Residential care placements

Intensive Therapeutic Care (ITC)

Intensive Therapeutic Care (ITC) is a service system that helps children who are recovering from the most severe forms of trauma, neglect, abuse or adversity.

ITC is for children over 12 years of age with complex needs who are either unable to be supported in foster care or require specialised and intensive supports to maintain stability in their care arrangements.

ITC is in line with the NSW Therapeutic Care Framework (TCF) and is replacing residential care across NSW over a two year period.

Children are referred to ITC through a centralised referral pathway (the Central Access Unit).

Under the ITC system, short-term Intensive Therapeutic Transitional Care (ITTC) is provided for up to 13 weeks to help children step down into less intensive types of care.

The ITC system will decrease the time children spend in intensive out-of-home (OOHC) care services and help provide clearer pathways to permanency.

The Centre for Excellence in Therapeutic Care, led by the Australian Childhood Foundation and Southern Cross University, acts as an intermediary that:

provides expert advice and consultancy services
maintains a knowledge bank of evidence-based therapeutic care
promotes knowledge sharing across the sector
offers learning and development activities
functions as a Community of Practice for Therapeutic Specialists.

Learn more about ITC:

Fact sheet: Explaining ITC Service System and ITC types (PDF, 458.8 KB)
Overview: ITC ICM SIL Providers by Hub and Service (PDF, 428.4 KB).

Intensive Therapeutic Transitional Care (ITTC)

Learn more about ITTC:

ITTC Operations Guide -February 2020 (PDF, 327.6 KB)
Infosheet: ITTC Operations (PDF, 466.2 KB)
Form: ITTC Outreach Referral - June 2020 (DOCX, 117.7 KB)
Form: ITTC Outreach Plan - June 2020 (DOCX, 93.4 KB)
Form: ITTC Outreach Exit Summary - June 2020 (DOCX, 70.9 KB)
Factsheet: ITTC Outreach - May 2020 (DOCX, 65.6 KB).

ITC Significant Disability (ITC SD)

ITC Significant Disability (ITC SD) is a placement type in the broader ITC service system to better support eligible children with significant disabilities.

Children suitable for ITC SD are either unable to be supported in foster care, or require specialised or intensive supports to maintain stable care arrangements.
ITC SD caters to a very limited cohort of children who have extremely high support needs related to significant, complex and often multiple disabilities.
Children suitable for this placement type have disability support needs that significantly impact on the majority of adaptive functioning domains and will require intensive supports to maintain placement stability, above the provisions offered in other ITC service types.

Therapeutic Home Based Care (THBC)

Learn more about THBC in the Factsheet: THBC Carer Qualities - September 2020 (PDF, 70.1 KB) .

Supported Independent Living (SIL) & Therapeutic SIL (TSIL)

Learn more about SIL and TSIL:

Factsheet: SIL and TSIL - March 2020 (PDF, 341.8 KB)
Form: SIL and TSIL Planning Tool - June 2020 (DOCX, 83.7 KB).

Therapeutic Care and Behaviour Support

The Centre for Excellence in Therapeutic Care provides specific training to support the implementation of the Intensive Therapeutic Care system in NSW.

The NSW Therapeutic Care Framework sets out the principles for provision of therapeutic care to children in NSW.

Learn more about behaviour support and trauma informed practice.