TLDR Youtube Video

 Documenting Community Needs 

 Working with frontline staff and community members to describe what is working, what is needed and what responses may help. 

An agency may recognise that something is changing in a community, that people are not participating in existing activities or that a different response may be needed. Before deciding what to provide, it needs to listen to the people who experience that community directly.

I work with agencies to identify who they need to hear from and what they want to understand. I then work alongside frontline staff to engage participants and community members in activities that explore what is working, what is needed and what could be different.

The agency establishes the initial scope, but the community defines the problem. The agency’s question is treated as a starting point rather than a conclusion. Participants may confirm, complicate or change the original understanding of the issue. They bring knowledge of their culture, relationships, local resources, past experiences and the responses that would be meaningful to them.

For example, an agency might want to understand how African young people could be supported to participate in local community activities. The young people would be asked what participation means to them, what they already participate in, what supports or prevents their involvement and what they believe communities and organisations could do differently.

 Approaches 

Community Context Mural Workshop

A Community Context Mural Workshop uses drawing, painting, words and facilitated conversation to document how participants understand their community. Participants may represent the places, people, relationships and activities that are important to them, alongside unmet needs, barriers and possible solutions.

The meaning of the mural comes from the people who create it. Participants describe what they have included, consider the connections between different parts of the image and discuss what they would like to retain or change within their community. The process allows different experiences to be placed alongside one another without assuming that every participant sees the community in the same way.

Community Needs and Indicators Study

A Community Needs and Indicators Study uses surveys, interviews, forums or small-group consultation to document community experiences and priorities. Where relevant, community accounts may be considered alongside population information, service data, existing reports and social indicators. Indicators can help identify patterns, differences or questions requiring further exploration, but they do not determine what a community needs. Community members and frontline staff contribute to interpreting the information and considering what it means within their local context.

Both approaches document what participants identify as working, what they experience as needed and the responses they believe should be considered. The resulting account can inform co-design, service development, local planning, partnerships or a future funding application. My approach draws on social work, community development, creative practice and experience in regional service design. Work involving an Aboriginal community would be developed with the supported participation of an appropriate Aboriginal community member or organisation.

 Program Evaluation 

 Building evidence of the impact of programs and activities in our community. 

Social-service programs are expected to account for their funding, respond to community need and explain what their work has achieved. In small organisations, the knowledge needed to do this is often spread across funding agreements, service records, staff experience and what participants say about the service.

I work with organisations to bring these sources of knowledge together and examine the relationship between a program’s purpose, its day-to-day practice and the changes experienced by participants. The Australian Government defines evaluation as the systematic and objective assessment of the design, implementation or results of a program or activity for continuous improvement, accountability and decision-making (Department of Finance – Evaluation). Evaluation should therefore support learning and informed choices rather than begin with a predetermined requirement to prove that a program works.

My experience includes detailed evaluations of family-work and family-preservation programs and the development of program logics across Commonwealth and NSW-funded social services, health and ageing programs. I have developed evaluation frameworks and information-collection tools, consulted staff and participants, analysed service information, written and presented reports, and supported practitioners to measure changes arising from their work.

Community members, program participants and frontline practitioners understand aspects of a service that may not be visible in organisational records or funding reports. I involve relevant people in deciding what needs to be examined and in making sense of the information collected. This includes ensuring that young people have a meaningful voice when youth services are being developed or evaluated, and recognising the knowledge held by people through lived experience and cultural or community connection.

For programs affecting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, the Productivity Commission identifies centring Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, perspectives, priorities and knowledges as the overarching principle for evaluation (Productivity Commission – Indigenous Evaluation Strategy). The involvement of an appropriate community member, Aboriginal organisation or Aboriginal evaluator who agrees to collaborate with or auspice the work is required to undertake evaluation affecting an Aboriginal community.

 Approaches 

Program Development

I work with organisations to describe how a program is expected to create change and how that change can be observed. This may involve developing a program logic, examining assumptions, identifying intended outcomes and deciding what information can reasonably be collected. The process connects funding and reporting requirements with ordinary practice and supports staff to understand and use the information they collect.

Program Evaluation

I examine how an established program has been implemented, how it is experienced and what has occurred for participants. The evaluation may draw on service information, participant and staff consultation, before-and-after measures, case studies and other qualitative or quantitative evidence appropriate to the program. Findings are considered with the people who understand the service and used to inform decisions about its future.

This service is intended for small and medium organisations delivering local or regional social-service programs. I do not undertake complex financial modelling or large-scale evaluations involving extensive consultation samples. The organisation must provide access to relevant staff, participants, data and program information. Where specialist knowledge is required, the organisation will need to provide access to that expertise or agree to the involvement of an appropriate collaborator.

 Grant APPLICATION DEVELOPMENT 

 Developing evidence-informed grant applications for continuing and growing community services. 

Small community agencies often understand what is needed locally and have strong ideas for responding. A grant application creates an opportunity to bring that knowledge together into a project that can be clearly understood by a funder.

I work collaboratively with organisations that have identified a funding opportunity relevant to their social-service practice. This may include government, philanthropic or other grant programs supporting community development, youth work, parenting and family services, family preservation, kinship and foster care, child protection, and non-clinical mental health and wellbeing.

We develop the proposed project together, clarifying the need, intended participants, activities, outcomes, delivery arrangements, workforce, timeframe, risks, evaluation and budget. The written application is developed around the grant’s assessment criteria and the evidence needed to support each response. This allows the organisation’s knowledge, experience and proposed approach to be communicated in a form that is relevant to the funding decision.

The process draws on the knowledge of program staff and, where appropriate, community members and project partners. I prepare the application material while the organisation confirms its accuracy, develops the relationships needed to support the proposal and completes its internal approval process.

My experience includes successful applications supporting Family Preservation, Community and Family Support, Settlement Engagement and Transition Support, NewAccess and other regional social-service programs. I have contributed to the development of service models, program logics, implementation plans, workforce arrangements, budgets, evaluation approaches and responses to funding criteria.

The service begins once an organisation has identified a suitable grant opportunity and concludes with a completed application ready for its approval and submission. Beginning at least four weeks before the closing date allows time for collaborative development where the supporting information is available. If the evidence of community need or proposed impact needs further development, Community Context or Program Evaluation can be undertaken separately before proceeding. I remain available for clarification or revision requested during the assessment process.

 Reflective Practice Supervision 

 Independent reflective space for social workers, welfare workers and community workers. 

Complex practice requires somewhere to slow down, examine professional judgement and understand how the work is affecting the practitioner. Independent supervision creates space to think beyond immediate organisational demands while remaining accountable to professional values, ethical responsibilities and the people affected by practice.

I have supervised social workers since becoming a Program Manager in 2015 and have facilitated reflective practice with approximately 35 practitioners. My approach is trauma-informed, practitioner-led and grounded in the education, support and accountability functions of professional supervision.

Supervisees bring their own professional, cultural and community knowledge into the conversation. Together, we explore how that knowledge informs their understanding of a situation, the choices available to them and the strategies that are relevant to their professional life.

 Approaches 

Structured Reflective Supervision (Gibbs Reflective Cycle)

A structured process for examining a practice event, including what happened, the practitioner’s responses, what worked, what did not, the influence of theory and context, and what could be done differently.

This approach helps encode experience into practice knowledge and forward action. It may suit practitioners who prefer a clear framework, are developing their reflective capacity or need to slow down and organise a complex situation.

Narrative and Arts-Based Reflective Supervision

A visual and narrative approach in which the practitioner draws or paints a practice situation and describes the image in their own words.

The practitioner considers what they would retain and what they would change, then alters the image or creates another from a different perspective. The resulting conversation explores alternative meanings, cultural and community knowledge, professional identity, existing capabilities and possible action.

The practitioner remains the author and interpreter of the artwork. This is a professional supervision method and not art therapy or psychological treatment. Over time, practitioners may develop a visual reflective diary of their learning and changing practice and social work identity.

Supervision uses the reflective practice journal and is available as an ongoing arrangement or as focused reflective consultation. Frequency is agreed according to the practitioner’s role, experience, needs and applicable professional requirements.

 Social Work Field Education and Liaison 

 Connected support for social work students undertaking placements in regional communities and small agencies. 

Field education in rural and regional settings offers rich opportunities to understand place, community relationships and real world practice outside large metropolitan organisations. It can also involve professional isolation, broad and evolving roles, limited agency capacity and the need to work carefully within close community networks.

I provide independent field education and external university liaison for Bachelor and Master of Social Work students undertaking placements in North East Victoria and the Riverina-Murray region of New South Wales.

Working within the relevant university handbook and AASW standards, I support students, placement agencies and universities through:

placement preparation and clarification of learning arrangements; 

structured professional supervision; 

liaison visits and communication between placement partners; 

critical reflection connecting theory, ethics and lived practice; 

development of reflexivity, use-of-self and social work identity; 

collaborative review of learning progress and placement evidence; and 

identification of practice interests and early-career development goals.

I am particularly interested in supporting placements within small agencies, Aboriginal services and community-development settings where students can learn directly from local knowledge, relationships and practice stories.

 Parent Child Relationship Repair Coaching Program 

Kinship and Foster Care, After Separation and Divorce, Preventing Removal or Restoration.

 Print And Digital 

Giant Rewards Chart Kit, Giant Program Logic Kit, Giant Strategy Meeting Kit, Giant Business Unit Planning Kit, Blocs Notebook, Special Play Time, Reflective Practice Journal / Visual Diary.