Seventy-two SA families who were at-risk of contact with child protection authorities have been supported to create safe environments and stay together – resulting in a $211,000 results-based payment for the innovative program that helped them.

Run by The Benevolent Society, with backing from state and commonwealth governments, the Resilient Families program focuses on creating positive home environments and preventing children entering out-of-home care in Adelaide’s south and Murray Bridge regions.

The program is funded as a social impact investment, which means the provider is paid based on results achieved, rather than the amount of services delivered. These results are calculated at set points during the program, with the first group of families having now reached this milestone.

How the program supports families in need

Resilient Families practitioners work closely with parents to understand what’s needed to improve their children's wellbeing and connect them to practical support to help reduce their challenges and stay together.

Many of these parents have experienced trauma in their lifetime, so the aim is to build greater safety, resilience and stability in their family environment. This includes help for mental health conditions, substance use or violent behaviours, assistance with housing or disability assessment, and financial support to purchase basic needs, house cleaning or participating in activities as a family.

Program success can result in positive flow-on effects for participating families, including greater participation in education and employment, plus improved mental and physical health.

Intervening early helps families stay together

Early intervention with struggling families is critical in addressing their long-term challenges, which helps keep more families together at home in community and culture.

Families will continue to be referred to Resilient Families until the end of 2025, with a total of 300 places available across the four-and-a-half-year referral period.

Resilient Families is based on a similar successful program from New South Wales, commencing in SA’s south in 2021, and expanding to Murray Bridge in 2022. Families are referred to it via the Department for Child Protection (DCP).

The program is a joint project between the Department of Human Services and the Australian Government.