Therapeutic Child Care Standards – Definitive for Practice
second-edition-therapeutic-child-care-standards-cofc-ccqi-2025.pdf
These are essential for providers and commissioners to know… Many residential and foster care services describe themselves as offering therapeutic care but there has been no agreed standard available to allow comparisons between services or to confirm efficacy.
The final version of the 2nd edition has just been published
The standards cover the following topics:
- Statement of Principles and Practice (Practice Model)
- Relational Leadership and Management
- Caregivers
- Therapeutic/Care Plan and Framework
- The Physical Environment
- Building Relationships and Belonging
- Physical Intervention
- Therapeutic Governance and External Relations
- Social Media
- Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI).
What is Therapeutic Child Care?
Therapeutic childcare has a clear psychosocial practice model is applied and understood at all levels of the organisation.
The service has leadership that is appropriately qualified and functions in a way that is consistent with the stated practice model.
Caregivers can describe the stated practice model, receive training in it and can demonstrate its application in their practice.
There are structures and routines in place that maintain the psychosocial model of practice, and Children and young people are active participants in the therapeutic environment.
Therapeutic child care encourages play and playfulness, and the caregivers, children and young people are actively involved in the process of moving to and from the service.
The physical environment is planned and adapted to meet the purposes identified in the practice model.
The service also places an importance on building relationships and a sense of belonging.
In addition, physical interventions delivered by appropriately trained caregivers are planned and engaged with proactively in accordance with the psychosocial model.
The Therapeutic / Clinical Governance structures ensure professional oversight of therapeutic planning and delivery and provide credible and objective oversight of the therapeutic model.
External relationships are sought and valued and the service uses data to measure progress, achievements, and placement objectives, and analyses these continually.
Also, the safe use of internet, email and social media is reflected on and supported in line with the psychosocial practice model. Equity, Diversity and Inclusion informs the psychosocial model and service practices
International comparison – Centre for Excellence in Therapeutic Care Australia
Centre for Excellence in Therapeutic Care (2019a). The 10 Essential Elements of Intensive Therapeutic Care in NSW. CETC – The 10 essential elements of Intensive Therapeutic Care NSW – Practice guide – CETC
Centre for Excellence in Therapeutic Care (2019b). The evidence base for therapeutic group care: A systematic scoping review. https://www.cetc.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/evidence-base-group-care-research-brief.pdf
McPherson, L., Gatwiri, K., Cameron, N. and Parmenter, N. (2019). What is Effective Therapeutic Care? [online] Centre for Excellence in Therapeutic Care, pp.0–22. evidence-base-group-care-research-brief.pdf
Therapeutic Child Care standards developed by practitioners has some similarities and significant differences with the International academic group consensus statement
Whittaker, J.K., Holmes, L., del Valle, J.F., Ainsworth, F., Andreassen, T., Anglin, J., Bellonci, C., Berridge, D., Bravo, A., Canali, C., Courtney, M., Currey, L., Daly, D., Gilligan, R., Grietens, H., Harder, A., Holden, M., James, S., Kendrick, A. and Knorth, E. (2016). Therapeutic residential care for children and youth: A consensus statement of the international work group on therapeutic residential care [Therapeutic Residential Care for Children and Youth: A Consensus Statement of the International Work Group on Therapeutic Residential Care] – PubMed
