IMPACT offers the shared knowledge, tools and practices to strengthen the delivery of a sustainable and intentional, growth-focused care—creating meaningful outcomes tailored to every layer of the care system.
Thriving children, young people & adults
IMPACT builds the awareness, skills, and resilient mindsets needed to strengthen:
Wellbeing, resilience and social-emotional learning (SEL)
Self-awareness and self-esteem
Capacity to navigate complexity
Ability to respond rather than react to stressors
Living with intention and values alignment
Problem-solving and goal-setting
Achieving what truly matters
Building positive relationships
Making a meaningful and lasting impact
Responsive care and relational support
IMPACT builds the shared language, knowledge, skills and methods to:
Deliver trauma-informed, wellbeing-responsive caregiving and support as a way of thinking and being
Provide neuro-affirming, developmentally-responsive care
Understand child and family complexity and the underlying why of behaviour
Respond to child and family needs rather than react to surface behaviours
Intentionally grow child and family capacity in a personalised way
Offer intentional, moment-to-moment support, teaching and coaching conversations
Use side-by-side What–What–How® Growth Action Planning
Work side-by-side with children and families with shared intent
Wellbeing and trauma responsive communities
IMPACT offers a common meta-cognitive competency system and flexible service suite to:
Meet the professional development needs of both foster families and the broader care community
Build wellbeing- and trauma-responsive care communities
Embed shared language, knowledge, skills and methods to strengthen existing child protection programs, training and initiatives
Provide a systemic method to intentionally respond to complex care situations
Deliver an evidence-based practice culture
Deliver trauma-responsive and child-centred practice consistently—from the system level to moment-to-moment care
Break down silos between children, foster families and the child protection system, fostering a culture of shared intent
Why Do Foster Care Programs Apply IMPACT?
Increased Levels of Child and System Complexity
- IMPACT provides the why behind child, family and system complexity. It equips families and support workers with intentional, tailored responses that address each child and family’s unique needs and context—whether shaped by trauma, culture, neurodivergence, development or other factors. This shifts practice from reacting to behaviour toward responding with awareness and intent.
Sustainable and Integrated Approach to Care and Support
- IMPACT builds a common language, knowledge base and set of skills that integrate seamlessly with existing child protection programs, training, assessment and funder needs. The result is a sustainable child-centred and growth-focused practice culture.
Strengthen Collaboration and Reduce Caregiver and Practitioner Burnout
- At the core of best-practice foster care support is collaboration—between children, foster parents, placement support workers, child protection social workers and allied health professionals. IMPACT places collaboration at the centre, fostering ‘shared intent’ and collective action. Strong collaboration is one of the most powerful protective factors against caregiver and practitioner burnout and a key driver of collective wellbeing.
Suite of Scaffolded and Integrated Professional Development Activities
- Many child protection systems understand that to build collective capacity for trauma-responsive child-centred care, we need to move beyond just “training” and implement holistic and integrated professional development that meets the needs of families and practitioners. IMPACT offers a suite of professional development workshops, coaching modules, resources and factsheets that are integrated through shared language, knowledge, skills and methods. In other words, all IMPACT professional activities scaffold and build upon each other.
Our Offering to Foster Care Programs
We offer the IMPACT Program through a Four-Step Service Offering that meets children, families, support workers and care communities at their unique starting point.
1. Taste Tester
Intent
For those new to the IMPACT Program, this entry-level step offers children, foster families, support workers and care community members a flexible and accessible way to explore the core concepts of wellbeing science, trauma, intentional practice and human development.
Key Features
Free access to videos, blogs, fact sheets and resources.
Introductory, non-accredited online training.
2. Explorer
Intent
The Explorer Step is designed for foster families, support workers, practitioners and leaders who want a deeper understanding of the IMPACT Program—its language, intent, scope and the breadth of its practical application.
Key Features
This phase provides fee-for-service IMPACT Coaching Modules (60–90 minutes) and Specialist Workshops (3-hours), selected from a flexible menu of professional development learning options. Each session is tailored to the unique needs and context of the care community.
For care settings, a selection of topics include:
Understanding trauma and its impact.
- Disentangling trauma and neurodivergence.
- Child-centred practice and child-centred consequences.
Supporting and responding to children with complex needs.
Neurodivergence and autism – from understanding to action.
Building shared intent with children, families and broader care community.
Responding rather than reacting.
Remaining grounded under pressure.
- Caregiver and practitioner wellbeing, burnout, compassion fatigue and vicarious trauma.
Supporting children who hurt others by growing self-regulation and empathy.
Attachment theory and attachment-responsive caregiving.
- Preventing and responding to self-harm and suicidal ideation.
- Transition to independent living.
3. Foundations
Intent
This step provides accreditation to the IMPACT Foundations level. It equips and empowers foster families, support workers and practitioners with a shared language, knowledge, skills and methods to:
- Deliver trauma-informed, wellbeing-responsive support as a way of thinking and being.
- Understand child and family complexity and the underlying why of behaviour.
- Respond to child and family needs rather than react to surface behaviours.
- Intentionally grow child and family capacity in a personalised way.
- Provide intentional, moment-to-moment support, teaching and coaching conversations.
- Apply side-by-side What-What-How® Growth Action Planning.
- Partner with children, families, social worker and the care community with shared intent.
Key Features
This step includes the following accredited IMPACT training and coaching modules (contextualised to program), delivered over a 12-month implementation period:
- Co-designed implementation and positioning plan.
- 1-Day IMPACT Foundations: Introduction to Intentional Trauma-Responsive Practice for Foster Care.
- 90-minute coaching module: Grounded.
- 90-minute coaching module: Respond to Need.
- 90-minute coaching module: Growth Action Planning.
- 3-hour online self-paced workshop: Trauma-Responsive Practice as a Way of Thinking and Being.
Basic member access to the online IMPACT resource library is included.
4. Embedding
Intent
The Embedding Step offers a comprehensive, fully supported solution for foster care programs or child protection agencies seeking to build a whole-of-program approach to:
- Professional development.
- Child, foster family and practitioner wellbeing.
- Child-centred, neurodiversity affirming and trauma-responsive practice approach.
- Implementing a cohesive and evidence-based practice culture.
- Building wellbeing- and trauma-responsive care communities.
- Implementing a systemic approach to intentionally responding to child and family complexity.
- Fostering a collaborative culture among children, families, support workers and the broader child protection community.
Key Features
This step is delivered over a 12–36 month implementation period through a co-designed partnership between LBI and the care community. Capacity building is guided by seven-step evidence-based implementation strategy that has been refined, tested and evaluated across multiple contexts.
Programs or agencies participating in this step receive full access to the IMPACT Accreditation System and all core service features, including:
- Accredited IMPACT Training: – all site staff accredited to IMPACT Foundations (see previous step).
AI-activated embedding tools.
Resources and curriculum.
Specialist workshops and coaching modules.
Online Learning Management System.
All training, workshops, and resources are contextualised to the care community, with embedding supported through LBI-led implementation and/or clinical coaching, supported by a suite of embedding and deepening modules whose growth intent (or learning competencies) is co-designed with the program’s leadership team. This ensures practical, real-world application and depth.
Long-term sustainability is secured by accrediting local IMPACT Coaches and Trainers, empowering the care community to lead and extend the work independently. Programs also gain full member-level access to the IMPACT online resource library.
Community Partner Stories
Across Foster Care
Further Information
If you are interested in learning how IMPACT can deliver meaningful outcomes across your foster care or child protection community, please contact Ivan Raymond on ivan.raymond@lbi.org.au.