NSW's approach to foster care supervised visits has been revamped with new specialist workers.
Family Time helps kids build connections with their birth families, and ease the impact of separation.
Parents and children will now catch-up at "beautiful venues" like parks or ice skating rinks to create "positive memories".
Thousands of children in foster care are improving ties with their birth families, as part of an overhauled supervision system in New South Wales.
More than 300 specialist workers have now been recruited by the Department of Communities and Justice to accompany children on supervised family visits.
These Family Time visits can vary widely in setting — from picnics and sports events, to theme parks and zoos.
Kylie Stone is among the recent recruits, whose own childhood experience of family separation motivated her to join the team.
She grew up in outer-western Sydney, where her father addressed with addiction and went to prison when she was aged 11.
"I just remember waiting for all my letters to come or waiting for phone calls and wanting to go and see my dad," she said.
Now, Ms Stone is determined to make a difference to other families' lives in her old neighbourhood.
One of her proudest moments in the job involved a young mother and her child who had been removed from her care while she sought treatment for an addiction.
"There were days that she did struggle and she's like, 'I don't know if I can do this', and she's now gone through final orders and she's getting her little girl back.
Ms Stone acknowledges while permanent family reunification is not always feasible, supervised contact provides a "safe place" to build connections and ease the impact of separation.
Supervised family visits have long been a feature of the state's foster care system, but previously they were run by caseworkers in the private sector.
It was a system that Families and Communities Minister Kate Washington argued was plagued by poor training and a high staff turnover, which would often make it a distressing experience.
Ms Washington said bringing the program in-house had ensured there was rigorous oversight and training of workers.
There is also a strong focus on making sure Family Time workers are culturally-matched, and to date, almost 20 per cent of the team identifies as Aboriginal.
One of the new program officers is Cody McGrady Miller, a Gomeroi and Wonnurua man who was 12 years old when he was removed from his mother's care by caseworkers and police.
He and his sister were placed in the care of his great-aunty in south-west Sydney, and said the turnover of casework teams "make it really difficult".
"Back then, there was not much understanding around Aboriginal kinship systems and the way in which our communities support children," he said.
Now he works with the Family Time team in Tamworth, and has led efforts to ensure supervised visits are culturally appropriate.
"For us as Aboriginal people, I think that connection is one of the most significant parts of culture, and with the lived experience, I feel like that I can really contribute to ensuring that there's a better experience for children and young people in care," he said.
Supervisors typically write detailed reports after each visit, which is often used for family law or court proceedings.
But Nicholle Andreuzza from the Department of Communities and Justice said there had been a move away from the "clinical" approach to supervising family visits.
"What we're seeing now is beautiful venues," Ms Andreuzza said.
"We're seeing kids and mum and dad at soccer fields with the support of their Family Time work, we're seeing kids having experiences like ice skating, we do some visits in home when safe to do so."
Ms Andreuzza said the Family Time workers also played an "legacy" role, by taking pictures during the visits.
"So for kids when they get older … they're able to look at photographs and look at all of the positive moments that they've had with their mums, dads, brothers, sisters, uncles, aunties," she said.