Managing Critical Incidents in OOHC NGOs Forum

On the 20 and 21 April 2015, the Department of Family and Community Services (FACS) held a state-wide practice forum on Managing Critical Incidents in OOHC NGO. The forum, held at the University of Technology Sydney (UTS), attracted approximately 180 registered forum delegates, as well as around 50 agency staff members who registered to participate via webinar. The forum provided a platform for government and NGO leaders to engage in workshops and presentations on improving systems and responses to critical incidents in OOHC NGOs. The forum included key government and non-government presenters from FACS, Office of the NSW Ombudsman, Office of the Children’s Guardian,Victim’s Services, NSW State Coroner, Joint Investigation Response Team (FACS, Police and Health), AbSec and ACWA.

This Summary Paper documents and draws together the key ideas and discussions that emerged from the Managing Critical Incidents in OOHC NGOs forum.

The following resources have been developed to assist OOHC NGOs in their management of critical incidents:

• Recordings of the forum webinars and keynote speaker podcasts and transcripts have been published on NGO Learning Centre website. These include:
• • FACS Secretary opening address
  • What is JIRT
  • The role of AbSec
  • The role of ACWA
  • The role of the NSW Ombudsman
  • The role of the Children’s Guardian
• Panel discussion transcript with additional responses to questions not addressed at the forum (Summary Paper Appendix C)
• Resource wall chart for OOHC NGOs
• Critical Incidents: information and resources for OOHC NGOs
• Information Exchange: information and resources for OOHC NGOs
• Working with JIRT: information for NGO caseworkers working with JIRT to support children and young people in OOHC NGOs