Community Visitor Professional Development Forums

The role of the Commission Community Visitors (CVs) is critical to the oversight and advocacy work of the Commission. Ensuring that CVs have the opportunity to strengthen their existing skills and build new ones is critical to their work in promoting the safety and wellbeing of children in care.

The role of CVs is to regularly visit and report on the safety and wellbeing of children in out-of-home care. CVs are employed by the Commission, which is an independent statutory body that has a mandate to oversight the services provided by the Department of Communities to children and young people in foster care, residential care and in detention centres. They make sure that the concerns, views and wishes of children and young people are listened to and seriously considered. If there are any concerns raised by children, CVs will work to resolve these matters.

To ensure all CVs were able to participate in professional development activities, five Professional Development Forums were conducted by the Commission across the state throughout October and November. Approximately 170 CVs took part in the forums. The final forum was held in Ipswich on 2 November 2011.

Commissioner Elizabeth Fraser and Assistant Commissioner Barry Salmon attended forums in Brisbane, Maryborough, Rockhampton, Cairns and Ipswich to open each forum and engage with CVs and other local service providers. A key focus of these interactions has been to discuss those issues affecting children and young people in out-of-home care and to look at possible ways in which the advocacy work of the CVs can help to address these.

The one-day forums provided CVs with both professional development and networking opportunities and offered practical advice to assist them to undertake their roles to the highest standard. The forums were tailored to include topics specific to the region or the particular information sought by CVs.

The recent Ipswich forum focused on:

• Good Decisions Training
• Engaging with children with Aspergers and Autism Spectrum Disorders
• Disclosures of Harm – How to ask questions without damaging the evidence
• Are the Kids OK
• The Skill of Being a Good Monitor – More than just playing with kids.

While travelling the state, the Commissioner and Assistant Commissioner also met with local community organisations and key stakeholders providing specialist child support, cultural support and mental health services.

In Ipswich, Ms Fraser and Mr Salmon met with the Recognised Entity ‘Children of the Dreaming’ to discuss key issues for young people in this community.

During the trip to Cairns, Ms Fraser was able to visit Yarrabah, where she met with Yarrabah Aboriginal Shire Council Mayor, Percy Neal; Senior Sergeant DeVries, Officer-in-Charge, Yarrabah Police; and Simon Cotton, Yarrabah State School Principal. The Commissioner was impressed by the work being done by the school to support young parents and to encourage young people with their education.

Earlier this year, Yarrabah State School received media recognition stating that ‘They are proof that closing the gap is possible’ and that the school’s ‘astonishing achievements in student academic performance, attendance and parent engagement is attracting nationwide recognition’. For more details, click here.

Last Updated: November 23, 2011

Print this page