[Sub ID 4443] Child-parent centres for Indigenous and CALD communities (Centacare Incorporated)

Submission ID: 4443
Organisation name: Centrecare Incorporated
Contact name: Ms Loretta Hardy
State: WA
Contact email: tonyp@centrecare.com.au
Contact number: 0893256644

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?
Often young parents from disadvantaged backgrounds (and their children) have difficulty with generational issues of poverty, little education, childcare, parenting, violence, abuse and family matters. These issues often lead to poor social, educational and employment outcomes for the young parents involved. Without a safe environment in which trust and relationships can be build young parents will not develop their skills, knowledge and never achieve their potential. This necessarily limits their work options or the desire to achieve. The demands of young children also diminishes a parents ability to create the environment that allows them to develop new skills. Centrecare’s family support work over many years, especially with Indigenous families, has made it aware of the above needs and possible responses to it. Centrecare proposes to establish centres targeted at young parents and their children. The centres will be informed by the knowledge and experience obtained from Centrecare’s work in WA. The centres would be attached to primary schools and offer a safe environment where parents can learn life, protective and job ready skills while their children are engaged in learning, safety and fun activities in the same location. The skills achieved through the Centres create opportunities for parents to further their education and obtain employment.

What is your idea?
To provide child-parent centres attached to primary schools in areas of high disadvantage where parents are able to engage before, during and after school in activities and training in life skills, job ready skills, protective behaviours and more, while children are supervised and engaged in activities in relation to learning, safety, protective behaviours, homework and others activities as relevant to culture and local issues. This holistic approach allows both parents and children to learn important life skills, while ensuring children are provided with good nutrition and a safe environment. The model would be implemented in remote Aboriginal communities and areas of high CALD. The added benefits of this model are the diversionary aspects of giving children a safe and supervised environment after school while the parents are at the same time learning educational and life skills that will help to enable them to find jobs or become self employed. Early intervention minimises the possibility of young parents becoming entrenched in life patterns that prevent them maximising on their potential and becoming trapped in unhealthy, dependent lifestyles. Being attached to existing schools makes it easier to capture the target group and disseminate information on available educational and other programs and attract parents to the centres.