Child Protection - good outcomes and client engagement

Loddon Campaspe Community Legal Centre's Child Protection Legal Service team (Nickie King and Christie George) presented at the National Association of Community Legal Centres Conference in Canberra on 10 August 2017. Their presentation asked whether legal services can work smarter to better engage families and children involved with child protection services? How do we achieve this when lawyers usually only get involved at court when kids have been removed? Can we reach families earlier and keep them engaged for better legal outcomes? How do we ensure good outcomes are sustained? Building on the success of our Health-Justice Partnership, our Child Protection Legal Service pilot has grappled with these and other issues. This session outlines our experience, mistakes and successes.