A young person once told our guest, “You’re the first adult I’ve ever had a conversation with.” That single line sets the tone for a deep, practical look at what makes therapeutic residential care work and what quietly breaks it. I sit down with Doug, an evaluator and long-time practitioner in youth and community work, to talk about how trust is built through small, repeatable actions and why being heard can be a turning point for children and young people living with complex trauma in out-of-home care.
We dig into the evidence from Victoria’s therapeutic residential care pilots and six subsequent outcome evaluations. Doug explains why data collection is not a “nice to have” but part of trauma-informed practice: it helps teams see progress they would otherwise miss, builds staff self-efficacy, and supports young people to develop a different internal story about who they are. We explore the specific measures used, including HoNOSCA, the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire, and outcome scales designed to capture both reductions in harmful behaviours and the growth of positive capacities like relationships, self-care, and stability.
Several essential elements come through clearly: the catalytic role of therapeutic specialists, rostered reflective practice meetings, consistent and trained staffing, and a placement approach that respects agency and matching. We also tackle the hard questions about cost, redundancy, and why forced placements can “explode” good work, then walk through the economic finding that a large portion of added cost can be recouped quickly through reduced hospital use, police involvement, and placement disruption.
Douglas's Bio:
Director Faircloth McNair and Associates Contact & Information: https://www.fairclothmcnair.com.au/
I am full of hope, and I dream that the collective effort of people of goodwill can improve the lives of countless children and young people who face adversity in their childhood.
I have 25 years of consulting expertise and experience in provision of research, evaluations, reviews and other project work for Government and not for profits in child protection, First Nations support, Disability and Aged Care. My consulting work is augmented by 3 decades of counselling, pastoral and youth work.
I have led 6 outcome and 1 place-based evaluations of therapeutic residential out of home care (TRC) services in Australia over 4 state jurisdictions from 2011 to 2022 using comparable methods and tools supporting longitudinal insight into poor and unmanaged mental health of young people in Australia's Out of Home Care system.
I have also led: • The review of Placement Prevention and Reunification Services for Aboriginal Children, Young People and their Families in Victoria (2016) • A project providing Therapeutic Residential Care System Development and Design for all NSW Residential Out of Home Care services (2016) • A evaluation of therapeutically designed and delivered intervention for young people ‘The Goodlife Farm’ (2019) • The research, evidence and design to develop and deliver youth Centres that support Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander young people to break the cycle of disadvantage and to thrive – for the Message Stick Foundation (2023 -2025)
The work I have participated in has drawn national and international recognition for its impact and for its solution focus. The recognition is demonstrated relevant Reports,
Submissions, Citations and Presentations (available for review at: https://www.fairclothmcnair.com.au/citations-and-references-faircloth-mcnair-and-associates
Links: Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/c/TheSecureStartPodcast. Podcast Blog Site: https://thesecurestartpodcast.com/
Disclaimer:
Disclaimer: Information reported by guests of this podcast is assumed to be accurate as stated. Podcast owner Colby Pearce is not responsible for any error of facts presented by podcast guests. In addition, unless otherwise specified, opinions expressed by guests of this podcast may not reflect those of the podcast owner, Colby Pearce. Finally, all references to case examples are anonymised to the extent that the actual case could not be identified, or are fictional but based on real-life examples for illustrative purposes, or have client consent to talk about in an educative context.
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