Cafs

Name

Cafs

Legal name

Child and Family Services Ballarat (Cafs)

Website

https://cafs.org.au

Company type

Private

Founded year

1866

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

251–500 employees

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Community Social Services

NAICS

Other Individual and Family Services (624190), Individual and Family Services (6241), Community Food and Housing, and Emergency and Other Relief Services (6242)

SIC

Services-Social Services (8300)

akta.pro primary industry

Family & Parenting Support Services (BPAGAEAC)

akta.pro secondary industries

Domestic Violence & Abuse Support Services (BPAGAEAD), Financial Assistance & Benefits Navigation Services (BPAGAEAK), Disability Services & Independent Living Support (BPAGAEAG)

Keywords

• Community services
• Foster care
• Family support
• Financial counselling
• Out-of-home care

Headquarters

HQ city

Ballarat

HQ country

Australia

HQ region

Oceania

Offices6 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Government Funding: Funded by government departments including Department of Families, Fairness and Housing (DFFH) for various programs including out-of-home care, youth services, and family support.
2. Donations and Fundraising: Community donations, workplace giving, and fundraising initiatives. Donations of $2 or more are tax-deductible as Cafs is a registered charity.
3. Bequests: Legacy gifts left in Wills by supporters, providing long-term financial support for the organization's mission.
4. In-Kind Donations (Thread Together): Thread Together program receives brand-new clothing donations from leading Australian retailers, which are then distributed to people in need. This program receives no government funding and relies entirely on community support.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels6 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Cafs provides free, trauma-informed community services — including foster care, residential care, financial counselling, family support, family violence response, housing and homelessness support, gambling harm support, and youth services — to children, families and individuals across Victoria's Central Highlands. All programs are delivered free of charge to clients, funded through government contracts (Department of Families, Fairness and Housing) and charitable donations, and underpinned by the licensed Trust-Based Relational Intervention (TBRI) trauma-responsive methodology.

Product overview

Cafs (Child and Family Services Ballarat) is a community-based, non-religious organisation serving Victoria's Central Highlands since 1866. Its product portfolio is a multi-service platform organised around a central Trauma Responsive Approach (TBRI) methodology that underpins all programs. The portfolio spans 10 core service areas: Family & Parenting Support (with Early Help Groups, Family Relationship Counselling, Post Separation Support, Family Services, Early Childhood, and Disability Support sub-programs); Family Safety (with The Orange Door, Primary Connections, Strengthening Connections, Family Violence Case Management, MBCP, Safe Connections, and Family Safety Contact sub-programs); Financial Wellbeing (Financial Counselling, Financial Capability Program, and Financial Wellbeing Virtual Helper — an AI chatbot); For Baby's Sake (pregnancy and early-years TBRI-based program, delivered with For Baby's Sake Trust UK); Gambler's Help (counselling, community engagement, venue support); Housing & Homelessness (Creating Connections, Tenancy Advocacy, Homelessness Entry Point, Community Connector); Youth Care (Residential Care, Better Futures, Case Management, Transitional Support, TCPs); Home Based Care (Permanent Care, Foster Care, Kinship Care); QHub (LGBTIQA+ youth drop-in, delivered with Drummond Street Services and Wellways); and Thread Together (new clothing distribution via hub, pick-and-pack, and mobile van). All services are trauma-informed, community-led, and delivered across Ballarat, Ararat, Moorabool, Hepburn, Bacchus Marsh and surrounding regions.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Thread Together: A program providing brand-new clothing to people in need across the Central Highlands region, operating from a clothing hub in Ballarat and a mobile wardrobe van.
• For Baby's Sake
• QHub

Products and services

• Family & Parenting Support A suite of programs supporting families at every stage of life, including Early Help Groups, Family Relationship Counselling, Post Separation Support, Family Services, Early Childhood, and Disability Support services. Provided free of charge to families across the Central Highlands of Victoria.
• Family Safety Programs supporting children, adults and families to break cycles of harm and build safe relationships, including The Orange Door, Primary Connections, Strengthening Connections, Family Violence Case Management, Men's Behaviour Change Program (MBCP), Safe Connections, and Family Safety Contact. Free and confidential.
• Financial Wellbeing Free financial counselling and Financial Capability programs supporting over 1,500 people annually across Ballarat, Ararat, Daylesford, Bacchus Marsh and two local prisons. Includes the Financial Wellbeing Virtual Helper, an AI chatbot available 24/7 that answers questions about budgeting, debts, fines, bills, credit, entitlements, and local support services.
• For Baby's Sake An internationally recognised, evidence-informed program supporting expectant parents during pregnancy and the first two years of a child's life, underpinned by Trust-Based Relational Intervention (TBRI) to break cycles of trauma and family violence. Delivered in partnership with For Baby's Sake Trust UK and Respect Ballarat.
• Gambler's Help Free, confidential gambling harm support including personalised therapeutic and financial counselling, community and school engagement, venue support, and the Be Ahead of the Game School Education Program in secondary schools.
• Housing & Homelessness A range of housing and tenancy support programs including Creating Connections (for young people in Hepburn and Moorabool), Tenancy Advocacy & Advice Program, Tenancy Plus, Homelessness Services Entry Point, and Community Connector, serving private rental, public and community housing tenants with specialised services for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community.
• Youth Care Programs for young people aged 0–25 including Youth Care case management, Residential Care (24-hour DFFH-ordered care), Better Futures (transition from care to independent living aged 15 years 9 months to 21, guided by the Advantage Thinking Framework), Youth Services Case Management, Transitional Support & Male Crisis Service, and Targeted Care Packages (TCPs).
• Home Based Care Support for permanent carers, foster carers and kinship carers across the Central Highlands of Victoria, encompassing Permanent Care, Foster Care, and Kinship Care programs to create nurturing homes for children who cannot live with their birth families.
• QHub A safe, inclusive drop-in space for LGBTIQA+ young people (up to 25 years) and their families, providing mental health support, wellbeing services, and social connection. Funded by the Victorian Government and delivered in partnership with Drummond Street Services, Cafs and Wellways, with welcoming hubs in Geelong and Ballarat and outreach to the Surf Coast.
• Thread Together A clothing support program providing brand-new, unworn clothing donated by Australian retailers to people in need across the Central Highlands. Delivered through a Clothing Hub in Ballarat (11 Grenville St S, Ballarat Central), a Pick and Pack service for referrals, and Victoria's only Thread Together Mobile Wardrobe Van. Funded by local fundraising and donations, with no government funding.
• Foster Care Foster care program placing children aged 0–17 who cannot live safely with their birth families with accredited foster carers in the Central Highlands of Victoria. Includes short-term, medium-term and long-term care options, TBRI-based training, and wraparound support for carers.
• Trauma Responsive Approach (TBRI) An organisational-wide therapeutic methodology grounded in Trust-Based Relational Intervention (TBRI), an attachment-based, trauma-informed model developed by the Karyn Purvis Institute of Child Development. TBRI encompasses Empowering Principles, Connecting Principles and Correcting Principles, embedded across all Cafs services and provided to all foster and kinship carers in Victoria.

Quantifiable outcome

• 90% of Cafs carers built stronger connections with children through TBRI training
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments8 records

Ideal customer profiles8 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability2 records

Feature1 record

Partnerships

Eight partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• Thread TogethercoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerNational not-for-profit partnership providing brand-new clothing donations from Australian retailers for distribution to people experiencing vulnerability across the Central Highlands. Cafs operates Victoria's only mobile Thread Together van.
• For Baby's Sake Trust UKcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerInternational partnership delivering the For Baby's Sake program, an evidence-informed approach supporting families during pregnancy and early childhood to break cycles of trauma and family violence.
• Respect BallaratcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerLocal partner supporting the For Baby's Sake program delivery, providing whole-family therapeutic support for families impacted by domestic abuse.
• Drummond Street ServicescoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner in QHub initiative delivering co-designed, place-based services for LGBTIQA+ young people. QHub welcoming hubs located in Geelong and Ballarat.
• WellwayscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner in QHub initiative providing safe, inclusive support for LGBTIQA+ young people and their families across the region.
• No to ViolencecoreOthersNational peak body membership for organizations and practitioners working with men to end family violence. Reflects commitment to evidence-based practice and accountability.
• National Redress SchemecoreOthersMember of the National Redress Scheme supporting survivors of institutional care abuse and neglect. Committed to transparency, access to historical records, and healing.
• Victorian Redress SchemecoreOthersMember of the Victorian Redress Scheme supporting survivors of institutional care in Victoria.

Scale indicators10 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights7 records

Direct peers

• Berry Street Victoria: One of Australia's largest family services organizations, delivering foster care, family violence, early childhood and youth programs across Victoria. Directly comparable to Cafs for out-of-home care, family support and trauma-informed service delivery in the same state regulatory environment.
• Brotherhood of St Laurence: Melbourne-based research-informed nonprofit tackling child poverty, financial inclusion and family disadvantage. Comparable to Cafs on financial counselling capability, family support programs and evidence-based service model.
• OzChild: Victorian and national provider of foster care, kinship care, family services and youth programs. Direct competitor for DFFH out-of-home care contracts and family support funding in the same regulatory regime.
• Uniting Vic.Tas: Large not-for-profit delivering family services, child protection, housing, foster care and financial counselling across Victoria and Tasmania. Direct peer for Cafs' breadth of programs and DFFH-funded service portfolio.
• Relationships Australia Victoria: Federally funded provider of family relationship counselling, post-separation support, family violence and mediation services across Victoria. Strongly comparable to Cafs' Family & Parenting Support and Family Safety program lines.
• Anglicare Victoria: Major Victorian community services provider offering foster care, kinship care, family services, youth housing and family violence programs. Closely comparable multi-program wraparound model funded through DFFH and donations, operating under the same regulatory framework as Cafs.
• MacKillop Family Services: Catholic agency providing foster care, residential care, education, therapy and disability services across Victoria and other states. Comparable to Cafs on out-of-home care scale, trauma-informed practice and government contracting model.

Broad incumbents

• The Smith Family: National children's education and family support charity operating at much larger scale across Australia. Useful comparable for benchmarking cost-to-serve, fundraising mechanics (workplace giving, bequests) and outcome reporting standards.
• Salvation Army Australia (Salvos): Nationwide provider of emergency relief, family services, housing, financial counselling and gambling support through Doorways and MoneyCare programs. Comparable to Cafs on financial counselling, housing, family violence and gambling services but at much larger national scale.

Emerging players

• Drummond Street Services: Carlton-based specialist in LGBTIQA+ family services and QHub delivery partner. Already a formal strategic partner of Cafs in QHub; an interesting emerging peer on LGBTIQA+ family support that operates at metropolitan scale.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/cafs1865

Compliance8 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Cafs