Congratulations to our 2021 South Australian Child Protection Award winners!
Foster Carer of the Year
Katina Karam
For providing a safe, loving and enriching home for the children and young people in her care.
Kinship Carer of the Year
Leslie Wanganeen
For providing a safe, loving and enriching home for the children and young people in his care. This award was accepted on Leslie Wanganeen's behalf.
Supporting families to stay together
Ann-Marie Hayes, Department of Human Services
For her partnership and collaboration with DCP and other partners in transforming early help and support services for families to prevent children from coming into care.
Improving education and learning outcomes for children and young people in care
Catholic Education SA
For their generous scholarship program which provides scholarships to 200 children and young people to attend Catholic primary and secondary schools across the state.
Innovation in child protection – Metropolitan
Detective Senior Sergeant Ashley Grant, SAPOL
For his leadership of the Eastern Family Safety Framework and collaborative approach through the Child and Family Investigations Section to supporting high-risk families and vulnerable young people in care.
Innovation in care (regional)
Flinders Medical Centre – Child Protection Service outreach
For their leadership in delivering outreach services that provide specialist assessment and therapeutic services for children and young people in the Limestone Coast region.
Transition to independence
Anglicare SA Post Care Pathways
For their support of young care leavers at risk of homelessness through their Housing First program, KP.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Child Placement Principle
Winangay Resources Incorporated
For their collaboration and development of a culturally-appropriate approach to engaging, assessing and supporting kinship carers in South Australia.
The voice of children and young people
No Capes for Change
As a group of young people with current or previous care experience, for partnering with DCP to work for positive change for children and young people in care.
Media
Eric Cruz, Centacare Catholic Family Services
For his work in promoting and developing innovative media opportunities to showcase and raise community awareness about the role of foster carers.
Excellence in child protection research
Australian Centre for Child Protection, University of South Australia
For their leadership of child protection research across Australia and partnering with jurisdictions including South Australia to support the design of evidence-based services.
2021 Volunteer of the Year
Department of Human Services – Lived Experience Network
For contributing their diverse experiences as parents and carers to inform and shape key reforms to support families and prevent children entering care:
Shelly Coad, Mirja Severe, Mona Shirzadkhan, Wei Gao, Chloe Cameron, Jasmine Brouwers, Lemy Neisha, Elisha Hoffmann, Luke Buttigieg, Stacey Ugur, Jamie Schmidt, Sara Weeding, Kirsten Abel, Belinda Valentine and Steve Harvey.
Improving health and development outcomes for children and young people in care
Dr Deepa Jeyaseelan, Dr Jane Rosser and Ms Franca Foti, Women’s and Children’s Health Network
For their work in championing the health and development needs of children and young people in care through the Child Development Unit and Out of Home Care Clinic.