Family & Youth Support
The Family Support Service provides home and centre based services to families in the nominated local government areas on the Lower North Shore and Northern Beaches. Services include group work, advocacy, casework, counselling, community development, referral and information. Assistance can be provided to increase parenting skills, manage family behaviours in a positive way, recognise strengths within families, obtain practical assistance and increase the potential for family reconciliation.
Young Person’s Community Care is a prevention of homelessness program whose focus is to assist young people to remain in the home. The primary target group is young people aged 12-18 years who may have behavioural difficulties who may be from a range of socio-economic, religious or culturally diverse backgrounds.
It incorporates 3 areas of specialisation to prevent homelessness from occurring: Community Carers, Youth Mentoring and Family Support Service.
Disability Services
The Community Access Day Service provides on-going day-to-day support for service users to gain greater access to and participate in community-based activities. The program may focus on continuing education to develop skills and independence in a variety of life areas (e.g. self-help, social skills and literacy and numeracy) or enjoyment, leisure and social interaction.
The Community Participation Program aims to assist young people with a disability to develop the skills they need to work towards their goals, increase their independence and participate as valued and active members of the community. Naremburn Family Centre offers Individual Community Based Options, in which each young person is supported to design their own program of activities in a range of community settings. Their program makes the best possible use of supports available to all members of the community.
Transition to Work is a two year focussed program which aims to assist school leavers who, because of their disability, require more support in the short term to assist transition to employment (open or supported), or enrolment in vocational education and training, or enrolment in higher education.
Employment Services
The Personal Support Programme (PSP) is designed to help people on Centrelink benefits who have personal issues that make it difficult for them to comply with Centrelink requirements to stay connected to the economic and social life of the community.
Some people in complex and difficult circumstances find it hard to get a job or benefit from employment assistance programmes. PSP is a bridge between short-term crisis services and employment assistance programmes like Job Network.
The Job Placement, Employment & Training (JPET) program addresses the multiple non-vocational barriers faced by JPET Participants, providing them with support to overcome their barriers and achieve greater economic and social participation. The JPET target group includes young people aged between 15 and 21 years who are homeless or at risk of homelessness, or who face multiple non-vocational barriers.
Counselling
Family Relationships Counselling provides counselling to adults, young people, couples, and their children at all stages of the relationship cycle including pre-marriage, marriage (including de facto relationships), separation, divorce and remarriage. Counselling supports the target group to establish and maintain valued family relationships as well as counselling about the care, welfare and development of children of the relationship.
Parenting & Relationship Education
Facilitating Open Couple Communication, Understanding & Study (FOCCUS™) is a self-diagnostic inventory designed to assist couples prepare for marriage and their lives together. It enables couples to earn more about themselves and their unique relationship and to identify and work through various issues before marriage.
This course provides individualised couple feedback on where each partner stands in regard to topic areas important to marriage. The program identifies and explores significant areas for discussion that are relevant to their relationship, in a safe and confidential environment. There are two private sessions, which are facilitated by an accredited FOCCUS™ relationship Educator.
The Partners For Life group course presents couples with the opportunity to explore their relationship and to grow in knowledge of themselves and their partners. Qualified Relationship Educators present various topics significant to marriage. Couples participate in exercises which enable them to relate the information to their own relationship. The course involves large group input, small group discussions and personal couple sharing. Course topics cover:
· Expectations of marriage
· The influence of the family of origin
· The process of the relationship
· Self - responsibility in the relationship
· Effective communication skills
· Conflict management strategies
· Sexuality, intimacy, fertility awareness
What About the Kids (WATK) is a course designed to assist separating parents. This is a two session course for either separated mums or dads but not both partners of the same former relationship. It provides information to assist participants in understanding and managing their emotions around separation (e.g. loss, grief, and anger). It also assists them understand their children’s feelings and provides information and how to help their children manage these feelings. Major course themes include effective communication, co-operative parenting, and how to avoid or minimise conflict.
Hey Mum! and Hey Mum! for Separated Mums provides mothers with opportunities to consider and learn more about their role as mothers and how they can increase their parenting skills and relationships with their children.
Supported Playgroup
Centacare provides Supported Playgroup two days per week to carers/parents who primarily reside in the Willoughby, Lane Cove, North Sydney and Mosman local government areas. The program services approximately 25-30 families per week.
The supported playgroup:
· Provides a social opportunity for children.
· Helps to build communities and networks.
· Provides group times involving language, music, movement and games.
· Creates opportunities for families to meet and support each other.
· Supports parents through enhancing their parenting skills.
· Empowers families to become self sufficient and independent in running playgroup.
· Provides families with information and referral to other community services.
· Identifies and addresses developmental delay issues of children with parents/carers.
· Supports people from Culturally and Linguistically Diverse backgrounds by being culturally sensitive and appropriate.
Many families attending the group are referred by Case Workers that work within Centacare’s Family Support Service. Families benefit from the link and are provided with additional information, counselling, advocacy and referral services. Families can also be referred through friends or by other agencies.
Domestic Violence Court Support
The aim of Domestic Violence Court Support is to provide women and children experiencing domestic violence with support, advocacy, referral and information. This is achieved primarily through assisting these women and children to access appropriate legal representation and to effectively navigate the legal system to help put an end to the violence they are experiencing.