Phone: 0478 261 970
Experienced psychology for out-of-home care and child protection
Trauma-informed support for children in care, their carers, and the agencies working with them — across NSW
Jigsaw provides a dedicated clinical pathway for children and young people in out-of-home care, their foster and kinship carers, and the DCJ and NGO caseworkers supporting them. We complete Children's Court expert reports, conduct comprehensive assessments, deliver trauma-informed therapy, and provide consultation on complex cases. Our clinicians have worked inside the child protection system for years, and we understand both the child and the system around them.
30+ years of combined experience working in OOHC and child protection (ex DCJ; NGO; Justice Health; and Youth Justice experience)
Trusted by non-government and government agencies across Australia
We work alongside leaders in the field on traumatised children and young people
Priority intake for OOHC and Child Protection referrals
Children's Court expert reports
We prepare independent, court-quality psychological assessments aligned to the statutory requirements of the Children and Young Persons (Care and Protection) Act 1998 (NSW). Our reports translate complex trauma and developmental presentations into clear, evidence-based formulations and recommendations that magistrates, legal representatives, and caseworkers can use. Our clinicians have prepared several hundred reports relied upon in NSW Children's Court proceedings, for DCJ, NGO foster care agencies, and legal representatives.
What you can refer for:
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Parenting Capacity Assessments — including restoration potential, willingness and capacity to change, and the impact of intergenerational trauma, mental illness, or substance use on parenting
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Carer Capacity and Suitability Assessments — for foster, kinship, and prospective guardianship carers, including capacity to support a child's cultural and familial identity
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Comprehensive assessment of the child — covering ADHD, autism, FASD, intellectual disability, and developmental or complex trauma, with attention to differential diagnosis
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Section 53 and specific-issue assessments — scoped to the precise question the Court or caseworker needs answered
The cultural lens: For Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families, we assess capacity within the context of kinship, community, and the Social and Emotional Wellbeing (SEWB) framework, so that Western parenting norms aren't unfairly applied and connection to country and culture forms part of the formulation.
Psychological assessment for children, parents, and carers
Comprehensive psychological and neurocognitive assessments for children, young people, and adults involved with child protection or in out-of-home care. Every assessment is trauma-informed, culturally responsive, and written to be useful — to a caseworker, a carer, a school, a paediatrician, the NDIS, or the Court.
Assessments we offer:
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Cognitive and intellectual assessment (WISC-V, WAIS, WPPSI-IV)
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Autism assessment (ADOS-2, ADI-R)
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ADHD assessment
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Foetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD)
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Adaptive functioning and intellectual disability (ABAS-3, Vineland-3)
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Neuropsychological assessment (memory, attention, executive functioning)
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Differential diagnosis where trauma, neurodevelopment, and attachment overlap
What you get: a clear written report with formulation, diagnoses where appropriate, strengths and needs, and concrete recommendations for school, home, therapy, and funding bodies — plus a feedback session for carers, parents, the care team, and the child.ginal and Torres Strait Islander families, we assess capacity within the context of kinship, community, and the Social and Emotional Wellbeing (SEWB) framework, so that Western parenting norms aren't unfairly applied and connection to country and culture forms part of the formulation.
Foetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) assessment
FASD is one of the most under-diagnosed and misdiagnosed presentations in the out-of-home care population, and getting it right changes the trajectory of a child's care, education, and funding. Our clinicians have over 20 years of combined experience assessing children, young people, and adults with confirmed or suspected FASD. We use a multidisciplinary approach, collaborating with paediatricians, psychiatrists, occupational therapists, and speech pathologists to assess across the neurodevelopmental domains in line with the Australian Guide to the Diagnosis of FASD.
Why early diagnosis matters:
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It changes the intervention a child needs — strategies that work for ADHD or trauma alone often fail with FASD
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It informs school accommodations, NDIS eligibility, and funding pathways
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It helps carers and caseworkers reframe behaviour as a brain-based difference rather than non-compliance
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It supports the Court in understanding a young person's capacity, particularly in justice-involved adolescents
Trauma-informed therapy
Individual therapy for children and young people with complex trauma histories, delivered by clinicians who understand the out-of-home care system, the carers, and the case plan. We begin with stabilisation and safety, build the therapeutic relationship, and move into trauma processing only when the child and the system around them are ready.
Modalities we use:
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Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing (EMDR)
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Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (TF-CBT)
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Parts work and Internal Family Systems (IFS)
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Psychodynamic and attachment-based psychotherapy
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Play-based and developmentally sequenced approaches for younger children
What you get: ongoing therapy with regular updates to the care team, carer consultation built into the work, and clear communication about goals, progress, and when to recalibrate.
Foster carer support and training
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Foster, kinship, and guardianship carers do some of the hardest parenting work there is, often for children whose behaviour doesn’t respond to standard parenting approaches. We offer individual carer support, parent coaching, and formal training. Every clinician at Jigsaw has worked extensively inside the out-of-home care system, so we approach this work understanding both the child and the system the carer is navigating.
Individual carer support and parent coaching — one-to-one sessions focused on the specific child in their care, covering psychoeducation on trauma and attachment, making sense of the function of a child’s behaviour, building practical strategies for connection and regulation, and supporting carers through placement transitions, allegations, contact challenges, and burnout. Sessions can sometimes be funded through agency packages, NDIS where applicable, or privately.
Formal training packages include reparative parenting, understanding and working with trauma, an introduction to FASD, cultural awareness for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and young people, and behaviour support for children in out-of-home care.
Case consultation for agencies and carers
When a child in out-of-home care has a presentation that doesn’t quite fit, a behaviour that’s hard to formulate, or a system stuck on what to do next, consultation helps.
Drawing on over 30 years of combined experience in out-of-home care and child protection, our clinicians provide clinical consultation to DCJ and NGO caseworkers, agency leadership, and foster and kinship carers across NSW.
We’ve sat in the case meetings, written the reports, and supported the placements, so we understand the pressures of the system and the urgency of getting it right for the child.
Common areas we're asked about:
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Differential diagnosis and complex trauma — untangling trauma, neurodevelopment (ADHD, autism, FASD, intellectual disability), and attachment
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Neurosequential thinking — drawing on the Neurosequential Model of Therapeutics to make sense of a child’s presentation developmentally and sequence intervention (provided as clinical consultation; we are not certified NMT trainers)
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What assessment and intervention a child or family system actually needs, and in what order
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Placement stabilisation — formulating behaviour, supporting carers, and identifying what’s driving placement risk
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Problematic and harmful sexualised behaviour (PHSB) in children and adolescents
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Carer and team consultation, including vicarious and secondary trauma
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Cultural considerations when working with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children, young people, and communities
Every consultation ends with clear, documented, practical next steps. Consultation can be delivered by video, on-site at your agency, or in our rooms in Drummoyne.
