Tweddle’s programs are underpinned by four key themes also known as our four Ts. Our priority is to help parents learn about their child by teaching them about secure attachment and attunement, as a result a child builds trust and a sense of security. This is done in a timely manner that acknowledges that the peak period of development for a child is the first 1000 days. We do this together with families, staff, community organisations and universal services.

1. Trust
Timely
Teach
Together
Investing
in the first
1,000 days
Transforming
Together

2. Tweddle Child
and Family
Health Service
is transforming
Our programs
are underpinned
by four key
themes:
Trust
Timely
Teach
Together
Very early
experiences
matter
Babies’ and
toddlers’
wellbeing
is critical
to brain
development
and life long
outcomes
02

3. The Tweddle Practice Framework underpins all our services.
Tweddle Practice InfluencesBabies feel
safe and
secure
when they
receive
positive
interactive
relationships*
Attachment theory1
03
Trust
When we work with families we consider the following:

4. Tweddle works with families to
enable babies and toddlers to
achieve the best start in life
Investing in the very early years builds the foundations trigging
physiological adaptations or disruptions that influence lifelong
outcomes in health, learning and behavior.3
From birth to age 18 months,
connections in the brain are
created at a rate of one
million per second!
The earliest experiences
shape a baby’s brain
development and has
lifelong impacts.
Babies brains are highly
plastic; they constantly
adapt and change as they
learn to respond to the
world and the people
around them.2b
The first
1000 days
provide a
unique
window of
opportunity2
04
Timely

5. Secure attachment relationships emerge over time and
develop through positive interactions between the infant
and his or her primary caregiver(s).5
Tweddle programs are underpinned
by a sound evidence base
Tweddle programs aim to
foster secure attachment
so the baby/toddler can
use the caregiver as
a secure base to
explore from and
return to; as well as
providing a source of
comfort when needed.
The best
learning
happens
in nurturing
relationships4
05
Trust

6. Tweddle’s early intervention in the very early years is a
strategy that supports optimal life outcomes for individuals,
families and communities.
Babies and
toddlers who
experience
neglect may
not reach
their full
potential6,7
06
Timely
Tweddle programs work with families
across the spectrum of vulnerability
More than two thirds of the clients
in Tweddle’s residential program
have scored in the clinically
significant range for depression
or anxiety on validated screening
tools.
Complex trauma affects the
developing brain and may
interfere with a child’s capacity
to integrate sensory, emotional
and cognitive information.
This may lead to over-reactive
responses to subsequent stress
and long-term effects on
thinking, feeling and learning.

7. Changes to the Child Youth and Families Act, effective
from March 2016, will require services to support earlier
case planning.
Program
design
explicitly
considers
diversity;
offering a
range of
service
options
aimed at
facilitating
family
preservation
07
Teach
A changing legislative
environment
Tweddle programs are tailored
to the needs of families who are
experiencing events that may lead
to the placement of their child/ren.
Our practice model works to
empower and strengthen the
capacity of parents and care
givers through focused skill
based interventions.
The focus of our Family
Preservation Services is on:
helping families with babies
and toddlers to stay together
assisting families to
independently meet their
own needs
navigating access to services
to meet identified needs
avoiding unnecessary
out-of-home placements

8. Changes to the Child Youth and Families Act, effective from March
2016, will require services to support earlier case planning.
Early
reunification
of babies
and toddlers
with their
families
provides
the most
positive
outcomes8
08
Teach
A changing legislative
environment
Tweddle is experienced in working
with families seeking to reunify with
their babies and toddlers.
We work with the aim to reunite
families as soon as possible.
Our approach is to help families build
trusting and secure relationships.
Tweddle’s intensive strength based
support programs include clinical
observation of the relationship
between the parent and baby.
Our needs assessment is the basis
of our parenting capacity building
interventions and identifies additional
support services to wrap around the
family to help achieve reunification.
Our focus on the baby’s mental
health needs is at the heart of
our programs.
In working with families we
recognise diversity, are culturally
informed, embrace and engage
the extended family.

9. Our planned redevelopment can
accommodate a wide range of services
to meet the needs of babies, toddlers and families.
Babies,
toddlers
and their
families
need a
targeted
multi agency
support
hub9
09
Together
FamilyViolenceServices
M
ental
Health
Services
Alcohol and
Other Drug
Support Services
Tweddle understands the complexity
of needs that are facing families
We work with the service system
to help families navigate through
the maze in order to find the
most relevant resources.
The data on police attendance
at family incidents in the north
west metropolitan region is
the highest in the state.10
From intake and assessment
through all our program
areas, Tweddle links
families with universal
and specialist services.

10. Babies and toddlers who may have experienced neglect or abuse,
including family violence, need adults who sensitively read their
cues and respond accordingly in understanding their needs and
provide an experience of relationship that meets those needs.14
We focus
on building
relationships
because we
know that
relationships
change
brains12
10
Tweddle programs focus on
building relationships
Tweddle programs help
parents and caregivers
understand their babies
cues and sensitively respond
to their needs.
Specialist clinicians work with
parents and caregivers to
build foundations for trust,
empathy, positive relationships,
and to understand verbal and
non-verbal communications.13

11. Tweddle is the voice of babies/toddlers and work with
families facing preservation/reunification challenges to
increase positive outcomes in the timelines of the new
Child Youth and Families Act.
Service Model Focus Family Preservation
Service Model Focus Family Reunification
Our programs are
tailored to flexibly
meet the diverse
needs of our clients
We are able to lock
together a range of
service options from
intensive therapeutic
residential ‘home like’
environments to
supportive Residential
programs, Day Stay
and In Home choices
Our service models
incorporate strategies
to enhance relationships,
increase parenting
confidence, improve
health and baby/toddler
outcomes. We also
support families to
connect to networks in
their local communities 11
Antenatal
Program
Maternal
and
Child
Health
Specialist
Perinatal
Mental
Health
Family
Services
Intensive
Home
Visiting
Tweddle Intensive
Residential Program
In Family Unit
Child Protection
Involvement
Therapeutic
Play Based
Group Program
Therapeutic
Contact
Visits
Mental
Health
Home
Visiting
Drug and Alcohol Therapeutic
Group Work
Child Protection Residential Unit Family Support
Maternal
and
Child
Health

12. Intervening early when there are lower levels of vulnerability is
likely to prevent escalation and poorer life outcomes and makes
sound economic sense.
Parents and
carers are
provided with
the supports
and resources
to reduce
vulnerability
and strengthen
their parenting
capacity to
respond and
interact with
their child/ren
to enhance the
parent/child
relationship
12
2 Day
Day Stay
Family
Support
Family Support Outpatient
Psychology
Maternal Child
Health
Residential
Program
Therapeutic
Group Maternal
Child
Health
Family Support
Disability Services
Home Visiting
Family Support
Agency
Service Model Focus Family Support
Service Model Focus Early Intervention

13. 30
70-2
Years
In Home Service 2-3
Years
574
620-2
Years
Residential Program 2-3
Years
528
50-2
Years
Day Stay Program 2-3
Years
41
50-2
Years
2-3
YearsPASDS
Parenting
Assessment
Skill
Development
Service
13
Statistics2014-2015
727727Childbirth
Education
Participants
4242Childbirth
Education
Sessions
Tweddle’s work is focused in the first 1000 days of life and ‘the best
interest of the child’ is at the centre of our work.

14. TweddleInTheFuture
14

15. Working together with government and community, Tweddle is investing
in a future resilient society.
1. It is the experiences in infancy and early childhood that creates the foundational roots of attachment. The food
and the sensations of sight, sound, smells, touch and taste provide the infant with the things they need for survival
and in order to grow to their potential. A healthy nurturing environment provided by the primary caregiver allows the
infant’s brain to develop in positive ways and due to this dependant relationship the infant is able to form a new style
of attachment, one based on emotional relationships (Perry, 2001c).
(p.9 http://www.childrenyoungpeopleandfamilies.org.au/info/social_justice/submissions/research_papers_and_
briefs/?a=62366)
2. http://www.1001criticaldays.co.uk/UserFiles/files/1001_days_jan28_15_final.pdf
2b. Maurer B, Director of the visual develop and laboratory at the Mc Master University in Hamilton, Orlando
(podcast available)
3. http://developingchild.harvard.edu/resources/inbrief-the-foundations-of-lifelong-health
4. http://www.scseec.edu.au/site/DefaultSite/filesystem/documents/Reports%20and%20publications/Publications/
Early%20childhood%20education/Engaging%20Families%20in%20the%20ECD%20Story-Neuroscience%20
and%20ECD.pdf
5. http://www.himh.org.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0004/2767/2-Attachment.pdf
6. http://www.zerotothree.org/public-policy/federal-policy/childwelfareweb.pdf
7. https://aifs.gov.au/cfca/publications/effects-child-abuse-and-neglect-children-and-adolescents (National Scientific
Council on the Developing Child [NSCDC], 2007; Perry, 2001; Streeck-Fischer & van der Kolk, 2000).
8. https://www.childwelfare.gov/pubPDFs/family_reunification.pdf
9. http://www.safenetwork.org.uk/training_and_awareness/Pages/benefits-of-multi-agency-working.aspx http://
www.casey.org/media/prioritizing-early-childhood.pdf p.9
10. https://www.police.vic.gov.au/content.asp?a=internetBridgingPage&Media_ID=72311
11. http://www.wavetrust.org/our-work/the-evidence/6-messages-about-violence/it-can-be-prevented
12. http://www.rch.org.au/uploadedFiles/Main/Content/ccch/TM_ISEIConf07_Nature_role_rships.pdf
13. Keys to CareGiving, Study Guide 2003
14. Australian Childhood Foundation, 2010, Discussion Paper 12, Trauma in Early Years
References
15

16. 53 Adelaide Street Footscray
Victoria 3011 Australia
Tel + 61 3 9689 1577
Fax + 61 3 9689 1922
Web www.tweddle.org.au