Co-morbidity between social-ecological risk factors

Key insight - to be effective, CFSS services need to be holistic and multi-disciplinary and assist families with a range of support needs.

33% of referrals received by the CFSS Pathways Service had concurrent concerns relating to:

• alcohol and drug use
• mental health
• active domestic and family violence.¹

Compared to the general SA population, children in families who received an IFS show markedly higher rates of contact with multiple government systems in the year prior to referral to the CFSS. These children were:

• Almost 6 times as likely as to have a parent with mental health-related emergency department presentation / hospitalisation(s) in the year prior.
• 5 times as likely to have a parent with a drug/alcohol-related emergency department presentation / hospitalisation in the year prior.
• Nearly 8 times as likely to have a parent who accessed specialist homelessness services in the year prior
• 6 times as likely to have a parent imprisoned in the year prior.²

Reference list

1. CFSS Data (2025), Analysed by EIRD, CFS, DHS, SA Government.
2. BetterStart Health and Development Research Group, University of Adelaide, DHS Intensive Family Service: Quasi-experimental evaluation (2025)