Stronger Families and Communities Strategy project profiles: A second look
Stronger Families Learning Exchange Bulletin No.6 Spring/Summer 2004 pp.31-33
The following projects were introduced in the previous issue of the Bulletin. This is an update on their progress.
Boggabilla Community Link Centre
The Boggabilla Community Link Centre in New South Wales which opened in December 2003, offers an integrated mode of service delivery to all members of the community. It has a focus on supporting Aboriginal families who are unemployed and in need of additional family/parenting support, and in facilitating services for Aboriginal families/individuals affected by juvenile justice issues.
What has the project been doing for the last six months?
The Centre has been establishing networks, developing working relationships, and letting the community know about the Centre. In practice, this has meant developing Service Agreements with six of the area's organisations that work with young families, promoting use of the Centre for other groups through meeting with them, being present at local community events and forums, and supporting local groups in their work. For example, we helped a local Aboriginal group prepare a funding submission for a tennis court in Boggabilla as there are no sporting facilities within the township. We have sent out a newsletter to over 500 households in the district and door knocked to tell people about the Centre and invite them to join.
The Centre has also been involved in training and building a team. For example, an Aboriginal Trainee, who is completing a Traineeship in Business, commenced work at the Centre in May, working three days per week. The Community Technology Centre Coordinator commenced work in June. She has been visiting communities, and introducing herself and the work and assistance available to members of the community. A weekly outreach has been operating within Toomelah (15 kilometres from Boggabilla). We have been working in partnership with the local Community Development Employment Program and have a Trainee Community Worker within Centre.
How has the project changed your community? How do you know?
Boggabilla is a small community and we are able to easily observe the use of services. The Centre has developed into the main central point for Boggabilla and surrounding areas to access service providers and online services. It is also the central point for community meetings and consultation and negotiation forums. We have also observed a change in attitude in Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal relations as the Centre has brought together these groups as one whole community. The community has taken ownership of the Centre and, when required, have actively backed moves for better services and an access point for these services. The community input has been extraordinary, which is valued and appreciated which, in turn, sees more of a positive within the community by all.
How do you / the project plan to maintain and build on the work you are doing in the future?
We will continue to develop our working relationships with service providers and community members and through this will build the opportunity for the Centre to fill the gap in service provision and service access.
The present negotiations with relevant service providers and formalising service agreements will ensure continuous availability and presence for the Centre. The community people are supportive and appreciate the central local access that they have and I am sure this will continue well into the future.
The previous months have shown the need for service providers to have a consistent and continual presence within smaller communities such as these, as they have very large social issues and concerns which needs addressing on an ongoing basis.
HIPPY La Perouse
What has the project been doing since the last report in the SFLEX Bulletin?
The HIPPY Project in La Perouse, New South Wales, began in 2003 and is a home-based early intervention and parent education program that works with four and five year-old children and their families to prepare them for school. Since the last Bulletin report (see SFLEX Bulletin No.5 for background information on this project), HIPPY La Perouse has continued to work with families on the program. Home tutors are working with families and helping them to keep up to date.
Since our last article we had a major tragedy in the community. We lost a mother and her three children in a house fire. The four-year-old girl was one of our HIPPY children who the coordinator worked with at the local preschool. As you can imagine this had a major affect on all staff, families and community. We ceased working with families for about three weeks and gradually began working with families again.
HIPPY have also formed another partnership with Social Work students at the University of New South Wales. As part of their course they have to run a major fundraiser for an Indigenous program and they decided to work with HIPPY. We have had several meetings discussing what HIPPY is all about. They held a concert at the University in October and all proceeds will go to HIPPY.
HIPPY has also been working with Liz Orr from the Stronger Families Learning Exchange (SFLEX) on our evaluation. Parents, staff and teachers have been interviewed and we are in the process of interviewing the HIPPY children both past and present. We are looking at two ways of presenting our evaluation: first, a powerpoint presentation that is easy to understand; then a report type document that can be presented to officials (especially when applying for funding).
The SFLEX Training and Support team from the Australian Institute of Family Studies have been great. We have found them easy to work with and very supportive. This has made a big difference for us as we feel comfortable talking with the team, andwe trust their approach and work with us in the writing up of the evaluation.
Who is working on the project? What are your roles?
Sherri Longbottom is the HIPPY La Perouse Coordinator. Vicki Simon and Tracy Kelly are Home Tutors, and we have just employed Vicki Doyle as a an additional home tutor to work with four children at the local preschool, Gujaga.
We have 23 families with age four children (17 Indigenous) and 11 families with age five children (9 Indigenous). We have an Advisory Committee which consists of 12 Community people (including HIPPY staff).
The coordinator is also involved in a lot of interagency committees and always gives input about HIPPY La Perouse.
What have you learned in the last six months that may be of interest and value to other projects?
Your project needs to be flexible to work with the community you are in. You have to find ways of getting to know the needs and wants of your community and have people from the community working on the project. Have patience and respect for the people you work with, especially the families. Don't judge people - give them a chance.
How has the community responded to the project?
It has taken two and a half years but people are talking about HIPPY. A lot of people in the community and outside the community know about the program and what we are doing. We have lots of enquiries from other Aboriginal communities wanting to start up similar projects and we hope one day to be able to have the resources to share our knowledge and skills to assist them to do so.
Red Ochre Links, Dubbo
What has the project been doing since the last Bulletin report?
Red Ochre Links in Dubbo, New South Wales, was introduced in the fifth edition of the Stronger Families Learning Exchange Bulletin (see SFLEX Bulletin No.5 for more information). Since then, the project has been working to develop a Community Action Plan with members of the working party. A strategy day was held to develop the vision, function and strategies for the next twelve months. So far the local Aboriginal communities have responded positively with the projects progress. We have received a lot of interesting feedback from many individuals and families living in this area. The working party came together on 22 October to revisit and revise the Community Action Plan at its present stage.
What has been learned since the last report that may be of interest or value to other developing projects?
I believe that the project has had an influence within the Dubbo Aboriginal Community. Government departments today are asking working party members for information and requesting members to nominate community members to be on project or involved with community development groups. Hence the Aboriginal community and others have become more involved in meetings about issues that affect them and they are having their say about the way services are and should be delivered.
This is evident as members of the local Aboriginal community become more involved in the issues that affect them. The working party encourage the exchange of dialogue between all parties to encourage "yarning" over a barbeque with service providers - an idea that has been taken up by other groups to achieve positive outcomes.
How has the community responded to the projects so far?
Our strategies are to finish the Action Plan by December. This may be ambitious, but members of the working party are committed to getting service providers involved and developing Memorandums of Understanding and Service Agreements with them. From there it will be a matter of the community monitoring the agreements and ensuring that they are being effective.
Wellington Community Networkers
What has the project been doing since the last Bulletin report?
This is an update of the what the News South Wales Wellington Community Networker's project at Barnados has been doing since the last Bulletin report (see SFLEX Bulletin No.5 for background information on this project). We have continued to engage with a wide range of people from mainstream services and Aboriginal families living locally and from nearby Stuart town and Nanima Aboriginal community. The early intervention developments to date focus on ongoing family support, education, social and health programs according to the needs of the Aboriginal community.
Barnardo's Community Networkers are continuing to work with the community to identify and work on strategies to overcome the barriers identified to accessing family services. Strategies have included establishing a women's group for Aboriginal women of all ages, mentoring young men through a TAFE course which will enable them to apply for jobs at the gaol that is being built in Wellington, working with collaboratively with youth and family services to run a program for young people called "Our Journey to Respect", holding supported playgroups, involvement with the homework centre and facilitating referrals of aboriginal clients to other local services. The role of the Community Networkers project and an understanding of that role within the communities is developing and evolving.
What has been learned in the last six months that may be of interest or value to other developing projects?
When we started the project, awareness of the agency, Barnardos, in the community was limited. This affected participation but continues to improve as we progress and members of the Aboriginal community have become more informed about local programs and services.
Developing an understanding of the role of the Community Networkers in the community needs time to build up trust. It is important for our credibility to be seen to be doing something concrete and not just be another service consulting without doing anything for the community. It has also been very important to be seen to be doing something for the whole community and not just selected parts.
Getting other services involved in projects can be frustrating - for example, waiting for a decision from a Board before they can commit to any involvement.
How has the community responded to the project so far?
Because of the very new and different (to anything else in the community) approach of this project, it has been very important to take the time needed to put ideas out into the community, allow people to think and talk about them, ask for their responses and then act on those responses.
Recruiting people who are known and trusted in the community has meant that generally people are very open and willing to talk about the issues in the community with them.
When consulting with people from the community, going into people's homes and talking rather than asking them to come to the office or attend a meeting has been more effective.
When working with the Community Networkers we have been guided by their views in terms of how they wish to work with Barnardos and their community. We have found that the most effective way to "train" is by working closely together in the development of a specific community project, such as the family day, the homework centre and the supported playgroups. We have then been able to offer training in areas of particular interest and need and where they feel they can be most effective. In this way the community workers are immediately on the job, talking with people in the community, developing their network of contacts and at the same time are developing the skills and confidence needed to get the project off the ground with the backing of an agency that is able to give them practical support.
Non-Aboriginal staff have been working collaboratively with the Community Networkers and have developed positive trusting relationships within the Aboriginal communities. One non-Aboriginal Family Support worker had the following to say:
"As a white person going in to a Koori community it has been a whole lot easier having one of the community networkers to introduce me. And I feel the people they have introduced me to are more comfortable this way." (Family Support Worker)
