Our Service Philosophy
Our job to provide quality support and service to you and your
family and we believe that as a client and a person you have certain rights.
These include the right to:
• Be treated with dignity and respect
• Play an active role in determining your goals and desired outcomes
• Have your cultural and religious beliefs recognised and respected
• Stop the service at any time
• Total confidentiality. This means that anything you tell us will not be shared
with anyone
outside the service, unless we first ask your permission.
The two exceptions to this rule are:
1. If we have concerns that a child is being abused or neglected,
we must tell the
Department of Community Services under the Children and Young Persons
(Care and
Protection) Act 1998.
2. If we have concerns that a client may harm themselves or others.
Record Keeping
We keep your records confidential and in a locked cabinet while you work with us. Two years after you have stopping working with AFSS, this file is destroyed.
What We Ask of You
• Workers, like you, are people. We also have a right to:
• Be treated
with dignity and respect
• Be safe at work
• Have
separate work and personal lives
• Be told as
soon as possible if you cannot keep an appointment
Our Philosophy on Families
At Armidale Family Support Services, we share beliefs and values that influence our work. Some of these are:
• Families do
their best with the knowledge and skills they have
• All
families have strengths that they can build on
• Families
are the experts about their own lives, workers cannot give answers but can help
families answer their own questions
• Parenting
is a learned skill, everyone needs to be given a chance to learn
• Parents
usually want good things for their children and given the opportunity, will
provide
them with a happy and secure home
• Children
have a right to be reared in healthy, supported and happy families
• People
grow and change and everyone can change for the better
• It is
difficult for families to function when dealing with things such as poverty,
inadequate
housing or isolation
• Violence
and abuse is never a good approach to relationships.
How to lodge a complaint
We are always striving to improve the service we supply to our families. So we ask our clients to let us know if they are unhappy with our organisation or workers. We understand that you may wish to make a comment, suggestion or complaint about the services of AFSS. To do this, follow the steps below:
1.
Arrange to speak to a worker or the Manager. If you prefer, you can write to:
Armidale Family Support Service
PO Box 1214
Armidale NSW 2350
2. If this does not address your concern, write to:
The Management Committee
Armidale Family Support Service
PO Box 1214
Armidale NSW 2350
3. If after the Management Committee is not able to satisfy your concerns, direct your concerns to:
The Community Service Commission
Locked Mail Bag 16
Strawberry Hills NSW 2012
