This month Act for Kids SafeKIDS Safe House celebrated the big 1-0 alongside a number of staff who have dedicated themselves as house parents since the doors opening in 2009.
Act for Kids CEO Dr Neil Carrington travelled from Brisbane to Napranum to acknowledge the dedication of seven Indigenous team members who reached an outstanding ten years of service to Act for Kids as well as an additional two team members who have reached one year of service.
Dr Carrington said the commitment of the SafeKIDS team has been instrumental in keeping kids in community safe.
“SafeKIDS has been a hugely successful partnership between Act for Kids and the Queensland Government. The program provides a safe environment for children, and works in partnership with Traditional Owners in the communities in which we operate [Aurukun, Cairns, Doomadgee, Kowanyama, Napranum and Pormpuraaw],” Dr Carrington said.
In ten years, the SafeKIDS team has provided care to 461 children. That’s more than 62,000 nights of individual care.”
Act for Kids Regional Director of Far North Queensland, David Dini, said this is a significant milestone in anyone’s language.
“We are proud to have more than half of the Napranum Safe House staff receiving ten years of continuous service recognition Awards.
“Our SafeKIDS staff do an amazing job looking after the children in their care, and a visit from our CEO to personally hand out the certificates and thank our staff is a measure of the enormous regard our Safe House workers are held in,” he said.
The Act for Kids Safe Houses provide a culturally appropriate home environment for children aged zero to 17 years to remain within their communities and stay connected to family, culture and country whilst their ongoing child protection intervention and placement needs are assessed.
The Safe Houses also develop workforce capacity through the training and employment of people in the local community.