[Sub ID 4586] Coordination of Supports (Anglicare Northern Inland)

Submission ID: 4586
Organisation name: Anglicare Northern Inland
Contact name: Mrs Veronica Rodenburg
State: NSW
Contact email: ceo@acsdarm.org.au
Contact number: 0407077431

Which priority group of the Try, Test and Learn Fund does your idea support?
Young parents

What need or issue are you trying to address?
We are currently trialling novel work with this priority group – young parents in the New England North West region of NSW. We are working with a cohort of young Aboriginal parents under the age of 20 years. Our objectives include: increasing school attendance, decreasing young children’s vulnerability against the Aust. Early Development Index, and building confidence & offer support to pregnant teen students to enable them to continue their schooling.

We have observed great family dysfunction in this priority group, including multiple existing risk factors and have a wide range of negative impacts – poor health, poor educational and social outcomes, a lack of empathy, expectations and support in both Aboriginal & Non-Aboriginal parents. Their barriers to education include: disturbing domestic violence, children having babies without any parental support, homelessness or unsustainable housing, lack of skills, nutrition, drug & alcohol taking and criminal behaviours (where their partners are incarcerated). There is often mental illness and learning deficits often due to their own neglect as children; and all is made worse by leaving school early, being isolated from community by violent partners, mistrust of some services due to their age, substance misuse behaviours & low health and sexual health knowledge.

What is your idea?
Our idea is to develop a service design based on the Co-ordination of Supports model to ensure integrated and cross-sector responses to immediate care concerns while establishing achievable longer term educational & workforce goals. Although this is not a ‘quick fix’ we feel that cultural and very early interventions and education around changing attitudes and expectation about work and community involvement, and values development that fosters empathy towards others.

We have looked at several program designs, including the Danish models of teaching children empathy and the Swedish models of supporting learning of basic values with an emphasis on goals relating to norms & values that overlap with citizenship, and social and emotional education.