Redfern-Waterloo Human Services E-Newsletter - Issue Two - April 2005

IN THIS ISSUE - Feedback from Community Outcomes Workshops held on 4 April 2005

Service directions
Results
Draft indicators
Next steps

Background

In 2004, the Redfern-Waterloo Partnership Project (RWPP) commissioned a Review of Human Services within the Redfern and Waterloo areas.  The main findings of the review where that:

• the human services system needs to be reformed and reshaped at the local level to achieve improved outcomes for the community and clients
• changes must be made to build a more integrated service system and more collaborative approaches to service provision
• significant improvements are required in relationships between services.

One of the recommendations of the review was that the RWPP facilitate the development of a human services plan 2005-06 and, subsequently, the human services advisory committee has been established with representatives from government, non-government, community and service users.

To commence the planning process, two community workshops were held.  The aims of the workshops were to:

• identify human service outcomes for Redfern-Waterloo
• develop draft quality of life indicators, which will form the basis for ongoing evaluation of the human services plan.

The two outcomes workshops were held on 4 April 2005 at Redfern PCYC, from 10.00am - 1.00pm and 6.00pm - 9.00pm, respectively.  The workshop agenda comprised:

• an introduction by the senior project manager of the RWPP to provide a context and background to the workshop
  
• small group and plenary discussions to identify what results, or outcomes, were to be achieved for children, families and the Redfern-Waterloo community over the next three to five years
• small group and plenary discussions to develop a 'scorecard' that could be used to monitor progress toward the desired results.
  

Service directions

The human services system is aimed at securing community-wide results or outcomes.  For this reason, the two workshops looked at how community well-being or how the community would benefit from the human services system, rather than attempting to define the attributes of a successful human services system. 

Nevertheless a set of directions did emerge from the discussions that could feed into the planning process and be further refined and elaborated. In summary, the workshop participants expressed a desire for:

• greater community involvement in planning and decision-making about local services
  increased accountability and reporting to the community from all human services, government and non-government
  
• equity of access to services
  
• improved coordination among the local services
  
• politicians and senior managers with responsibility for services experiencing local issues by coming to Redfern-Waterloo
• community meetings to be widely promoted (through letter drops and word-of-mouth) and held in accessible venues (such as schools).

The two workshops considered three sets of results for:

• children and young people
• families
• the community.

This section summarises key themes that emerged from the two workshops - it does not purport to provide a full listing of all small group suggestions.  Further, for the reason described above, those characteristics of the service system (eg, 'better communication between services') and proposal for service implementation  (eg, 'extended hours of youth services') are excluded from this analysis.

3.1     Results for children and young people
Healthy, well educated children and young people who have a positive outlook.
More specifically, the participants wanted children and young people who:

• are respected ('allowed to be children')
• are healthy and active ('drug-clean', involved in sports, participating in associations, clubs and community activities)
• have a positive, confident outlook on life (trusting, happy, 'open to the opportunities available to them', prepared to work, respectful of their parents, 'set their own goals')
• are well educated and have the skills to gain employment ('job ready', computer literate).

3.2     Results for families
Safe families that are supportive, self-sustaining and participating actively in the community.
More specifically, the participants wanted families that are:

• safe and happy
• diverse (age, background, race, culture, socio-economic status, language)
• supportive and stable (ie have access to extended families, networks and neighbours)
• inclusive and open to others
• community-minded
• self-sustaining rather than welfare-dependent.

3.3     Results for the Community
Diverse, safe Redfern-Waterloo community that is positive and welcoming.
More specifically, the participants wanted a community that:

• is safe and welcoming ('less fearful')
• provides a sense of community ('easier to be good', 'stable and united', self-sustaining)
• is drug and crime-free
• provides opportunities for people to move around and interact
• has a positive image ('not of interest to the media!')
• is accepting of diversity ('not just tolerant of diversity').

There was limited time available at the two workshops for a detailed consideration of 'quality of life indicators' that could be used to track progress toward the community results outlined above.  Nevertheless, there was general, but by no means unanimous, support for the concept of a set of indicators through which the human services system would be accountable to the Redfern-Waterloo Community.

The Human Services Advisory Committee and the cluster groups are developing possible indicators to measure the results identified at the workshops. 

If you would like to propose indicators to measure the results listed above, please send your suggestions through to the Redfern-Waterloo Partnership Project on redfern-waterloo@premiers.nsw.gov.au or by mail to Redfern-Waterloo Partnership Project, level 9, Tower 2, TNT Towers, 1 Lawson Street, Redfern 2016.  Suggestions will be received until close of business on Friday 6 May 2005. 

Next steps

The Human Services Advisory Committee and the cluster groups will incorporate the input from the workshops into the Human Services Plan for Redfern-Waterloo.  Service providers will then develop options for achieving community outcomes.  Service users are invited to discuss those options with service providers on the following dates:

• 3 May - health services: 1pm, Level 11, Tower 2, TNT Towers, 1 Lawson Street, Redfern
  
• 5 May -youth services: 4pm, PCYC, 638 Elizabeth Street, Redfern
  
• 6 May - services for families and children: 1pm, Level 11, Tower 2, TNT Towers, 1 Lawson Street, Redfern
• 12 May - services for Aboriginal people: 1pm, Redfern Community Centre, 29-53 Hugo Street, Redfern.