Woodville Community Unit

The Woodville Community Unit was the new name given to the Woodville Assessment Unit in 1992. Run by the government in Woodville, the Unit provided longer term accommodation for State Children and supported them to integrate back into the community. The Unit closed in 1993.

The Woodville Community Unit was the new name for the Woodville Assessment Unit from 1992. Run by the Department for Family and Community Services in Woodville, the Unit provided longer term accommodation for State Children and supported them to integrate back into the community. Units usually accommodated up to eight children.

A community unit was a smaller group residential care unit. This term was used from the 1970s for longer term small group care. These units were to provide care and support for a range of children in State ‘care’ including young people on remand or children considered to be at risk. Some units catered specifically for children with severe behavioural problems. Community units also assisted in the process of transitioning young people towards independent living. In the late 1970s and early 1980s some government cottages were renamed Admission or Community units.

During the 1990s, because of a lack of foster care or residential care placements, children as young as eight were often placed in the same units as young people in their upper teens.

The Woodville Community Unit closed in 1993.