model of supported housing into brand new homes within community. The transition required detailed planning and support during this process of significant change and upheaval for the residents. Residents have now settled into their homes and continue to be supported by NDIS packages and services providing daily care and assistance. The move has been an outstanding success, with feedback from residents and families overwhelmingly positive and appreciative of the improved housing and dignity in accommodation.

Over the last year our CHOICES program has been called upon to step in and provided immediate support to people with a disability and their families where services have exited the NDIS. I applaud the efforts of staff who provided this support to both the individuals and the organisations.

The Leadership team and our staff continued to review and improve Risk Management systems and Business Continuity Practices across CatholicCare, and we have seen the benefits of these mitigation efforts through a significant reduction in critical incidents and business disruption over the last 12 months. We have also adapted our use of technologies and systems to improve our data management and security with positive results.

Mindful of the outcomes and recommendations of the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, we convened our Child Safe Working Group to review our practices and services ensuring that we deliver safe, appropriate, and accessible services to children and vulnerable people.


We continued to respond to opportunities to provide services in new areas of need across the Archdiocese of Canberra and Goulburn, and over the last 12 months received funding to commence the provision of therapeutic mental health services into residential aged care. We also secured our Family Law Counselling services funding for a further 5 years.

Our services have continued to grow, and in response, we have relocated staff and programs. We have moved Watson to our Red Hill offices, our corporate support services from Red Hill into Favier House in Braddon, and renovated and opened 10 counselling suites at Favier House enhancing accessibility for clients and families to access our psychological and speech therapy services. We also commenced renovations on Tenison Woods (an old SOSJ convent) where we will relocate our CHOICES and Aged Care services in 2019-2020. This move will enable us to expand and increase our NDIS services and include a 2nd Hands on Studio (for artists with a disability), rooms for counselling, behaviour management and speech therapy, as well as launching a new facility with 5 accessible cooking stations for people with a disability to come and learn independent living skills. We hope this space will enable CHOICES to expand and deliver social activities to enhance community engagement and address social isolation.

Over the last 12 months we sadly said goodbye to staff whose programs ceased with CatholicCare, including Partners In Recovery, which has moved into the National Psychosocial Support Transition Funding service in the ACT.

CatholicCare has now operated in the National Disability Insurance Scheme market for 5 years. It has been an extremely difficult transition into this fee based insurance market. Despite the challenges, we have achieved 50% growth over this 5 year period, and continued to support organisations across Australia to navigate this new scheme. As an organisation committed to the provision of services to people with a disability and their families, we have continued to be vocal advocates for change to the NDIA and government regarding this unit costed model of support, to enable providers to remain as viable entities and offer real choice and control to participants.

Transforming any organisation into a leaner, outcomes focused organisation requires inspiring leadership and amazing teamwork. I would like to thank our highly skilled and dedicated Board of Directors and our committed Leadership team who have worked tirelessly over last 12 months to ensure each service has delivered upon our promise of quality, responsive services, and who have ensured we remain on track and accountable to our purpose and mission.

I would like to acknowledge our close partnerships with the ACT, NSW and Commonwealth governments whose personnel and departments consistently support CatholicCare and our mission. Ongoing partnerships with Catholic Education and the Capital Health Network enable us to provide therapeutic and early intervention services within our schools and communities. CatholicCare has continued to work closely with partner organisations such as Marymead, Woden Community Services, St Vincent de Paul, Karralika and the Canberra Institute of Technology to continue to build our capacity to assist people in need.

Over the last 5 years we have enjoyed the unwavering support from our Archbishop, the Most Reverend Christopher Prowse, who has encouraged CatholicCare to grow and deliver exceptional services to all people across the Archdiocese. In addition, despite their busy schedules I receive enthusiastic support from our Vicar General Fr Tony Percy and Helen Delahunty our Archdiocesan Financial Administrator, who have always made themselves available to me whenever I needed sound counsel or a coffee.

Lastly, I must acknowledge the dedication and commitment to our mission in helping the most vulnerable, demonstrated on a daily basis by our team of wonderful staff and volunteers. We are blessed to have a group of over 280 people who come to work and live our values through their daily work, striving to ensure that the services we provide are responsive and make a difference.

Our staff and volunteers are our greatest asset and are a true reflection of the organisation and our mission. Without their efforts and energy, we could not deliver upon our promises to those we serve – so thank you for your time, energy and the giving of your talents.

Anne Kirwan Chief Executive Officer

CatholicCare Canberra & Goulburn


AchievementsAgainst the 2018-2019 CatholicCare Canberra & Goulburn Strategic Plan.

Over the last twelve months CatholicCare Canberra & Goulburn has finalised the strategic activities from our 2017-2018 Strategic Plan, and developed an ambitious 5 year Strategic Plan for the organisation moving forward from 2019-2024. Key strategic activities across both corporate and service delivery have enhanced the operations, profile, reputation and deliverables of the organisation.

The strategic achievements over the last twelve months are summarised below.

SERVICES

CatholicCare has continued to review existing service models to ensure they are evidence informed, outcome focused and value for money.

We have continued to seek out new opportunities to grow and expand the suite of services we offer, tendering and developing new models of care to better meet the changing needs of the community.

We have developed our People Plan, and engaged several specialist recruitment firms to attract skilled and talented people for targeted positions who will represent us within community.

We have completed our Practice Framework, ensuring that our services and approaches align with best practice and evidence based principles.

We have sought to ensure our services are accessible and culturally responsive, and continued to progress our Innovate Reconciliation Action Plan.

We have undertaken a review of our organisational systems and formed a strategy to enhance system integration, improve data quality and increase operational efficiencies.

REGIONAL FOOTPRINT

We have begun to explore opportunities to expand our NDIS and Aged Care services into the regional areas of our Archdiocese.

PARTNERSHIPS, NETWORKING

AND COLLABORATION

We have continued to build relationships and work with like-minded organisations to progress our mission.

We have continued to meet regularly with government to provide insight into the needs of community and outline challenges social service organisations are experiencing within the changing market.

We have continued to seek out representation on Boards, Committees and working groups to ensure CatholicCare and our clients are represented at all levels of governance and decision making.

We continue to invest our time and energies within the Catholic Social Service networks to build partnerships, access expertise and resources, and enhance sector capacity.

FUTURE SUSTAINABILITY

We have continued to review our corporate and service delivery operations, integrating systems to deliver lean, efficient and responsive services with reduced overheads.

We have invested in systems that enable us to accurately cost our services per hour of delivery, enabling us to effectively operate within a unit cost marketplace.

We have improved our Risk Management Systems and Business Continuity Practices across the organisation, resulting in a significant reduction of critical incidents and business disruption over the last 12 months.

We have sought to embed a continuous improvement culture within the organisation, and participated in a seamless mid-season Quality Assurance review with QIP in preparation for our next external quality audit in 2020.


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We have continued to invest in out of home marketing, to enhance brand recognition, increase our profile within the community, and attract clients, funding and talent to CatholicCare.

The last 12 months has seen significant improvements across the organisation in operations, process and deliverables as a result of the various strategic and quality projects implemented across CatholicCare.

These achievements have only been possible through the efforts and dedication of the Leadership team and our staff, who have embraced a continuous improvement culture and have bought into the goals and business requirement of the organisation to improve how we work on a daily basis. Given that these achievements have been possible in such a changing and challenging environment demonstrates the wonderful commitment and skill of our greatest asset – our people.

Yours sincerely

Anne Kirwan Chief Executive Officer CatholicCare Canberra & Goulburn

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“I really appreciate that the organisation really does care. It feels completely genuine in relation to its values. That is a testament to the leadership team and makes me proud to work here.”–Staff survey 2019

Anne Kirwan Chief Executive Officer

Lisa Higginson Deputy Chief Executive Officer

Beryl Tsao Chief Financial Officer

Kim Linsell Director Counselling & Therapy

Services

Sue-Ann Polden Director Business & Development

Robyn Mckay Director CHOICES and Aged

Care

Joshua Vaughan Director Youth, Mental Health,

Homelessness & Family Services

Melissa McCarthy Director People & Culture

Leadership Team


CHOICES & Aged CareCatholicCare’s CHOICES program delivered a suite of NDIS services to 190 participants in 2018-19.

These services focused on supporting participants to achieve their goals and included:

• Coordination of supports

• Personal care

• Domestic assistance

• Transport

• Community access

• Gardening and home maintenance

These individually tailored services provided a solid foundation for participants to work towards their goals and increase independence. In addition to one-on-one support, we assisted 16 individuals with a supported independent living component in their NDIS plan. Through flexible models of in-home support, these individuals were able to maintain and improve their current living situation and achieve positive outcomes.

We continue to run our volunteer-led music group, and this year saw our wonderful volunteer receive an award as part of National Volunteer Week. CHOICES have also facilitated a number of smaller social groups meeting throughout Canberra facilitating opportunities for individuals to develop friendships over a meal or coffee and open up new opportunities for social engagement across different age groups.

The CHOICES management team continues to value the contribution of the CHOICES Consumer Feedback Group. The group meets monthly with participants providing valuable input into policies, systems and the services we deliver. The group provides an opportunity for members to develop new skills and meet socially, in addition to playing an important role in the CHOICES service quality process.

CHOICES has continued to recruit staff to meet the ongoing demand for extra support and to ensure we continue to meet the needs of our participants and work towards reaching their goals.

CatholicCare appreciated the feedback we received through our annual client survey, acknowledging a common theme expressing need for more opportunities to meet others in a social setting. Over the next twelve months we aim to increase our group activities to allow people to connect with others, increase social connections and share similar interests.

The CHOICES team anticipates continued growth and adaption as the NDIS continues to evolve, with the focus of support remaining on the participants and their independence, inclusion and social and economic participation.

Support is funded by individual packages under the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS)



RASHMIKA’S STORY Rashmika is an 18 year old young man who lives at home with his mother and older sister. Rashmika has Fragile X syndrome, autism, and an intellectual disability. Due to the nature of his disability, Rashmika requires someone to be with him at all times, both when at home or out in the community. He enjoys going out in the community with people he is familiar with and particularly enjoys visiting the zoo, playing basketball and ten pin bowling, going for walks around the lake,

visiting the botanic gardens, and going to the movies.

The CHOICES program has worked in partnership with Rashmika and his family to identify a team of regular support workers who have developed wonderful rapport with Rashmika. This team has allowed for consistency and continuity of care for Rashmika and has ensured that he is able to work towards his full potential. Rashmika and his support team have worked collaboratively with other support agencies such as Koomarri and Communites@Work to

assist him work towards his identified goals to secure employment, develop independent and

daily living skills and continue to engage in social and community activities to build on Rashmika’s

social skills to help him make and maintain friendships.

CatholicCare has supported Rashmika towards his goal of employment by working in collaboration with CatholicCare’s Mission Engagement Officer to identify a volunteer role within the agency. Rashmika now volunteers twice a week by assisting with the delivery of internal mail, which has been greatly appreciated by CatholicCare. Rashmika is supported in this role by one of his regular support workers who has been excited to watch Rashmika build his confidence and independence whilst learning new skills.

Rashmika’s CHOICES team has supported him to ensure he is not at risk of being socially isolated and provide supports to him to engage in activities that he enjoys. These supports have helped Rashmika to feel more confident and connected to his community.

Rashmika’s CHOICES team has enjoyed working with him and have been excited and enthusiastic about his achievements including his growing confidence, increased independence, ability to remain focused on tasks and sense of safety when accessing the community.

“Over the next twelve months we aim to increase our group activities to

allow people to connect with others, increase social connections and

share similar interests.”


“HOS aims to help participants build their social capacity by supporting them to contribute their artworks to local and interstate exhibitions, connect with creative institutions and collaborate with local practicing artists.”

HANDS ON STUDIO

Hands On Studio (HOS) is a community art program located at M16 ARTSPACE in Griffith. The Studio is a unique space that provides a nurturing environment and safe haven where people with disabilities can creatively express themselves.

In 2018-2019, 74 individuals with varying disabilities utilised the space each week by participating in one or more of

the eleven weekly classes. All classes are taught using a person centred approach, providing the artists the opportunity to explore their creativity independently or in collaboration with their peers and tutor to complete desired projects. Out of the studio, HOS provides a specialised outreach art program to individuals with acquired brain injury who reside at Dorothy Sales Cottages in Hughes. Over the past year HOS has welcomed 8 new students, 2 new tutors and 1 new volunteer.

HOS aims to help participants build their social capacity by supporting them to contribute their

artworks to local and interstate exhibitions, connect with creative institutions and collaborate with local

practicing artists. In March 2019, HOS presented ‘What a Look’; an installation of 62 3D collaged faces at Art

Not Apart, an annual contemporary arts festival based in Canberra. Exhibiting artworks in mainstream galleries and local arts festivals provides the artists with a platform to converse with the public and feel proud.

In 2018, HOS received a grant from artsACT to deliver ‘Meet Makers’, a program designed to pair 7 community artists from HOS with 7 local artists. Each pair worked in collaboration at HOS to share creative processes, learn new found creative ideas and produced a series of collaborative artworks. The project will culminate with an exhibition at Australian National Capital Artists gallery in Dickson. This mentorship project has provided valuable learning experiences for all involved and has reinforced the importance of working in collaboration across diverse sectors of the community.

Over the past twelve months HOS has continued to build and strengthen its relationships with The National Gallery of Australia, The Drill Hall Gallery and The Belconnen Arts Centre where HOS artists Brian Allan, Paul Bilton and Vijia Sen presented solo exhibitions with the support of their tutors.

In its 24th year of operation, HOS continues to grow and develop unique projects to fulfil the creative wants and needs of its artists and the community.

Support is funded by individual packages under the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS)


LINC

The Living In Networked Communities (LINC) program offers a sustainable and supportive housing option for people with a disability to live independent and active lives.

In 2018-19, LINC provided support to 29 members living within 3 LINC networks throughout Canberra located in Belconnen, Weston Creek and Casey.

LINC properties are dispersed throughout the area to encourage the forming of new relationships within the wider community, while also close enough to other LINC members to promote connectedness within the network.

LINC supports members to maintain their tenancy as well as develop and maintain relationships with their neighbours and local community. Support provided by the LINC program is funded through individuals’ NDIS packages which includes one-on-one support to assist with connection to their local community, as well as group activities within each network.

COMMUNITY ASSISTANCE AND

SUPPORT PROGRAM

The Community Assistance and Support Program (CASP) aims to enhance people’s health, wellbeing and access to the community. The CASP program provides services to those who do not have an NDIS plan, or for those deemed ineligible for the NDIS. In the third year of operation, CASP supported 45 individuals and their carers with a range of different and flexible supports. This has included supporting individuals to apply for access to the NDIS, support to maintain their home and garden, and support to access their community.

CASP provided a range of services to individuals and families, which assisted them to remain living in their own/family home. In some instances the support provided by CASP assisted individuals to resolve points of crisis around housing and prevented them falling into homelessness. CASP also supported individuals to transition into more suitable housing options, coordinating appropriate levels of direct support to ensure it was able to be maintained.

In some cases, individuals received more than one service type and had their direct support accompanied by care coordination hours to build capacity and develop systems with the individual or family to sustain their independence.

The CASP program also worked closely with individuals and their family/carer unit to provide support, which assisted in improving the individual’s health, wellbeing, recovery and rehabilitation. CASP works in close collaboration with clinical and community mental health services to help prevent hospital admissions.

Funded by the ACT Government Health Directorate

DOROTHY SALES COTTAGES

Dorothy Sales Cottages (DSC) is home to 7 people living with a severe acquired brain injury and/or complex physical needs. In delivering supports to these individuals, CatholicCare works closely with Hartley Lifecare who are the property owners and who manage the onsite hydrotherapy pool.

The dedicated team at DSC provides intensive 24 hour support to residents and strives to deliver individualised and person-centred services. This is illustrated through the resident’s individualised plans, identified life goals, and in how flexibly and responsive the services are delivered. The way support is provided at DSC enables residents to live as independently as possible and to maintain or develop connections within their community.

This year, with funding through their NDIS plans, 2 residents took a trip to the coast and ate fish and chips by the beach, something they had been looking forward to doing for some time. Others were supported to go home and spend time with family, go to the shops, movies or community events, or even to go out for a coffee at a café.

NDIS funding has been utilised by participants to purchase new equipment. One resident has also purchased a device that will improve his ability to communicate his needs with those around him. The DSC staff continue to work closely with other providers and specialists such as speech pathologists, occupational therapists and GP’s to ensure residents receive holistic care.

Partially funded by the Commonwealth Government, Department of Health - Continuity of Support Programme and individual packages under the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) and compensation payments

“Helping me to feel good about living in my home and having my

home clean.”


“Can I stay here forever?”

“It’s such an amazing opportunity, thank you”

“These places are beautiful”

THE LODGE TRANSFORMS INTO

ARAMAC HOUSE

This year has seen an exciting move for The Lodge operating out of Ainslie Village

for the last 25 years. In May 2019, CatholicCare supported the residents to transition to a new home in the community. With the support of Housing ACT and CatholicCare, the men have moved into brand new 2 bedroom units in a unit complex called ARAMAC. The Lodge’s history supporting adult males living with co-occurring mental health and drug and alcohol conditions

will continue in this new location, with the additional aspect of being

in an environment which supports and encourages both mental health and drug

and alcohol recovery.

The support CatholicCare provides focusses on increasing individual capacity towards independent

living and increased participation in the community. In 2018-19 the Lodge was home to 13 individuals, with 3 individuals exiting the service in the 12-month period. In preparation for the move to ARAMAC, CatholicCare supported 10 residents to have their NDIS plans reviewed resulting in increased funding to support them in this significant transition.

The excitement from individuals, families and the staff on moving day was incredible. More incredible has been that in the short time since moving to ARAMAC House, we have seen a significant increase in the men’s involvement in their day to day lives. Now, with their own kitchens, bathrooms and laundries, these men have the ability to take greater control over preparing meals and maintaining their personal spaces, which has contributed positively to their mental health and wellbeing.

ARAMAC House is funded by individual packages under the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS)


SENIORS IN NETWORKED COMMUNITIES

Seniors In Networked Communities (SINC) is a Commonwealth Home Support funded program that operates as part of the My Aged Care system. CatholicCare’s SINC program delivers services throughout the ACT and NSW Southern Highlands, providing entry-level in home and community support for older people needing assistance to remain living safely and independently at home and remain engaged with their community.

SINC utilises a person-centred and strengths-based model that focusses on supporting and enhancing a person’s independence. This year the SINC program has continued to work with the Regional Assessment Service Assessors and My Aged Care to deliver supports focused on individual’s goals and support plan. SINC acknowledges the needs, aspirations and goals of individuals, while assisting them to regain functional capacity and improve or maintain independence.

In the 2018-2019 year, the SINC program received consistent referrals in both the ACT and NSW, supporting 649 individuals through the provision of personal care, domestic assistance, social support, flexible respite, transport, and home maintenance in both the ACT and NSW and social work services in NSW. Specifically, SINC has seen a significant increase in referrals for the flexible respite and social work services, and note an ongoing need for home maintenance and domestic assistance supports which continue at capacity.

Funded by the Australian Government Department of Health

TOBIAS’* STORY

Tobias is a 70-year-old man who lives alone in his home in regional NSW. Tobias has Autism and suffers from anxiety and multiple other health concerns, which at times affect his mobility. Tobias expressed being socially isolated, and that he had felt lonely since retiring from work and rarely saw his family of whom lived interstate.

Tobias was initially linked with CatholicCare’s SINC program after an assessment with the Regional Assessment Service (RAS) who identified that Tobias would benefit from services to assist with transport, social support, domestic assistance, home maintenance and support from a social worker.

Due to his increasing social anxiety, Tobias was initially reluctant to accept the support. After meeting with the SINC social worker, the two developed a positive working relationship which saw them achieve successful outcomes around personal and financial concerns which Tobias was experiencing. Following these successes, Tobias explored other aspects of the SINC program and began accessing the social support services identified in his support plan.

Following an assessment with the Aged Care Assessment Team in 2019, Tobias received an allocation for a Level 2 Home Care Package and selected CatholicCare to work with him to manage his package. Tobias continues to be supported by the team of workers he has become familiar with through the SINC service. His social support continues to be flexible and built around his needs at the time of the support and Tobias has opened up to receive more services, including weekly domestic assistance.

*Names and details have been changed to protect the client’s identity

“Staff are wonderful, 10/10, I enjoy going out

and meeting new people.”

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PARTNERS IN RECOVERY

Partners in Recovery (PIR) is a community based outreach program supporting individuals living with severe and persistent mental illness. Individuals eligible for PIR are linked in with a Support Facilitator who works with the individual to develop their own plan for sustained recovery and facilitate access to local services and support. The program operates as part of a consortium model with Capital Health Network (CHN) as the Lead Agency and CatholicCare and Wellways Australia as service providers.

In 2018-2019 PIR supported 72 participants, providing outreach support and referrals to services and support organisations. During this time a number of participants transitioned to the National Disability Insurance Scheme. PIR continued to support participants to build their confidence in independent living, facilitated referrals to other organisations or departments for additional support, and empowered participants to achieve their goals (short and long-term).

The PIR program stopped accepting referrals in April 2019 in preparation for the cessation of the program on the 30th of June 2019. For the participants of the program this presented a few options. For those who deemed eligible for the NDIS, the PIR team worked closely with participants to transition to an NDIS support coordinator of their choice, and in some instances this meant the continuation of support through the CatholicCare CHOICES program. For others, support continued with their PIR worker through the National Psychosocial Support Transition Funding until they were either deemed eligible for the NDIS, or until the new Continuity of Support Program becomes available in October 2019.

Funded by the Australian Government Department of Health, in partnership with ACT Capital Health Network

HOME CARE PACKAGES

This has been an exciting year for the Home Care Program (HCP) with our first client signing on to the service in September 2018 and a steady growth in the program since then. The Home Care Program has since supported 19 individuals, who have been allocated Level 1 to Level 4 Packages and chosen CatholicCare as their provider.

Home Care Packages are allocated to individuals who require a higher level of in-home and community access supports than entry-level services such as the Commonwealth Home Support Programme can provide. With the introduction of the Home Care Program, CatholicCare has been able to provide continuity of care to 11 individuals who had been accessing the SINC program and required an increase in their support. These individuals were able to continue working with the support workers they had developed good working relationships with, while at the same time receiving the increased support they required to remain in their homes.

The shift in recent years to the delivery of Home Care Package being delivered from a consumer directed care approach aligns with CatholicCare’s philosophy on service delivery and provides another avenue for us to work in a person-centred way, supporting individuals to remain living in their homes with greater control over their supports.

In addition to our suite of in-house services including case management, personal care, assistance with domestic tasks, social support, home maintenance and gardening assistance, the Home Care Program continues to build relationships with other providers including nursing agencies and allied health professionals to coordinate and provide support to meet the needs of the individuals who have chosen us as their support provider.

Funded by the Australian Government Department of Health


“My Support Worker is a great asset to CatholicCare, she always turns up on time, with a smile and does a great job, whether cleaning, shopping or showering me. I think she deserves a pat on the back.”


24 C E L E B R AT I N G 6 0 Y E A R S

Youth, Mental Health, Homelessness and Family Support ServicesREACHING OUT PROGRAM

CatholicCare’s Reaching Out program provides specialist alcohol and other drug counselling through an assertive outreach approach. This fills a significant gap in the ACT alcohol and other drug sector by providing services that are not location based, meeting clients at a place that is safe and comfortable for them.

This unique counselling approach increases accessibility to the program and enhances engagement. Many clients report the value of the outreach aspect of the service, expressing that the stigma associated with physical and mental health conditions would have previously prevented them from attending in-centre counselling.

Our specialist counsellors have been on the ground working with 187 individuals in 2018-2019 to support the reduction of alcohol and other drug related harms and improve their personal wellbeing. Throughout the year, the program provided 723 counselling sessions.

Funded by the Capital Health Network, on behalf of the Australian Government Department of Health

SOBERING UP SHELTER

The Sobering Up Shelter (SUS) provides a safe place for individuals over the age of 18 to recover from the effects of alcohol and other drugs. The SUS operates on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights from 11pm to 11am and also opens for special events where there is community celebration.

The SUS is a licensed facility operating in accordance with the Intoxicated People (Care and Protection) Act 1994 and the Intoxicated People (Care and Protection) Standard 2004. Qualified Alcohol, Tobacco and Other Drug (ATOD) Workers provide close monitoring throughout the night.

Referrals are accepted from ACT Policing, ACT Ambulance, health and community services and the general community. ATOD Workers provide ATOD and Mental Health screening and brief intervention, as well as follow up support and referrals.

SUS opened for a variety of events during 2018-19 and is looking to expand into a number of the Territory’s other major events into 2019-20.

Funded by ACT Government Health Directorate

“I was referred to Reaching Out from a

rehab I was in. I believe without the work I did with my counsellor I wouldn’t be where I am today. I’m nearly 2 years clean and sober and I tell everybody

how much your service has helped me.”

“I am more confident in myself and learning more strategies all the

time.”


AOD SUPPORT CONNECTIONS

CatholicCare’s AOD Support Connections program provides case management and case coordination services to people engaging in alcohol and other drug use. AOD Support Connections supports people to identify and reach their goals through collaborative case planning, referral, problem solving, and harm reduction education.

Our Case Managers provide holistic support so clients can make changes to their alcohol and other drug use, connect with physical and mental health services, address legal financial or housing problems, safety plan around domestic and family violence, build formal and informal support networks, and work towards education or employment goals. This is a flexible outreach service, so we meet clients in locations that suit them including in their home, or other community service, thus engaging with clients who may struggle in mainstream service settings.

In 2018-2019, the program supported 103 individuals and provided over 396 case management sessions in homes and in the community. 77% of the individuals supported through the program experienced co-occurring AOD use and a mental health condition, demonstrating a clear need for a flexible service which can work to link up various sectors and support types.

Funded by the Capital Health Network, on behalf of the Australian Government Department of Health

LINDA’S* STORY

Linda, a 48-year-old Aboriginal woman, was referred to AOD

Support Connections support around her problematic alcohol consumption.

In addition, Linda presented to the service with social anxiety and physical

disabilities that had led to her becoming socially isolated and dependent on her carer.

Furthermore, Linda has a complex trauma history with domestic and family violence, grief and loss.

Following an initial assessment, the Case Manager developed a case plan with Linda to determine

the goals she was hoping to work towards. The Case Manager was able to organise wraparound supports

through CatholicCare services, including AOD Counselling with Reaching Out, personal and domestic support at home

through the Community Assistance and Support Program (CASP), and support to obtain a mental health care plan to

access CCG Better Access counselling for trauma and grief. The Case Manager also advocated for a housing transfer

to a smaller property to meet the needs of her disability, at Linda’s request, and supported her to complete an

NDIS application including liaising with her GP and other specialists. Additionally, Linda was supported to develop

skills to manage her anxiety and build self-confidence, and manage triggers that historically led to her using alcohol.

Since working with AOD Support Connections, Linda has successfully maintained abstinence from alcohol. She

reports she feels increased self-confidence and her social anxiety has significantly reduced, with Linda now utilising

public transport to access the community. Linda states she is eating healthier foods and taking better care

of herself thanks to the support of CASP. Linda reports her relationships with her family have

improved and she has recently had contact with her daughter and grandchildren for

the first time in three years. Linda has also increased her independence resulting in the relationship with her carer improving

greatly.


25

MINOSA HOUSE

MINOSA (Men In Need Of Support Accommodation) provides supported accommodation for 6 males over the

age of 18 years who are experiencing homelessness for up to 3 months. The program empowers residents to

gain safe, secure, long term and sustainable tenancies in the ACT community. This is achieved through individualised and client-centred case management and an onsite support worker who provides practical assistance to residents such as living skills development including cooking, cleaning, hygiene, budgeting and accessing community services.

MINOSA House provided 2037 bed night’s accommodation with an occupancy rate of 92.8% during 2018–2019. MINOSA also provided support to

24 men of which:

• 29.4% were supported to enter Community Housing.

• 11.8% were supported to enter into private accommodation

• 29.4% were supported to enter into Public Housing.

Funded by Housing and Community Services, ACT Government Community Services Directorate

RECONNECT ACT

Reconnect ACT is a voluntary early-intervention program for young people aged 12 to 18 years who are at risk of homelessness or are already homeless and living, working or studying in Canberra. The program works with both the young person and their parents/caregivers concurrently with individual workers where appropriate. The program works towards achieving family reconciliation or finding appropriate living arrangements and improving the young person’s level of engagement with work, education, training and the community.

Reconnect ACT supported 66 individuals and their families in 2018-19.

Funded by the Australian Government Department of Social Services

ASSIST

ASSIST (Aiding in Secure, Safe, Independent and Stable Tenancies) is an outreach program designed to assist adults aged 18 years and over who are homeless or at risk of homelessness. The program provides individualised and person-centred case management, information, advocacy and referrals to support individuals, couples and families to gain and transition into and/or sustain tenancies in public, community or private housing.

ASSIST supported 121 service users during 2018-19. Just under 70% of ASSIST clients exited the service with stable, long-term accommodation and 81% achieved their agreed goals.



RECONNECT CENTRAL WEST

Reconnect Central West (RCW) is based in regional southern NSW and provides outreach support to young people in Young, Boorowa, Canowindra, Grenfell, Molong, West Wyalong and surrounds.

RCW supports each young person to achieve their own unique goals through a person-centred and flexible case management framework. RCW has excelled at running local group work programs designed to develop better engagement with at risk youth within the community.

RCW supported 49 individuals and their families in 2018-19.


YOUTH AND FAMILY CASE

MANAGEMENT SERVICE

CatholicCare’s Youth and Family Case Management Service (YFCMS) works within a case management and child-centred framework to support vulnerable children, young people and families in the ACT region who are at risk. This service provides a holistic, and flexible model of outreach support to each individual client. The service aims to build resilience, self-confidence and life skills. YFCMS provides practical support to families and aims to improve outcomes around housing, family and relationship conflict, substance use, education and parenting.

YFCMS program supported 38 families in the ACT region during 2018-19.

Funded by the Office for Children Youth and Family Support, ACT Government Community Services Directorate

YOUTH HOUSING SUPPORT SERVICE

The Youth Housing Support Service (YHSS) provides an outreach service to young people aged 15–25 years who are homeless or at risk of homelessness and live in the ACT region. This program provides individualised and client-centred case management and “one off” advice and assistance to young people to gain accommodation and/or sustain their tenancies.

YHSS provided support to 75 individuals during 2018-19.


STEPS PROGRAM

STEPS (Supporting young people Through Early intervention and Prevention Strategies) is a residential program supporting young people aged 13-18 years with a moderate to severe mental health condition. The program operates in partnership with ACT Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS). The program is structured as a ‘step up/step down’ opportunity. This enables young people exiting from a hospital stay to receive transitional support before returning home, or as an early intervention support option for young people experiencing difficulties at home but not requiring hospitalisation.

STEPS provides a recovery-based framework to support the young people utilising case management approaches which are person-centered and strengths-based. Some of these supports include:

• Clinical support through the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS)

• Increasing the young person’s understanding of their mental health and learning strategies to manage symptoms in a supported environment

• A structured daily schedule that supports mental health recovery

• Referrals to internal and external programs

• Development of life skills such as cooking, cleaning, self-care and sleep hygiene

• Advocacy

• Supporting the families and carers through psychoeducation and supporting the young person’s transition back into the home

• Education and vocation reengagement.

STEPS supported 29 young people during 2018-19.

Funded by ACT Government Health Directorate

“STEPS has made me feel hopeful and to have dreams. I am now

feeling proud of my achievements and able to set new goals.”


YOUTH & WELLBEING PROGRAM

The Youth & Wellbeing program utilises a case management framework based on recovery-oriented practice to support young people aged 12-25 years living with a mental illness. The program provides assistance such as gaining and sustaining suitable housing, developing life skills, building resilience, and understanding and managing mental wellbeing. The program also encourages young people to engage in education, training and employment, and to develop support and social networks.

In addition, the program works to engage young people in the community and enable them to access services available to them. The Youth & Wellbeing program works closely with young people to reduce the impact of mental illness on their lives. Highly skilled staff provide psychoeducation and share strategies to manage mental health symptoms effectively. Some examples include:

• Strength and resilience building

• Education on mental health symptoms or diagnosis

• Encouraging development of routines

• Engagement in meaningful activities

• Development of coping skills

• Assisting in times of stress or crisis.

Staff also encourage and promote engagement with clinical mental health services and supports including psychologists, ACT Mental Health and GPs.

Youth and Wellbeing provided outreach support to 17 young people during

2018-19.

Funded by ACT Government Health

Directorate

THROUGHCARE

The Throughcare program provides up to 4 weeks of intensive outreach support to individuals upon release from the Alexander Maconochie Centre with the possibility of a 2 week extension.

Staff work closely alongside the Throughcare program at ACT Corrective Service to support clients to reintegrate into the community and reduce recidivism.

The types of support provided include:

• Transport (including transport on day of release)

• Support to engage with ACT Corrective Services and comply with conditions

• Support to obtain Centrelink payments

• Support to gather documents and obtain identity documents

• Support access to bulk billing GP’s

• Support to link in with other services to provide ongoing support including alcohol and other drug services, counselling, case management, homelessness services and accommodation providers

• Support to engage in positive social activities in the community

• Support to access training and professional development opportunities

• Support to obtain a Driver’s License.

Throughcare supported 133 clients during 2018-19.

Funded by ACT Corrective Services


“My anxiety was through the roof at the thought of being released and not knowing what to do or where to start or how I could get some ID. But with the help of my Throughcare worker it was so much easier than I thought. They helped me get my centerlink payments, photo ID, gave me a new phone and helped set it up and got me into a doctor that bulk bills and came to the first appointment with me.”


30 C E L E B R AT I N G 6 0 Y E A R S

Counselling and Therapy ServicesSPEECH PATHOLOGY

Our Speech Pathology Service at CatholicCare has experienced continued growth over the past twelve months. We have developed relationships and connections to engage and promote the program to community organisations such as schools, childcare centres, doctors and paediatricians, and other allied health services. Our speech pathologist works across all ages, offering adult and paediatric speech pathology services using person and family centred approaches.

Our service strives to work in collaboration with the client and their support network to provide high quality and evidence based supports. We offer our service in an environment that is most convenient to the client, such as their home, community or school. Our speech pathologist works across a broad range of difficulties such

as speech, language, literacy and social skills. The service offers initial assessments,

therapy, progress reviews and the development of management

plans.

In addition, our speech pathologist is able

to offer health promotion and training to parents, families and other professionals. In 2018-19 our speech pathologist provided

information sessions to local

childcare centre educators and

families. Further, the speech pathologist

worked closely with schools and attended various

community based promotional and networking events.

Interventions are targeted to support clients to improve their communication and swallowing functioning in order to promote positive improvements across their social, educational and occupational environments. The Speech Pathology Service has provided assessment and intervention to 70 clients in 2018-19 and we look forward to continued growth and supporting more clients and families into the future.

CatholicCare’s Speech Pathology Service is registered with NDIA, Medicare, and offers a fee for service program

BEHAVIOUR MANAGEMENT SERVICE

CatholicCare’s Behaviour Management service assists individuals and their support networks including carers, families, support staff and other professionals to understand challenging behaviours.

Challenging behaviours may include self-injurious behaviours, aggression, anger, socially inappropriate behaviours or a combination of behaviours. Behaviour Specialists work closely with the individual and their support networks providing person-centred support to individuals of all ages, tailored to individual needs and goals. The service is delivered in an environment that is convenient and appropriate including in the home, community, school or work. Our Behaviour Specialists are trained in Positive Behaviour Support.

We are a registered provider of NDIA services


COUNSELLING AND PSYCHOLOGICAL

ASSESSMENT SERVICES

CatholicCare provides Counselling and Psychological Assessment Services to individuals under the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS), in addition to fee for service. Our team of qualified staff assist individuals and families with psychological, emotional and life skill matters. The service is person-centred and support is offered for a broad range of issues.

The service aims to assist clients to reach their goals, support functioning in their activities of daily living, while developing personal resources, strategies and skills. Our qualified professionals can also provide comprehensive psychological assessments including developmental, cognitive and behavioural assessments.

In 2018-19, over 133 sessions were provided to NDIS participants for therapeutic support.

PETER’S* STORY Peter, a primary school aged student attended CatholicCare with his family to obtain Counselling Services upon implementation of his NDIS plan.

Peter had been diagnosed with High-Functioning Autism and along with his family, Peter required assistance within the home and school environment.

The initial session was with Peter’s parents, who indicated he had trouble with regulating emotions, managing anger, social skills and being able to maintain healthy relationships, especially with loved ones.

Over a number of sessions, trust and rapport was established between Peter and the Counsellor through play therapy and engaging in activities on a weekly basis.

During sessions, the Counsellor would work with Peter to identify different emotions and triggers of escalation, helping Peter to understand how his body was feeling and responding to potential triggers and putting anger management strategies into place within the home and school environment.

The Counsellor worked with the family to encourage focus on Peter’s strengths rather than negative behaviours, in order to support Peter’s wellbeing and emotional development.

It was important for Peter’s family to be involved in the sessions, in order to work towards and obtain further information, education and awareness, regarding Peter’s emotional sensitivity, fixation on particular topics and social difficulties.

The Counsellor worked alongside Peter and his family to increase his social skills and relationships, while supporting Peter to identify a sense of self and increase a sense of connection within the family and wider community.

Since commencing counselling, Peter’s family reports his outbursts have reduced, Peter is able to communicate to family and school staff when he feels symptoms of escalation arising. Peter has learnt to walk away from conflict at school and is able to voice to his parents when he is not feeling heard. Peter has become an active member of the schooling community and contributes within social settings on a regular basis.

Peter’s family have indicated that the counselling Peter is receiving is having a positive impact on his development, along with providing the family with the opportunity to grow and connect with one another.


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NEXT STEP PROGRAM

Next Step provides free and confidential psychological support services across the lifespan, delivered in partnership between CatholicCare, Woden Community Services and the CBT Institute. CatholicCare delivers the high intensity service component involving intensive psychological intervention for people with moderate to severe symptoms of a mental health condition. Woden Community Services support people with mild to moderate presentations, delivered by a coach specially trained and skilled in helping people find practical ways to manage their difficulties.

The service is based on the UK’s Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT) model where a client’s presenting symptoms are assessed, stepping them into the service that best suits their needs (i.e. low or high intensity services). This results in an efficient use of mental health services, based on a stepped care model where clients receive access to the right service at the right time. To ensure accessibility to the program, services are offered out of various sites including Murra Lanyon Youth Centre, Tuggeranong and Gungahlin Child and Family Centres, Headspace, the Junction and Belconnen Community Centre, as well as our main sites in Red Hill, Braddon and Watson.

Next Step is offered to individuals of all ages including children and young people right through to the elderly. As part of the child service, CatholicCare provides targeted group and individual psychological therapy options for children and their families. The program includes opportunities for families in the ACT to access the Cool Kids and Cool Little Kids group programs for children experiencing anxiety. In 2018-2019, Next Step facilitated 2 Cool Kids and 2 Cool Little Kids groups to 25 families in the ACT.

More broadly, the program has supported a total of 574 individuals in 2018-2019 including– 304 adults, 144 young people, 131 children. 98% of these participants positively endorse the program with 94% reporting that they have/are learning new strategies and skills that can assist them on an ongoing basis.

Additional satisfaction data:

• 98% were satisfied that their cultural needs were met

• 98% were satisfied with the therapist/coach that worked with them

• 84% were satisfied with the amount of time they had to wait for their first appointment.

These services are supported by funding from the ACT PHN though the Australian Government’s PHN Program


JASMINE’S* STORY

Jasmine, a 9-year-old girl, was experiencing symptoms of anxiety. Her parents self-referred to the Cool Kids group, which is part of the Next Step children’s program. Jasmine was a year 4 student attending mainstream school at a local primary school. She lives at home with her mother, father and 12-year-old brother. Jasmine and her mother felt that her anxiety had started in early 2018, but could not identify any triggers or life changes that occurred around this time.

Jasmine identified she has worries across a wide range of areas including fires, natural disasters, people breaking in and murderers. Anxiety triggers for Jasmine included seeing warnings signs, emergency vehicles with flashing lights, hearing alarms or sirens, or hearing sounds outside her room at night. Jasmine disclosed that her anxiety symptoms were worse at school and at night when in bed. She experienced nightmares weekly with themes of separation (her parents getting hurt or dying or being kidnapped or murdered).

Jasmine and her mother reported the current impact of Jasmine’s anxiety resulting in reduced sleep for Jasmine and stress on the household whenever an alarm went off. Jasmine was also reluctant to engage in activities such as swimming and rock climbing, where there are warning signs visible. Jasmine would try to control her anxiety by avoiding such situations and environments.

The Cool Kids group is a Cognitive Behavioural Therapy program led by Next Step clinicians and included 10 weekly sessions of Cognitive Behaviour Therapy in a group setting with parents and their children. Each session included workbook activities, group discussions, skills practice and set practice tasks to be completed at home. Jasmine attended all 10 sessions. Initial sessions involved normalising anxiety, psychoeducation for both parents and children, realistic thinking strategies, establishing reward systems and creating stepladders, which are exposure hierarchies that allow a child to confront and overcome anxiety in a step-by-step way. Her parents actively engaged in reducing reassurance, using detective thinking and working through agreed steps on the stepladder.

At the conclusion of the group, Jasmine had reduced her total score on the Spence Children’s Anxiety Scale and was now in the average range for females her age. Both Jasmine and her parents reported significant reduction in symptoms of anxiety and had plans to continue to apply learnt Cool Kids skills to areas of anxiety still present, enabling them to manage any symptoms independently in the future.


“It gave my daughter and I a shared language

that has helped communication and

outcomes. It has given my daughter greater self-confidence and

knowledge that she can change her thinking and in turn, how she feels.”

“Thank you – great program

that has had very quick and lasting

benefits.”


STUDENT AND FAMILY

COUNSELLING PROGRAM CatholicCare’s Student and Family Counselling program provides school counselling in 60 Catholic and Independent schools throughout Canberra and Regional NSW. Students and their families in participating schools can access a Student and Family Counsellor within their school environment for support. Our service delivery enables children, young people and their families to access mental health care and support at no cost within a safe, familiar environment. To enhance accessibility, we work collaboratively with Catholic Education to overcome financial and geographical barriers for regional families accessing professional mental health services by providing this service within schools.

With a highly qualified and experienced team of over 30 social workers and psychologists, the program is client-centred, family focused and uses a variety of evidence-based therapeutic theories and interventions to support students across diverse issues. Families face many challenges in today’s complex world and early intervention is critical to help build and strengthen relationships, provide recovery oriented mental health interventions and promote resilience. Some of the complex challenges children and young people face include anxiety, depression, parent separation, peer conflict, stress, bullying and grief and loss. Our service works to support clients through these experiences, building emotional literacy, implementing strategies to help manage and recover from mental health and develop relationships to enhance wellbeing.

As integral members of the school community, counsellors provide a range of therapeutic interventions additional to individual counselling including group therapy, educational sessions for parents and carers and advice for schools to improve classroom support for students to improve engagement and learning. We provide professional development for teachers on issues that affect children’s learning and development, their engagement and social wellbeing. Understanding children as a whole being informs how we work collaboratively with schools to inform approaches that build a therapeutic school environment in which all children can thrive.

ALLY’S* STORY Ally, in Year 12 at high school

referred herself to counselling. She said she felt emotionally very low,

her family relationships were breaking down and she was now living with her

aunt, trying to remain at school to complete her final year of study. Ally had aspirations

of going to university but was struggling with suicidal thoughts, self-harm and remaining in

school. The Student and Family Counsellor worked with Ally to build immediate physical and emotional

safety. Ally learnt about how her brain operates under stressful conditions and how this negatively impacted on her mental health, increasing her anxiety and self-harm. This perspective helped Ally to understand how different therapeutic strategies helped to relieve intense emotions

and regain control over her mental health by using positive coping plans to better manage the ups and downs. Together

they explored the different struggles Ally was facing, how she was grieving for her family due to the conflict and

consequent breakdown of family relationships. Ally identified her aunt and two school teachers as trusted adults she could regularly rely on. The Student and Family Counsellor worked

with Ally to preserve and strengthen these relationships. This helped Ally feel supported and understood. These

trusted adults turned to Ally with compassion and respect and were guided by her and her needs, leading Ally to

remain in school to complete her Year 12. Ally was able to realise her dream of university. While Ally was launched into independence at an early age, with the help of the Student and Family Counsellor, Ally built trust in and strengthened

her relationships with key identified adults in her life, she developed a toolkit of strategies to better manage her mental

health and skills in enhancing her own resilience to help her during times of adversity.


We are also there in times of crisis, providing a critical incident response to schools whereby counsellors offer support to students, staff and the wider community in times of significant difficulty, loss or trauma.

The Student and Family Counselling program has proven to be a highly effective and widely accessed service with over 4000 children and young people seeking support from our service in 2018-19. Additional to this we have run therapeutic groups such as Cool Kids, body image and social skills groups and trauma informed training for teachers.


BETTER ACCESS COUNSELLING PROGRAM

The Better Access Counselling program offers focused psychological counselling services to individuals in our community. The program is bulk-billed and aimed at individuals whose financial circumstances would otherwise limit them from accessing psychological interventions.

Our team of highly experienced psychologists and mental health accredited social workers assist clients with a range of mental health issues including diagnosed mental illnesses; chronic health conditions; anxiety and stress; depression; grief and loss; alcohol and other drug use and sleep issues. The Better Access program operates in the ACT at our Braddon, Watson and Red Hill Offices and in NSW from our Moruya and Goulburn offices. In 2018-19 Better Access supported approximately 180 people with over 925 counselling sessions.

EMPLOYEE ASSISTANCE PROGRAM

CatholicCare’s Employee Assistance Program (EAP) caters to local community agencies providing a confidential counselling service funded by their employer for their employees and their families. EAP can assist with short term counselling intervention in the prevention and resolution of problems that may relate to job performance including personal, family and work issues. EAP clinicians include professionally qualified psychologists, social workers and counsellors who recognise the connection between physical and emotional well-being. CatholicCare’s EAP provides office based counselling, phone sessions, and at times can provide onsite counselling to assist with critical incidents. In 2018-19 CatholicCare provided 263 EAP sessions to 144 clients and over 90% of the clients reported that service and strategies were helpful and of great benefit.

PRE AND POST RELEASE COUNSELLING

In partnership with the ACT Corrective Services Throughcare Unit, CatholicCare provides pre and post release counselling to detainees of the Alexander Maconochie Centre (AMC). Counsellors specialise in supporting the individual to deal with unresolved issues such as trauma, cognitive changes, grief and loss, alcohol and other drug use, withdrawn behaviour, post-traumatic stress, self-esteem, family and relationships. The program aims to increase the individual’s ability and skills to integrate back into their community post release and reduce the likelihood of re-offending. In 2018-19, 6 individuals were supported by the service.

“Thank goodness for the EAP counselling. I was so

stressed at work. However, the strategies and ideas that

the counsellor discussed really worked. I feel that I’m

in control again.”


Family and Relationship Services ProgramsFAMILY AND RELATIONSHIP COUNSELLING

SERVICE (INCLUDING FAMILY LAW COUNSELLING)

CatholicCare’s Family and Relationship Counselling Service offers therapeutic counselling to individuals, couples and families in need of support to deal with a range of issues. This may include building relationships; conflict resolution; improving communication; coping with change; step parenting and parenting after separation. We offer a suite of programs including Family Relationship Counselling, Couples Counselling, Relationship Education, Parenting Groups, and Family and Adolescent Counselling Service (FACES).

Our programs are staffed by a team of counsellors and facilitators with backgrounds in social work, psychology, counselling, training and education. Individuals, couples and families are supported to explore options for change, develop solutions to manage relationship issues and difficulties, implement changes to improve relationships, help parents provide ongoing support for their children, and support individuals, couples and families if they decide to separate or divorce.

Family and Relationship Counselling is available in the ACT from our offices located in Braddon, Watson, Red Hill and in NSW from Moruya, Bega, Goulburn and Queanbeyan offices. In 2018-19 over 1,450 appointments were provided across the Family and Relationships Services Programs to over 761 clients.

Family Law Counselling is available to intact or separated families, extended families and carers. The objectives of Family Law Counselling are to help couples and families to manage relationship issues arising from relationship changes, separation and divorce. This is through counselling, therapeutic intervention, support, information and referral. When providing support to families experiencing relationship breakdown, the counselling objective focuses on the needs of children. In 2018-19, the Family Law Service provided support to 150 families.


FAMILY AND ADOLESCENT

COUNSELLING SERVICE

Family and Adolescent Counselling Services (FACES) is a counselling service for teenagers and young people between the ages of 10 and 21 years of age, their parents, family members and carers. FACES Counsellors are skilled in individual and family therapy and have a vast knowledge on issues that impact families including pre and post separation, step-families and blended families. The FACES program provides families with the opportunity to enhance their communication skills, learn new parenting and conflict resolution skills, work through individual problems which may impact the family, redefine roles in a changing family dynamic and develop better relationships.

Funded by Australian Government Department of Social Services

“Counselling is helpful … I think about the

ideas that my counsellor suggests … it makes me

think about things.”

“My counsellor is great because

she’s not judgmental … I can trust her.”


PARENTING GROUPS

In 2018-19 CatholicCare facilitated a number of different evidence informed parenting groups. The aim of our parenting groups is to provide parents with the opportunity to share their skills, experiences, and tips for managing challenging situations and to recognise individual’s strengths and uniqueness within the family unit. Our group facilitators provide parents with psychology based education to enable the strengthening of parenting skills, foster strong child-parent attachment and promote family harmony.

To assist with access, CatholicCare delivered the Bringing up Great Kids program in two different Catholic primary schools. As well as finding the program beneficial, parents appreciated the program being facilitated in their local community.

CatholicCare continues to deliver the Resourceful Adolescent Program (RAP-P) for parents of children over ten years of age. It continues to be a popular program assisting parents to understand their pre and teenage children.

For the past four years, CatholicCare has been working collaboratively with Karralika, providing the RAP-P parenting course to those residing in their Families Program. Across this course, the average attendance is over 45 people per course.

This year CatholicCare initiated a collaboration with the Canberra Recovery Service (CRS), by facilitating the RAP-P parenting course to their participants across a four-week program. The average attendance was over 13 people per week.

Since May 2019, CatholicCare has been working in partnership with Annie’s House in the Karabar community. The new program, “Chitter ‘n Chatter @ Annie’s” aims to help parents to bond with their young children by utilising songs, rhymes and stories to build parent/child early attachment. We had a total of 6 families engaged in Chitter ‘n Chatter where both the parents and their young children were able to build connections while having fun.

Funded by Australian Government Department of Social Services

“My 2-year-old son looks forward to ‘Chitter ‘n Chatter’ because of the singing and dancing. I look forward to getting out

of the house and meeting other parents with young children.”

RELATIONSHIP EDUCATION

CatholicCare is a leading provider of Relationship Education in the ACT. Our Relationship Educators utilise the Facilitating Open Couple Communication Understanding and Study (FOCCUS) inventory to assist couples considering or preparing for marriage. The inventory provides a stimulus for an open and honest conversation and exploration of key issues that may emerge in a relationship. The partnership with the Archdiocese of Canberra and Goulburn has continued, with additional information being provided to couples during their first contact with the service. In 2018-19, 70 couples participated in the Relationship Education program.

Partially funded by Australian Government Department of Social Services


Housing, Property and Facilities Management Housing, Property and Facilities Management is the hub of property related services within CatholicCare. This area oversees and manages all CatholicCare buildings, regional offices, retirement villages, a large number of residential properties and the CatholicCare fleet. This includes taking care of all property related services and activities including compliance with relevant legislation, regulatory body, maintenance, lease management , tenancy support and property inspections.

PROPERTY AND TENANCY MANAGEMENT

CatholicCare Canberra & Goulburn has been providing housing options to the Canberra community for over 20 years. CatholicCare provides a range of independent and supported housing options for our senior citizens, people with a disability or mental illness, and people experiencing homelessness. CatholicCare Canberra & Goulburn Housing is a registered community housing provider with the National Regulatory System Community Housing.

GARDENING AND HOME MAINTENANCE SERVICES

In 2018 -2019 the CatholicCare Gardening and Home Maintenance Services has continued to support numerous

people in the community. The services are provided to NDIS participants, through

the Commonwealth Home Support Program as well as through

Home Care Packages. These services enable people to

remain living independently in the community with assistance from our staff undertaking small to medium garden and home maintenance jobs. This year the program

delivered 1040 hours of gardening supporting

over 90 people while over 40 people with NDIS packages

were also supported through this service.

CATHOLICCARE RETIREMENT VILLAGES

Retirement village living provides a new beginning that replaces much of the day-to-day stress of home ownership and maintenance. This means you’ll have more time to do the things you love with the opportunity for a more relaxed, comfortable and healthy lifestyle in a genuine community environment. You can have people come and stay, come and go as you please, and even go away on holidays knowing your community is there to look out for your home. If you need assistance in the future, we can also support that transition to make it as easy as possible.

Aloysius Morgan Villas

These villas are located in Campbell and are highly sought after. There are 18 Villas in total with both a mix of two and three bedrooms.

St Vincent’s Villas

At St Vincent’s Villas there are a total of 15 villas. Villas are available in both two and three bedrooms. A beautiful environment, surroundings and caring community make this village a wonderful home to many.


Corporate and Staff Services HUMAN RESOURCES

The HR department has seen continual progress in the areas of training and development and Work Health and Safety in 2018-2019.

We rolled out a number of new online learning modules across the agency, organised Cultural Awareness training for staff in-house and continued to support and encourage staff to undertake further study to enhance their development and skills.

In the area of Work Health and Safety, we have rolled out a mobile application to our support workers to enable them to log incident reports via their mobile phone. This has proven successful and will continue to be rolled out across the agency over the next 6-12 months.

Staff Health and Wellbeing continues to be a priority within the agency with a number of initiatives being undertaken including flu shots for all staff, the continued promotion of Nicotine Replacement Therapy for staff wanting to stop smoking and a step challenge during Work Health and Safety month which encouraged some friendly competition.

Overall it has been a successful year in the HR department and we are looking forward to continual progress and creating further efficiencies in the next 12 months.

STAFF PROFILE FOR 2018-2019

234 FEMALE | 85 MALE

319

245

68

177

73

All

Permanent

Full Time

Part Time

Casual

Contract 1

“I previously worked for a not-for-profit community organisation. Over the course of my time there, they slowly wound back almost all benefits/incentives. It is so encouraging to see CatholicCare offering so many incentives and generous benefits. It makes such a difference to the culture of an organisation.”

–Staff survey 2019


Quality Improvement In August 2017 CatholicCare received reaccreditation under the Quality Improvement Council (QIC) Health and Community Service Standards 6th edition.

This included the following:

• Quality Improvement Council Health and Community Services Standards (QIC Standards)

• National Standards for Mental Health Services 2010 (NSMHS)

• National Standards for Disability Services.

We met every standard of the QIC standards and the auditors awarded us an ‘EXCEEDED’ rating for Community and Capacity Building.

In addition CatholicCare maintains Third Party Verification for the provision of NDIS services in NSW and was verified by Quality Innovation Performance (QIP) in accordance with the requirements of the NSW Disability Services Standards.

Together, these standards meet the quality and safety requirements of all funders, including the National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA).

The organisation operates against a Quality Improvement Plan as part of our continuous improvement framework, and monitors performance by holding quarterly reviews with the senior management team to ensure that all activities will be completed within the agreed timeframe.

CatholicCare’s strong organisational systems demonstrate not only a commitment to continuous improvement and quality service provision, but also provide the practice support required to ensure that service provision is of a high standard and KPI’s are consistently met.

INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

AND COMMUNICATIONS

The CatholicCare IT network provides online access to 280 staff through 340 devices.

Throughout the year IT support staff worked in collaboration with technicians from IT provider “Top Tier” to support the online system and equipment with emphasis on:

• Maximising protection from virus’s, unauthorised access and data breach

• Ensuring adequate measures are in place to guarantee business continuity

• Rolling out upgrades to software and devices as required

• Supporting business efficiency through innovation and staff training

• Enhancing accessibility for staff and clients

• Monitoring system performance to achieve optimal response times and minimal disruption to services.

In addition, support was provided for the relocation of around 80 staff to new accommodation in the ACT and internet connections were upgraded (100 GB Fibre to the node) at all sites.


Mission Engagement“The mission of the Christian in the world is a mission for all, a mission of service, which excludes no-one.” –Pope Francis Angelus, July 3, 2016

The above words of Pope Francis reflect our own motto of ‘There for any human’. As a social services organisation under the umbrella of the Catholic Church, this is our Mission. My role as Mission Officer this year has been to discuss these principles with staff to build a deeper understanding of who we are and why we serve.

We have had several sessions across portfolios discussing the principles of Catholic Social Teaching, particularly the principles of Human Dignity and the Preferential Option for the Poor. In these I ask - How do these principles translate into our daily client centred practice? What is working and what can be improved? This has provided some spirited and lively discussion and is a work in progress as aspiring to excellence requires constant review.

Mission has also been involved in expanding our contact with Parishes with the highlight being attendance at the parish secretaries training day and meeting wonderful people that keep the Archdiocese ‘ticking along’. It gave us a chance to showcase our programs that may be of service to our parish communities. Orientation of new staff and our volunteer program continue to come under the Mission banner. This ensures that all those joining the agency have a wide understanding of the Mission, Vision and Values of CatholicCare.

Where to from here? For the next 12 months we will again focus on gaining a better understanding of our values and purpose. This will commence with Stewardship and the use of our gifts. The urgent need to ensure a sustainable future for the world around us means that we as an organisation have to be responsible stewards, and that this is enmeshed in our themes of respect, dignity and social justice.

In the words of Pope Francis “We are faced not with two separate crises, one environmental and the other social, but rather with one complex crisis which is both social and environmental. Strategies for a solution demand an integrated approach to combating poverty, restoring dignity to the excluded, and at the same time protecting nature.” (#139 Laudato Si.).

Another exciting year ahead.

Toni La Brooy CatholicCare Canberra & Goulburn’s Mission

Engagement Officer


Reconciliation Action Plan Working GroupThe CatholicCare Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP) Working Group works to our services and workplace are culturally safe and competent for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.

This work is part of our Strategic Plan, recognising the importance of developing relationships, respect and opportunities with both the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in our community.

The RAP Working Group enjoyed a productive 2018-19 progressing many activities and initiatives. Our RAP focuses on creating new opportunities for CatholicCare to engage with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander businesses, individuals and communities.

In the past 12 months, the working group has focussed on:

• Increasing employment opportunities for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders by reviewing our current recruitment practices

• Developing policies and procedures to better support Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people accessing our services.

Other activities over the past twelve months have included:

• Purchasing new artwork by a Canberra-based artist to display in our offices and client waiting areas

• Purchasing acknowledgement plaques from the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Catholic Council to display at all our office sites

• Participation in the Annual Sorry Day Bridge walk in support of those affected by the stolen generations

• Hosted a screening of Top End Wedding for CatholicCare staff, friends, and families to celebrate National Reconciliation Week.

With our current RAP concluding at the end of the year, the Working Group is working towards our next RAP reiteration and the continuation of our reconciliation journey into the future.

Artist: Sarah Richards - Marrawuy Journeys


Financial ReportTHE OFFICE OF THE CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER

The office of the Chief Financial Officer ensures strong financial governance for the organisation. We provide timely, effective and efficient support to our stakeholders and continuously improve our functions and processes to achieve our strategic goals.

Data integrity and system integration are two of the key focuses in the office of the Chief Financial Officer as part of our financial governance. In addition, we have skilled staff with good knowledge management systems to achieve our defined key performance indicators.

The Office of the Chief Financial Officer provides timely information to the management team, clients and external stakeholders. We value feedback from both internal and external stakeholders for continuous improvement. In addition, we provide good business insight and support to the leadership team.

FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT

The financial outcome for CatholicCare Canberra & Goulburn for the 2018-19 financial year resulted an expected surplus.

As a community service organisation, employee expenses were significant in our total expenditure as expected reflecting the nature of industry we are in. In addition, we continue to invest in our IT platform and a skilled workforce to provide quality services to our clients.

ACT Government Commonwealth

Fee Charged Other income

65%

17%

16%

2%

2015 2016 2017 2018 20190

5

10

15

20

25

Mill

ion

$

Financial year Revenue Expenditure

Income for Year ended 30 June 2019

Revenue and Expenditure Trend for Year ended 30 June 2019


3

INDEPENDENT AUDITOR’S REPORT

TO THE TRUSTEES OF

CATHOLICCARE ARCHDIOCESE OF CANBERRA AND GOULBURN Opinion

We have audited the financial report of CatholicCare Archdiocese of Canberra and Goulburn, which comprises the balance sheet as at 30 June 2019, the statement of comprehensive income, the statement of changes in equity and the statement of cash flows for the year then ended, and notes to the financial statements, including a summary of significant accounting policies, and the statement by the Chief Executive Officer.

In our opinion, the financial report of CatholicCare Archdiocese of Canberra and Goulburn has been prepared in accordance with Division 60 of the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission Act 2012, including: (a) giving a true and fair view of the registered entity’s financial position as at 30 June 2019 and of its financial

performance and cash flows for the year ended on that date; and (b) complying with Australian Accounting Standards and Division 60 of the Australian Charities and Not-for-

profits Commission Regulation 2013.

Basis for Opinion We conducted our audit in accordance with Australian Auditing Standards. Our responsibilities under those standards are further described in the Auditor's Responsibilities for the Audit of the Financial Report section of our report. We are independent of the CatholicCare Archdiocese of Canberra and Goulburn in accordance with the ethical requirements of the Accounting Professional and Ethical Standards Board's APES 110 Code of Ethics for Professional Accountants (the Code) that are relevant to our audit of the financial report in Australia. We have also fulfilled our other ethical responsibilities in accordance with the Code. We believe that the audit evidence we have obtained is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for our opinion. Other Information Those charged with governance are responsible for the other information. The other information comprises the information included in CatholicCare Archdiocese of Canberra and Goulburn‘s annual report for the year ended 30 June 2019, but does not include the financial report and the auditor's report thereon. Our opinion on the financial report does not cover the other information and accordingly we do not express any form of assurance conclusion thereon.

AUDIT REPORT


4

In connection with our audit of the financial report, our responsibility is to read the other information and, in doing so, consider whether the other information is materially inconsistent with the financial report or our knowledge obtained in the audit or otherwise appears to be materially misstated. If, based on the work we have performed, we conclude that there is a material misstatement of this other information, we are required to report that fact. We have nothing to report in this regard. Responsibilities of Management and Those Charged with Governance for the Financial Report Management is responsible for the preparation and fair presentation of the financial report in accordance with Australian Accounting Standards and the Australian Charities and Not-for-profit Commission Act 2012, and for such internal control as management determines is necessary to enable the preparation of the financial report that is free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error. In preparing the financial report, management is responsible for assessing CatholicCare Archdiocese of Canberra and Goulburn’s ability to continue as a going concern, disclosing, as applicable, matters related to going concern and using the going concern basis of accounting unless management either intends to liquidate CatholicCare Archdiocese of Canberra and Goulburn or to cease operations, or has no realistic alternative but to do so. Those charged with governance are responsible for overseeing the Entity's financial reporting process. Auditor's Responsibilities for the Audit of the Financial Report Our objectives are to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial report as a whole is free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error, and to issue an auditor's report that includes our opinion. Reasonable assurance is a high level of assurance, but is not a guarantee that an audit conducted in accordance with the Australian Auditing Standards will always detect a material misstatement when it exists. Misstatements can arise from fraud or error and are considered material if, individually or in the aggregate, they could reasonably be expected to influence the economic decisions of users taken on the basis of this financial report. A further description of our responsibilities for the audit of the financial report is located at the Auditing and Assurance Standards Board website at:: http://www.auasb.gov.au/auditors_responsibilities/ar4.pdf. This description forms part of our auditor's report.

RSM Australia Pty Ltd

Canberra, Australian Capital Territory Dated: 24 September 2019

Rodney Miller Director


HEAD OFFICE

51 Cooyong Street BRADDON ACT 2612

PO Box 3167 MANUKA ACT 2603

P 6295 4300 | F 6239 7171 [email protected]

catholiccare.cg.org.au

Documents

ANNUAL REPORT - CatholicCare€¦ · Youth, Mental Health, Homelessness and Family Support Services 24 Reaching Out Program 24 ... report against the achievements of the organisation