Our Staff

Stephanie Smith

PSP OOHC Operations Manager

I am a Gamilaroi woman from Walhollow area. I have lived most of my life on Awabakal and Wonnarua land. I began working in Out of Home Care and started at Wandiyali as a caseworker in 2013 and then moved to the Carer Unit in 2014. I am currently in the PSP OOHC Coordinator position. I had previously worked with Hunter New England Health with New Directions which is an Aboriginal Child and Family Health Service.

I feel strongly about building and strengthening connections between the children in care, the carers, our families, the community and I am passionate about Aboriginal children being placed with family when possible. We as an organisation need to be encouraging and supporting the Community to know about and be proud of their culture. I am looking forward to working with the OOHC team to continue to build relationships and strengthening ties with the community through our work with foster carers, the parents and families, other Wandiyali services and also other stakeholders and services within all communities to ensure the children in care maintain their identity and strong connections to culture, returning to family when possible and being the new leaders in their communities.