Kinship Care   For a long time now, The Centre has been advocating on behalf of its members involved with Kinship Care service delivery, and has expressed concern at the slow progress of the Kinship Care model development following the release of the Green Paper on Kinship Care early in 2008.   After the release of the new draft Kinship Care model last year at the Lorne Forum, the Kinship Care Advisory Group, of which the Centre is a part, have concluded that overall the model had merit and was in line with the intent of the Best Interests Case Practice Model. The Centre's Board have also discussed the draft which was emailed to all our relevant members for them to review.  Feedback from our members was forwarded to the Department of Human Services at the end of 2008.   Following the Minister’s endorsement of the new model earlier in 2009 the Advisory Group reconvened as the Kinship Implementation Reference Group with representation from the Centre and a member organisation. The model was to roll out initially across four sub-regions and included 2 Aboriginal Kinship programs.   Currently, The Centre is looking closely at the Government's September announcements which included nearly $30 million over 4 years towards implementing the Kinship Care model across Victoria, as opposed to the prior stipulated sub-regions. 750 case contracted kinship care targets are to be allocated across the State over the next 4 years as part of this funding. Specifications for the new model will be released shortly by DHS, to be followed by detailed information sessions for community service organisations and key stakeholders across each region.