IFYS

All Integrated Family and Youth Service programs and services share an implicit belief in the following practice principles and charters.

IFYS Practice Principles

IFYS staff aims to provide services that are ethical, respectful and professional. This means that we will

  • Not exclude, or erect barriers to, children, young people and families’ access to the services they require
  • Treat children, young people and families with respect, recognising the inherent dignity and uniqueness of each individual; 
  • Protect the confidentiality of all records, materials and communications regarding each child, young person, family and significant others; 
  • Uphold children, young people and families’ ethical and legal rights, including their right to make their own decisions and to participate actively in any plans made on their behalf; 
  • Commit to equitable practice and the prevention and elimination of all forms of discrimination in service provision; 
  • Demonstrably assist children, young people and families to reach their full potential in life; 
  • Provide high quality care, including safety and security of person and property; 
  • Identify and objectively appreciate our strengths and limitations as practitioners as well as those of our service, and be willing and able to recognise when it is in a child, young person or family’s best interest to refer them to another program or practitioner to meet their needs.

Practice

To assist in further clarifying and explaining our commitment to these practice principles, the following information is offered to describe the practice which should be observable in our delivery of services and in the quality of our relationships with children, young people, families and others with whom we work.

Ethical Practice

  • Service users will have access to services regardless of age, gender, geographic location, financial circumstances, social status, disability, sexual preference, or cultural or religious background. 
  • Service users will have access to care that is socially, culturally and ethically acceptable to them and when requested, to a gender-specific worker whenever possible. 
  • We will ensure that the environment in which children, young people and families access services is free from discrimination on the basis of age, gender, social status, disability, sexual preference and religious or cultural background. This means we will monitor and challenge each other’s attitudes and actions. 
  • We will make sure service users have access to information and resources that enable them to better understand their options and to make informed decisions regarding their own welfare and wellbeing. 
  • We will create opportunities for service users to contribute to decision making about how services are provided. Our service environment will also encourage any child, young person or family who is unhappy with any aspect of their care to discuss their concerns with us. 
  • When children, young people and families wish to make a complaint about their care or support they will be listened to, have the choices available explained to them, have access to a support person and have their complaint dealt with promptly and without retribution. 
  • We will encourage children, young people and families to participate in the management of their own care and we will act as resource persons and advocates with other service providers on young people’s issues.

Professional Practice

  • Children, young people and families will have access to service providers with the specialised skills and training that enable them to provide professional assistance with the contemporary issues and concerns of young people. 
  • Service users will be referred to an appropriate professional person when their first point of access is unable to offer them the assistance they need. 
  • We will endeavour to upgrade our knowledge and skills on a continual basis, in keeping with the understanding that the issues and environments affecting young people are constantly changing. Our staff, paid and unpaid, will ensure that their own self-care includes an ability to draw limits and boundaries around the extent of their personal involvement in the care of children, young people and families.

Respectful Practice

  • We will provide courteous, considerate care with respect for people’s feelings, personal privacy and dignity at all times. Our services will be delivered in a safe environment that provides protection from harm and the threat of harm – physical, emotional, psychological or sexual. 
  • Any records we keep will be free from prejudicial or subjective remarks and misrepresentation. 
  • We will protect people’s personal privacy and confidentiality of information held about them.