New Starss programme to help families in need

Thursday, March 11, 2004

The Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) will institute an intense preventative work programme within the next month, intended to help decrease the number of families reliant on financial assistance.

After DCFS began examining trends last year, it found that a significant number of people were becoming increasingly dependent on the department for temporary financial assistance. 

Specifically, DCFS found that in June 2001, 384 families sought this form of assistance; one year later, this figure had risen to 513, an increase of 33.5 percent. 

While the individual cases appeared genuine, based on the criteria used for assessment, the group felt the need to find more innovative approaches to making families self-sufficient.

As a result, DCFS was restructured and a new programme offering Support Towards Autonomy Retraining and Self Sufficiency (STARSS) was formed. 

STARSS will include intense preventative work with regular recipients of temporary financial assistance and would equip recipients with appropriate work skills that would help them to become self-sufficient. 

All those 16 and over will receive access to education or short-term training. The programme will include 25 clients under the supervision of a co-ordinator. That person will liaise closely with the social workers to monitor their clients' progress. 

It was also recognised that together with the acquisition of work skills, some clients needed to improve their social skills in areas such as attitudes, work ethics, and punctuality, in order to retain their jobs. From this perspective, all social workers have been oriented on the principles of the STARSS approach. 

DCFS Director Deanna Look Loy anticipates that the new approach will be successful and that it will be expanded to other clients based on the success of those in the pilot project. 

The top levels of government have endorsed STARSS. Dr the Hon Frank McField, the Minister responsible for the Department of Children and Family Services, has encouraged this approach and has stated that STARSS should become the cornerstone philosophy for all branches of DCFS' social work.

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