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The safety and the wellbeing of children and young people are at the centre of everything we do. Through our work, we know first hand that a child’s wellbeing is deeply connected to family and culture.
CASPA provides a range of quality and innovative services and programs for young people under our care, and to other professional organisations operating in our community.
Our Care Services
Therapeutic Residential Care for children and young people
CASPA is recognised as a leader in the area of specialist therapeutic residential care for children and young people who cannot live at their family home for their own safety and wellbeing.
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Our residential care program is an outcomes-focussed program, designed to assist children and young people achieve stability and develop the skills to enable them to progress toward positive social, economic and health outcomes.
We understand that children who come into Residential Care have been affected by trauma and as a result, they have complex behavioural, emotional, social, physical and educational needs.
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Integrated into our operations is a complex care therapeutic framework. This means that our direct-care staff are provided with a range of on-call specialist clinical support, including psychologists, counsellors, education specialists and medical specialists.
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A comprehensive assessment of a child’s needs helps shape individualised care plans, which are then reviewed and updated regularly.
Our residential care initiatives embrace a range of mental health programs, including art therapy and guided group activities, as well as skill development programs. We also provide Supervised Family Contact and Family Restoration plans.
The Charter of Rights for Children is enshrined in New South Wales legislation (Care & Protection Act 1998) and our care teams and programs play a vital role in promoting the rights of the children in our care.
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CASPA prides itself on providing high-quality emergency respite and youth work support and we operate a 24-hour emergency call-out service.
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CASPA staff are provided with extensive training in Trauma and Attachment Theory, Therapeutic Crisis Intervention, Suicide/Self-harm Prevention and Intervention, Cultural Awareness and other childhood development training needed to provide quality care and support.
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We have a number of homes in our region that can be utilised for the purpose of emergency respite for young people.
Emergency Respite Care
FOR URGENT HELP OUTSIDE BUSINESS HOURS, OR TO SPEAK TO OUR AFTER HOURS SUPPORT TEAM PLEASE CONTACT:
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LISMORE
After Hours Support
Family Services
Our programs and
services for families
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We operate a range of services and programs that are focused on enabling families to overcome barriers such as disadvantage, homelessness, domestic violence, lifestyle and cultural challenges and achieve a stable and nurturing environment.
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Family Preservation services we provide intensive in-home support to families experiencing circumstances that affect their ability to parent or where child protection concerns exist. The intensive case management is voluntary for the family and can last up to two years. Our focus is to prevent family breakdown, build resilience and increase parenting capacity.
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Family Finding every child has an extended family and we believe that every effort should be made to try and locate them. A meaningful connection to family helps a child develop a sense of belonging, and can help reduce loneliness, experienced by most children in out of home care.
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Supervised family contact involves supervised visitations that help maintain family bonds while meeting the requirements of orders made by the Family or Children's Court. Our qualified facilitators make practical arrangements with families and children to meet in our specifically equipped family contact rooms. A detailed visit report is provided by the facilitator, which can be used in court and other legal proceedings.
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Mentoring we provide youth worker support to young people who are at risk and have come to the attention of Community Services.
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Traumatic experiences in childhood can have a direct neurobiological impact on a young developing brain, particularly emotional regulation. The nature of the impact is different from the trauma experienced by a healthy adult brain.
For this reason, therapeutic care is delivered only by way of trauma-informed responses to children and families.
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Our Therapeutic Services
Our approach to therapeutic care for children and young people
Children who have endured ‘complex’ trauma which is ongoing and interpersonal, such as physical and emotional abuse, sexual abuse, and/or neglect, can often suffer long-lasting effects that are expressed in many facets of their lives.
As they grow older, these children have difficulty identifying and managing their emotions and behaviours. They can experience persistent anger, anxiety or depression and other behavioural and mental health challenges.
Our therapeutic care is achieved through positive, safe, healing relationships and experiences, informed by a sound understanding of childhood trauma, disrupted attachment and individual developmental needs.
The first step for our therapeutic caregivers is to support children and young people to feel safe. From there CASPA provides creative therapeutic interactions, involving opportunities to express, reflect, reframe and integrate experiences of trauma and disrupted attachment. The process involves focusing on skills such as distress tolerance, emotional regulation, capacity to trust and integration within the community.
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Our Therapeutic Framework
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Our Therapeutic Framework includes a range of evidence-based approaches to best meet the varied, complex and ever-changing needs of individual children and young people, who are included in decisions about their placement, care, interventions, education and wellbeing.
Our caregivers, supported by a team of on-call clinical professionals, form a key role in young people’s lives, allowing therapeutic strategies to be applied on a moment-to-moment basis and throughout daily interactions and challenges.
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When we offer safe, reliable and responsive relationships to children with complex needs, we provide them with vital opportunities to build skills and to develop a positive sense of self.
Our Therapeutic Group Programs
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CASPA runs a range of group therapy programs for the children and young people in our care and has experienced consistently positive outcomes for participants.
Our staff trained in facilitating these programs can provide a fee-for-service tailored program to meet the requirements of your organisation.
For more information please call
or email
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We offer organisations and government agencies a range of OOHC and Foster Care related services including:
• Out of Home Care Accreditation and Compliance Support Services
• Intensive case management
• Reportable conduct investigations
Please contact our Lismore office on 02 6627 3700 for further information and assistance.
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