Andrew McCausland

Andrew began his working life as a secondary school teacher demonstrating an early commitment to assisting disadvantaged children to reach their potential.

While studying art at RMIT and exhibiting for a decade, Andrew worked for the Salvation Army Crossroads Network establishing education programs for children and young people facing multiple complex barriers. He also developed community art projects and was a founding committee member of Grey Area Artist run exhibition space.

Andrew worked at Northern Melbourne Institute of TAFE, designing innovative programs to engage young people with complex needs to develop educational pathway plans. In 2011 he delivered a Victorian Government Access and Equity pilot program at Federation University Ballarat. The program aimed to improve tertiary level education participation for young people post out-of-home care.

Andrew has worked with Berry Street since 2012 providing training, assessment and support to foster carers, as well as providing trauma training to schools. During his time here, Andrew has worked as a Senior Case Manager and Team Leader of Home-based Care and Manager of education and early intervention programs. He has incorporated brain-based theories into his practice that change the learning trajectories of children and young people who have experienced trauma.

Andrew has developed a pilot project that seeks to build capacity for foster carers to deliver informal learning in home-based care placements called the “Raising the Bar” Project. He presented this model at the 2014 Australian Community Workers Association national conference and developed a training manual for case workers and foster carers. He has also managed the Navigator Pilot Project in 2017 for the Department of Employment and Training in the Central Highlands region.

He continues to develop and deliver training to foster carers, case workers and teachers in collaboration with the Foster Care Association of Victoria, Department of Education, the Catholic diocese, and the Berry Street Education Model (BSEM).