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Cafs is a secular, community, not-for-profit incorporated association that operates in the Ballarat, Hepburn, Moorabool, Ararat, Golden Plains and Pyrenees local government areas of Victoria.
They believe our community needs people to listen and lead. They seek to address root causes and transform lives, and will be bold in influencing and leading in their sector and the community to achieve that change.
Cafs has a long history supporting families that dates back to 1865 with the Ballarat District Orphanage and Ballarat Children’s Home. Although its programs and services have changed and expanded significantly since those early days, they are just as committed and passionate to helping children and families in need 153 years later.
With more than 250 staff and 260 volunteers, Cafs provides help and support to more than 6800 individuals and families each year across the Victorian Central Highlands and Grampians regions. A large number of volunteers also assist the professional staff to achieve their goals.
This advertising feature is sponsored by Cafs. Click here to find out more.
Cafs delivers a range of programs and services to support children, young people, families and individuals. These include out-of-home care for children and young people; family services; family violence services; services for homeless people; programs for men; financial counselling; problem-gambling services; and community development programs.
The organisation is supported by funding from multiple sources, which include philanthropic donations, grants, and funding from the Commonwealth and Victorian governments. It is governed by a board drawn from the communities it serves.
People are at the heart of what Cafs do and how they do it, and they demonstrate this by putting people at the centre of their focus, activity and resources. The people Cafs support, its supporters, funders, staff, volunteers and the community deserve Cafs to be the very best and most professional they can be. They will always measure their success against those high standards and seek to be the very best in what they do.
A heartening story and one of collective impact from Cafs
A Cas family violence worker first worked with a client in its Men, Families and Relationships program in 2006, but the client was not ready to face his behaviours and make change and quickly disengaged. In 2017 the client was referred to the Men’s Behaviour Change program and at 41, with some pain and heartache under his belt, he was ready to knuckle down and start making changes.
The client had a 17-year-old son who had been in foster care and he hadn’t seen for a number of years. In early 2018 the client's son left the care situation he was in and went into emergency foster care with Berry Street. He called his father and after numerous conversations they began to rekindle their relationship. The client reported that his son said he could hear and feel the changes his dad was making in the program and now felt safe to meet him. The son requested through his Berry Street case manager to have an access visit with his dad. The DHHS agreed to a ‘supervised access visit’ and the son and dad both requested this be at Cafs rather than the State Government building (the head office of the DHHS), as Cafs was a place they both felt comfortable and safe. The worker and the program coordinator worked with the Berry Street case manager to make the access visit happen, a chance for client-focused collaborative practice to be put into action.
The father and son had not seen each other for 18 months, so the meeting was both joyous and emotional. During his time in the program, the dad told the worker a story where he took his son 4WDing a couple of years prior. They stopped out in the middle of the bush sitting on a log and the dad asked, “Are you hungry mate?” He then pulled out a pavlova and they sat in the middle of the bush eating it and having a joke about it. The dad told the worker his son probably wouldn’t remember that silly story, but that it was a special moment for him with his son, one he’d never forget. When the son came into the access visit holding a plastic bag, he said, “Do you remember that day in the bush, Dad? I wanted this to be the first thing we shared together” and pulled out of the bag a pavlova.” The dad teared up and the worker teared up, as he watched them sitting together eating pavlova, laughing.
Recounting this story was one of the most memorable, moving moments this Cafs worker has experienced in this work.