CHILD, YOUNG PERSON & FAMILY AGREEMENT

At Wonderkind and Co. our mission is to be kind, supportive, trustworthy, fair and creative in our aim to guide the pathway towards growth and healing. We believe you as Children, Young People and Adults have the right to know exactly what to expect from us in your treatment journey and what we also expect of you to support this collaborative process.

• To be involved in the development of your Therapeutic Plan
• To receive evidence-based practice to inform recommendations and treatment
• For your personal information to be stored in a secure and confidential way in line with the Privacy Act 2021.
• To respect your privacy between session and only contact via email or SMS if informed of this during session or should a safety need arise
• Confidentiality will be maintained of your health and personal information in line with the AASW Code of Practice
• The Therapeutic intervention is a cooperative effort on behalf of the Wonderkind & Co Clinician / Worker and the parent/s or guardian/s. Therefore your willingness to display motivation for change, partake an active role in the program and work towards treatment goals is essential.
• Therapeutic support may feel difficult at times as challenging emotions and experiences are explored and further issues may arise throughout the process. Open communication with the Clinician / Worker is strongly encouraged as a collaborative approach is more likely to elicit positive outcomes.
• Maintain your appointment and where this can not occur, please cancel within agreed time frames, to avoid missing out on subsequent appointment times.
• Please refrain from writing reviews about this service on social media as this may be misleading to other patients.
• Provide feedback if you do not feel safe in the space, with recommendations or an approach, we will do our best to explore this and adjust where required. 

Wonderkind & Co Clinicians are qualified in the mental health field. Qualifications may include: Social Work, Psychology, Occupational Therapy or Mental Health Nursing. Wonderkind & Co Clinicians must hold registration with the professional body associated with their mental health qualification (eg AASW, AHPRA ) and have valid Working with Children checks. Clinicians are required to practice in accordance with the Code of Conduct / Practice Standards issued by their registering professional body.

Wonderkind & Co Outreach Workers must have a minimum Certificate IV qualification in a relevant area and demonstrated field experience.

The Therapeutic intervention is a cooperative effort on behalf of the Wonderkind & Co Clinician / Worker, the parent/s or guardian/s and Young People. Therefore your willingness to display motivation for change, partake in an active role in the program and work towards treatment goals is essential. Therapeutic support may feel difficult at times as challenging emotions and experiences are explored and further issues may arise throughout the process. Open communication with the Clinician / Worker is strongly encouraged as a collaborative approach is more likely to elicit positive outcomes. 

Following the initial enquire sent from the website or via email is made, the formal referral form and information around fee structure will be sent along with other intake links via our data management system. A quote can be provided on request if this would be helpful to secure funding. 

Consent will be requested by Young People and Parents / Guardian prior to commencement.

Consent must be obtained from both and or one parent/guardians before counselling sessions commence or reasons why consent can’t be given by the other party documented.

Reports will only be provided when specifically funded or when court ordered, no charge for letters in support of funding/ services that will benefit the child/ young person or the family/ carers will apply unless discussed prior.

Signed Consent will be requested prior to any video recording or photos taken.

Signed Consent will be request prior to speaking with any other professional / person linked to support, unless Confidentiality needs to be broken as outlined below.

You don’t need a referral to attend Wonderkind & Co. Sometimes our clients prefer not to consult with their GP or involve another party in their decision to access therapeutic support. You are very welcome to make an appointment without a referral. Wonderkind & Co is able to support clients with or without Mental Health Care Plans.

You, your child or young person may be eligible to receive a Mental Health Care Plan from their GP, Psychiatrist or Paediatrician. This allows for an initial 6 sessions of Social Work treatment to be rebated by Medicare, with a further 4 sessions available if your doctor feels it is appropriate (a total of 10 rebated sessions per calendar year) (at present an additional 10 as a result of COVID support).

Therapeutic support and appointments at Wonderkind & Co. may be funded by the NDIS where participants are self or plan managed. See the NDIS website for further information www.ndis.gov.au.

Wonderkind & Co is happy to help liaise with funding bodies such as NDIS, DFFH, Victims of Crime, Employee Assistance Programs or Work Cover programs.

Please refer to the Wonderkind & Co. website for brief information around fee structure but always ask specifically in your initial enquires form for this to be outlined.

The outlined fee is relevant for Telehealth and Face to Face sessions.

Wonderkind & Co. will collect information about you for the primary purpose of providing a quality service to you. In order to thoroughly assess, diagnose and provide therapy, we need to collect some personal information from you. If you do not provide this information; we may be unable to treat you as effectively. This information will also be used for:

• The administrative purpose of running the practice;
• Billing either directly or through an insurer or compensation agency;
• Use within the practice and if discussing or passing your case to another practitioner within the practice for your ongoing management and use during professional supervision;
• Disclosure of information to your doctors, other health professionals or to teachers to facilitate communication and best possible care for you; and
• In the case of insurance or compensation claims it may be necessary to disclose and/or collect information that concerns you or your child to an insurer.

As children are part of the system it is often in their best interest to work holistically and communicate with the different parts of their system. This means that from time to time it is beneficial for Clinicians / Workers to receive updates or feedback from medical professionals, allied health professionals, schools, daycare or grandparents for example. Prior to communicating with additional support team members Wonderkind & Co must obtain a completed “Release of Information Consent” form from the parents/caregivers/guardian of the child.

You are welcome to change or retract consent at any time; please discuss this with your Clinician

The frequency and length of service will be determined by several factors. The number of sessions will vary on a case-by-case basis. This will be determined between you and your (child’s) Clinician / Worker through the creation of a treatment plan and goals. The treatment plan and progress towards goals will be reviewed by you and your Clinician / Worker throughout the support process and adjustments made as necessary. The aim of Therapeutic Support is the achievement of treatment goals. It is not ethical or possible to guarantee specific results. 

The contract to pay for services provided by Wonderkind & Co is governed by the Law of Victoria and you agree to submit to the jurisdiction of the courts of Victoria to determine any dispute pertaining to the contract.

Clinicians / Workers are required to write session notes, treatment plans, goal tables, assessments and other forms of clinical documentation. The relationship between yourself and Wonderkind & Co is considered confidential and all support records documented, both verbal and written will be kept securely.

Client records are confidential and kept securely and will only be released under the following conditions:

• For the purposes of Individual Professional Supervision.
• If it is determined by the Clinician that the client is in danger to themselves or to someone else.
• The child or family discloses abuse or the Clinician has concerns regarding suspected child abuse.

Should the Clinician assess that you or your child are at risk to self or others on reasonable grounds they are bound by Duty of Care to report a concern under Victorian Legislation.

In these circumstances appropriate action to ensure safety must be undertaken in the best interests of the Child. The Clinician has an ethical obligation to protect and promote the rights and wellbeing of children and vulnerable families and at times this may mean making a report to the Department of Families, Fairness and Housing (DFFH), Police, Health service or other relevant authority. Where possible and in the interests of transparency the Clinician will discuss that a report will be made to the parents/ caregivers first.

• There is a court order to disclose information or a request made through the Freedom of Information Act. 

If the Clinician is court ordered and a Court issued subpoena is received, then information in your/your child’s file may be released. Clinicians may be called into court to testify regarding therapeutic support provided. You will be notified if such occurs. 

Adult Records (in the absence of relevant legislation) will be stored for seven years following last contact. Child Records will be sorted until the child would turn 25 years of eg (in the absence of relevant legislation).

Wonderkind & Co is largely paper free. Online Software is used for documentation of all information. Accordingly Wonderkind & Co utilizes security antivirus software and access to the system is via two locked gateways. Email may be used for communication including appointment dates, times and other general information. Detailed documentation containing personal information about you/ your child, including any reports or assessments will only be sent via password protection to ensure privacy or secure systems including Refer Net. An exception to this is forms generated via the online software system including but not limited to referral, consent and policy and procedure forms.

There are risks associated with online use and whilst all reasonable precautions are taken to protect information, there are unlikely circumstances in which privacy cannot be guaranteed. 

We support all clients to attend their appointment and are aware that for some this may take creative approaches and additional support. However we are a therapeutic support business and do operate a waiting list so it is important that we make good use of our time.

The full amount will be charged if a client provides less than 24 hours notice of cancellation. Client’s will be informed of this charge prior to its application in the case of NDIS clients where plan managers or others are responsible for payment. 

Please do NOT attend an appointment in person if you/your child are displaying any signs or symptoms of COVID-19 (runny nose, difficulty breathing, sore throat, loss of smell, taste). Your Clinician will work with you to either arrange a Telehealth or Zoom appointment or reschedule at no charge. If the rescheduled appointment is not attended only the original session’s fee will be charged. There may be times where there is limited availability to reschedule sessions and in these instances Telehealth or Zoom will be offered for the original appointment.

If a client/ carer arrives late to a session; the session will still go ahead, however, will finish at the scheduled time. Session plans may need to be modified to fit within the changed time frame which may or may not impact on the quality of the session.

When travelling for outreach with young people/ children or their carers; the Clinician will charge beyond 20 minutes of travel time as labour costs each way. Additionally, a fee of $0.85 a kilometre will be charged from Wonderkind & Co (Head Office) to the destination and return to cover petrol cost. This cost will be shared if the therapist is seeing other clients in the area and if the other parties who will remain anonymous to each other agree.

Wonderkind & Co does provide outreach in order to be accessible to all and to meet young people where they are at, we acknowledge outreach is often the best solution and gives better results for engagement in therapy.

All Medicare Clients will have to be supported from the Wonderkind & Co officer or via Telehealth/Zoom to adhere to the requirement. 

Payment is to be made either prior or directly following the attended session. Further sessions will not be conducted until payment of the prior session has been completed. Payments over 30 days due will incur a $50 late payment fee unless prior arrangements have been made with Wonderkind & Co. Payments over 60 days due may be handed over to a collection service.  

When working with large organisations such as The Department of Families, Fairness and Housing and the NDIS an agreement will be entered into for Wonderkind & Co to provide X amount of sessions and for these to be paid upfront or within an allocated time frame. Review of treatment goals and client’s progress will then be completed the specified block of sessions and further funding sought if required for more sessions.

Fees are reviewed at the end of the financial year and/or in the case of NDIS payments when new fee guidelines are released by the NDIS. Client will be given 2 weeks prior notice of any changes in fee structure. 

Payment via bank transfer into the account detailed on the invoice is available.

Credit Card & Eftpos facilities as well as a HICAPS facility to process instant Medicare rebates are located on-site.

The contract to pay for services provided by Wonderkind & Co is governed by the Law of Victoria and you agree to submit to the jurisdiction of the courts of Victoria to determine any dispute pertaining to the contract.

If you are dissatisfied with the service provided to you or your child please discuss your concerns with the Clinician / Worker or Director who will endeavor to resolve issues of concern to your satisfaction. If you would prefer to make an anonymous complaint please refer to the “Complaints Form” which provides information and the opportunity to write and submit concerns. If a complaint or incident is not anonymous, you are still welcome to use this form to document and submit your concerns and a response will be actioned within 2 days of receipt. If necessary, the appropriate registering professional body (AASW) will become involved. 

Wonderkind & Co is not an emergency service. If you or your child is in a life threatening situation, experiencing intense thoughts of suicide or in a mental health crisis please contact an emergency service:

• Police, Ambulance, Fire: 000.

Other services where advice can be sought include;

• Lifeline: 13 11 14,
• Kids Helpline: 1800 55 1800,
• Family violence and sexual assault Crisis Line – 1800 806 292
• DFFH Child Protection matters – Barwon 1800 075 599
• Parent Line Victoria 13 22 89
• The Orange Door: 1800 312 820
• Family Relationship advice Line 1800 050 321
• Headspace – (03) 5222 6690
• Nurse On Call – 1300 60 60 24
• University Hospital Geelong Emergency Room – (03) 4215 0100