for our community partners
DoCS funds and works with a wide range of community partners to provide services to the NSW community.
Our partners include local communities, volunteers, community agencies and local government.
We spend around half our budget on purchasing services from community partners, community service organisations and agencies who are experts in their field.
This section of the DoCS website provides information and support for organisations that work with us to provide community services. We tell you about the latest funding opportunities and expressions of interest, and explain our funding programs.
We also have our Funding Policy and information about our funding reform.
The development of program guidelines for out-of-home care, SAAP and Brighter Futures, one of the key initiatives outlined in the DoCS funding policy aims to provide a clear understanding of the program’s objectives and the types of services that will be funded.
The Good Practice Guidelines and the for DoCS Funded Services are key initiatives outlined in the Funding Reform Policy. They aim to promote quality outcomes for clients and develop a consistent and high level of quality across services.
A costing manual has also been developed to help non-government organisations determine the indicative unit costs for a range of child and family services.
To make it easier for you to work with us, we have provided the latest policy and procedure documents, papers and guidelines for all our program areas and we explain how our child protection services work.
We also have specific information and support for organisations working in children's services and out-of-home care, including explanations of regulations and legislation changes.
A Service Analysis and Business Development (SABD) resource manual and workbook has been developed to support preschool services and long daycare centres with their business planning process.
We provide a wide range of training for non-government organisations involved in child protection and community services see the latest training courses in your local area.
We also publish a quarterly newsletter specifically for community partners and other stakeholders, Inside Out.
consultation
DoCS has a long standing commitment to working in partnership with the community, government and non-government organisations to:
- improve services for children and families
- listen to our clients needs, interests and concerns
- improve our decision making
- build social capital and stronger communities
- increase the focus on quality, prevention and early intervention programs for families
- strengthen capacity to plan and deliver coordinated services.
We work with community partners to plan and provide social and community services in NSW for children, young people, families and communities.
Some of the channels for consultation currently employed include:
- Stakeholder Forums: chaired by the Minister and attended by the Director General, held bi-annually
- reference groups
- formal consultation over projects
- formal invitations to comment
- area-level consultations between DoCS offices and agencies.
related links