The south-west is struggling to keep up with the number of vulnerable children in desperate need of support. A lack of Child Protection officers, foster carers and the region's chronic housing shortage is impacting south-west welfare agencies' ability to provide critical services. Representatives from several agencies met in Warrnambool this week to discuss the key challenges and opportunities for children and their families in the community. The Centre for Excellence in Child and Family Welfare (The Centre) facilitated a panel discussion between local sector leaders, before opening up the floor for discussion. The Centre's chief executive officer Deb Tsorbaris told The Standard the number of children needing care and protection was increasing but the region's strained resources were struggling to keep up. She said a lack of affordable and available housing was prohibiting vulnerable families from finding homes and agencies from retaining staff. Ms Tsorbaris said there were a lot of vacancies at vital south-west agencies, including Child Protection. "The lack of housing seems to be a major contributor to not being able to fill the roles available," she said. "People aren't going to come to the region if they can't get a house." A leaked report from The Department of Families, Fairness and Housing (DFFH) showed there were concerns about the area of Child Protection that covers Warrnambool, Portland, Hamilton and Horsham, Nine reported last month. "[Wimmera south-west area] has had ongoing difficulties in recruiting and retaining staff in Hamilton, Portland and Horsham offices, particularly senior practitioners," the document said. "Combined with staff turnover, planned and unplanned leave, and WorkCover claims, there has been insufficient 'critical mass' to manage the workload in these locations. This has led to high rates of cases awaiting allocation and concerns about practice quality." It was reported in April that 52 per cent of positions in the combined Hamilton and Portland office were vacant. Ms Tsorbaris said there was also a lot of pressure on support services which prevented the early intervention needed to avoid reaching crisis point. She said south-west agencies were doing the best they could with the resources they had, but she was still hearing of parents unable to take children to school because they couldn't afford petrol, or put food on the table because the cost of living crisis was so great. Ms Tsorbaris had also heard of families travelling from Warrnambool to Melbourne to access essential services, such as mental health and residential drug and alcohol rehabilitation facilities. Last week The Standard reported it took a Framlingham man eight hours on public transport to get from Warrnambool to the Wulgunggo Ngalu Learning Place, which offers culturally appropriate housing with drug and alcohol treatment in Gippsland. "We can't have these situations," Ms Tsorbaris said. "I understand resources are tight but for some of these key regions, we have to make sure these essential services are available. "When services can't keep up with demand, you can't work with these families early enough so issues can be avoided, and that's when Child Protection gets involved. "That then places a huge demand on Child Protection as a consequence." The Western Region Alcohol and Drug Centre (WRAD) has been campaigning for Warrnambool's residential rehabilitation centre The Lookout for more than five years but has repeatedly missed out on state government funding. WRAD operations manager Mark Powell said the centre provided a unique health contribution to the community with a broad range of medical services but The Lookout was the missing piece. He said the residential facility would offer 24-hour support with staff on hand. "A program like The Lookout offers people hope that they can make change," he said. The Centre's CEO said more accessibility to essential services in the regions would relieve pressure on the whole system. "The last thing you want is a family having contact with Child Protection when it's not needed and so if we can provide extra support for them, that is a great outcome," Ms Tsorbaris said. She said more investment was needed in early intervention and with urgent financial assistance. "If a family can't pay a bill, or just need rent for that week, we need to step up and support them so we aren't seeing people lose their housing," she said. Brophy Family and Youth Services' housing support manager Leah McDonald said the housing shortage created a lack of social connection for parents and children, and reduced ability to remain settled in communities, work, schooling, sports groups, medical and allied health services. "When vulnerable families have no option but to uproot their lives due to being priced out of the rental market, or because overcrowding, couch surfing and seeking shelter with friends or family are no longer viable options, families are forced away from the familiar security and support that can take many months or years to rebuild," she said. A DFFH spokeswoman did not respond to specific questions but said the state's Child Protection workforce did an "enormous amount of work to keep children and families safe". "Which is why we're taking action to ensure they have the support, skills and resources they need to perform this vital role," she said. She said the department's $5 million Child Protection Workforce Strategy was boosting workforce numbers, establishing a learning centre for practitioners, expanding psychological support programs and providing additional support to help practitioners relocate to areas where recruitment was. Information obtained by The Standard revealed the department was actively recruiting Child Protection practitioners and support to staff to boost workforce capacity and relieve pressure on current staff. The region's housing shortfall can clearly be seen in the region's reduced workforces, Ms McDonald said, with professionals required to relocate and local hospitality and retail reducing opening hours because of the lack of staff. She said the demand for emergency and short-stay accommodation had also increased while the number of accessible providers had dropped. "Local motels have recently gone through some ownership changes or demolition, which is proving challenging," she said. "All support services are relying on the same few motels to provide shelter to those without a home. This support is unsustainable for the families or individuals to fund solely by themselves as motel accommodation is an unaffordable short-term solution and never a medium or long-term option." A Homes Victoria spokesperson said 15 new homes were completed and 75 underway as part of $29 million invested across Warrnambool under the Big Housing Build. "In addition to this, $20 million has been invested in Glenelg to build 61 new homes, and $16 million in Southern Grampians to build 44 new homes." The Big Housing Build program is a $5.3 billion investment in social and affordable housing. The Centre, which is the peak body for child and family services in Victoria, engaged with community leaders, and services workers in Warrnambool this week as part of its Connecting Communities Regional Tour. Ms Tsorbaris said another challenge highlighted was the region's desperate need for foster carers. "There are more children coming into care than the system can cope with," she said. "I think it's a combination of cost of living pressures and the complexity of children. "These are people that have suffered a lot of harm in their little lives. If we can't place a child (with a carer) we look to family members on a short-term basis or residential care but what we actually need is a place based on what they need, not on what is available. They have to be with the right carer in the right placement." Ms Tsorbaris urged governments to provide more incentives, including higher allowances and a wage, including superannuation, for carers who left employment to look after vulnerable children. IN OTHER NEWS Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can access our trusted content: