Good Beginnings is developing service strategies based on known best practices that assist in building collaborative community partnerships to ensure children and their parents have access to a range of services in their local community and ideally in the same locations, to enable valuable resources to be shared and to increase the capacity of the partnerships to attract corporate funds. Good Beginnings has established a strong framework based on principles which allow services to be developed following priorities identified by the local community. The framework also provides best practice examples of prevention and early intervention services to give all children a good beginning. Good Beginnings home visiting program has continued to receive and increase in the number of referrals that require intense professional support due to the complex nature of the issues the families are experiencing. Examples of such cases are often found in referrals form 'child protection', community health or hospital social workers, corrective services and even child health.
Professional support is commonly available for families with complex needs in the very short term.
It is a reality that few services, if any, are equipped with the resources to provide such families with the support they require over an extended period of time. Providing a professional worker and trained volunteer, visiting in tandem, Good Beginnings sites in Victoria, South Australia and Hobart are experiencing significant outcomes in working with families with complex issues. The strategies that in our experience, are critical to program sustainability Time 20 minutes Good Beginnings believes in developing relationships at all levels in a community from the government and community agencies through to the families who join the program. The breaking down of 'silos' and valuing each other's contribution to children, families and communities is essential if we are to sustain community based programs. The development and implementation of an accurate and robust information system that comprehensively meets the information needs of Good Beginnings can only be achieved through a process of thorough system requirements identification and specification.