Family Referral Service (Newcastle Region)
Family Referral Services aim to connect vulnerable children, young people and families to appropriate local services. The intent is to prevent a difficult situation escalating to a crisis requiring a statutory response from the child protection system.
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The FRS (Newcastle Region) will provide information and referrals to vulnerable children, young people and families living in the Newcastle region who do not meet the statutory threshold of ‘risk of significant harm’, connecting them to specific and appropriate services in their local area.
This is a pilot project funded for 12 months (May 2010–April 2011) by NSW Health as part of the Keep Them Safe action plan to improve the safety and wellbeing of children and young people, and redesign the NSW child protection system.
Catchment area
The Benevolent Society FRS will cover the entire Central Coast, Lake Macquarie and Hunter region. The local government areas included are:
| Cessnock | Muswellbrook |
| Dungog | Newcastle |
| Gloucester | Port Stephens |
| Gosford | Singleton |
| Lake Macquarie | Upper Hunter Shire |
| Maitland | Wyong |
The main service telephone service is based in Rutherford. In addition, augmented services will be provided from:
- Newcastle(servicing Newcastle , Maitland, Port Stephens, Gloucester, Dungog, Cessnock)
- Muswellbrook (servicing Muswellbrook, Upper Hunter Shire and Singleton)
- Watanobbi (servicing Wyong, Gosford, East of Lake Macquarie)
Read a media release about the new pilot Family Referral Services.
Apply for a job with the FRS (Newcastle) or call Meighan Jenkins on 02 4015 3004 or Helen Keevers on 02 4353 4688 for more details.