Family by Family, designed by families for families, is set to scale! With support from the South Australian Government, from the 1st October 2017 Family by Family will transition operations in South Australia to Uniting Communities, a long-term supporter and investor in Family by Family along with the South Australian Department for Education and Child Development (DECD).

This marks the beginning of a new journey for the social innovation and implementation of the Family by Family program in South Australia, with the scaling of the Family by Family program indicative of one of the many successful programs that The Australian Centre for Social Innovation (TACSI) has implemented since 2008. In 2017 the SA Government increased funding for Family by Family to $3m
over two years to support the further development and testing of the infrastructure for scaling the program.

With the increased support from the State Government and the new scaling of operations Family by Family Lead, Vita Maiorano commented, ‘It’s an exciting turning point in the Family by Family story, to be scaling with long term partner and investor Uniting Communities – we’re excited and keen to build the scaling infrastructure of Family by Family with such a committed and values aligned team.’

Carolyn Curtis CEO of The Australian Centre for Social Innovation added, “This transition signifies an important step toward scaling a home-grown model that makes a real difference for families”.

By working to scale in partnership with Uniting Communities, Family by Family hopes to spread awareness about the program and the impact it has for families, so that ultimately more families can  thrive across South Australia.

Chief Executive of Uniting Communities, Simon Schrapel, says the organisation is excited to welcome Family by Family into its broad suite of programs.

“A large part of Uniting Communities’ work involves supporting children and families, particularly before they reach a crisis point,” said Mr Schrapel. “Family by Family is a wonderful initiative that  extends beyond traditional support methods, empowering families to support and learn from each other.

“We want to see people living the best lives they can. Families play a vital role in this, nurturing compassion and resilience, so when families thrive, individuals thrive and, as a result, so do our communities.”

Whilst the operations of Family by Family will transfer to Uniting Communities, TASCI will continue to design and test the scaling infrastructure needed to continue to deliver outcomes for families.