Essay On How The Service Assists Parents And Carers

Explain how the service assists parents and carers to prepare for their roles and fulfil their responsibilities.

The Formal Service FACS delivers services to disadvantaged individuals, families and communities across New South Wales. It aims to enable and assist those who are vulnerable to participate in social and economic life and build stronger, more sustainable inclusive communities. The service assists parents and carers to prepare for their roles and fulfil their responsibilities through three key program areas - prevention and early intervention, child protection and out-of-home care. The Prevention and Early Intervention program aims to assist parents and carers to prepare for their roles and fulfil their responsibilities by supplying

strategies to contribute to positive relationships in various environments, which enhances wellbeing and assists meeting a duty of care as a parent or carer. These services include, educational resources which aim to enhance skills and knowledge of parents/carers so that they understand and are better equipped to deal with the day-to-day actives and interactions that are a part of parenting and caring relationships; providing and funding childcare centres and support services for family breakdowns.

As a result, this diverse range of resources offered by FACS enables parents and carers to prepare for their roles and fulfil their responsibilities as it offers advice and support on almost any family orientated situation. For example, the funding of childcare assists parents/carers experiencing financial difficulties to still provide their child with an early education opportunity. Furthermore, this funding assists parents/carers to gain employment and provide for their family as they don’t have the added pressure of paying for childcare. These are examples of opportunities that would not be available without the assistance of FACS. FACS further provides educational resources which assist parents/carers in preparing for their roles, by informing of the development of children and parenting skills and a parents responsibility to meet all aspects of wellbeing of the dependant and a duty of care. Therefore, it is evident that the services of FACS plays a vital role in assisting parents and carers to prepare for their

roles and fulfil their responsibilities as a result of the range of services it has to offer over such a large area.

Discuss how the service can assist in maintaining the wellbeing of the carer and meeting the needs of those who are being cared for

The NSW Department of Family and Community services (FACS) can assist in maintaining the wellbeing of the carer and meeting the needs of those being cared for, with almost no limitations.

The only common limitation on the service achieving this is in specific remote and rural areas of New South Wales. This is due to inconvenience of location and lack of major towns/cities nearby to initiate services that will be widely used. However, FACS aims to overcome these limitations by providing a variety of internet resources for parents/carers and dependants, as well as Parent Line (a 24 hour phone line for parents/carers with children aged 0-18). FACS is committed to the prospect that strong relationships between carers and those being cared for provides the foundation for maintaining a satisfactory level of wellbeing. Without nurturing experiences in a dependants early life, children's wellbeing may be decreased as they face large hurdles. These hurdles can be made worse by a wide range of factors such as complex or unstable family structures, economic hardship, homelessness or sub-standard housing, parental substance abuse or mental illness. Thus, FACS believes that the rights and wellbeing of the dependant must always come first and provides a range of services to ensure that those who are being cared for have all aspects of wellbeing met (emotional, economic, cultural, physical, spiritual and social). To successfully meet the needs of those being cared for, FACS offers the

Youth on Track program which aims to identify young people at risk of becoming involved in crime by utilising the skills of police and teachers. These young people are then assessed and referred onto targeted services that respond to the underlying causes of crime that help to deal with issues such as substance abuse, educational problems, anger issues, mental illness and family dysfunction. Thus, meeting the dependants needs and improving their quality of life by providing them with safety, health and the ability to live a moral/ethical life. In regards carers, FACS can assist in maintaining their level of wellbeing as it provides a range of services focused on this area. For instance, if the carer is experiencing any form of domestic violence, contacting the service can lead to making referrals to family support services, counselling, contacting police, courts/lawyers, hospitals, transport and emergency accommodation. In turn these services available through FACS have been proven to have a positive impact on both the wellbeing of the carer as well as those being cared for; as they provide ongoing support during unfortunate circumstances. Overall, it is evident that FACS is thorough in ensuring that a wide amount of services are available to assist in maintaining the wellbeing of the carer and meeting the needs of those being cared for across New South Wales.