Grandparents Raising Grandchildren has been supporting older full-time carers of children aged up to 16 on the Central Coast for 16 years.
Run by Central Coast Family Support Services from Kariong, the free program aims to strengthen family relationships and increase the safety and wellbeing of grandparents, children and young people.
“We provide a range of group work programs for grandparents across the Central Coast region, including peer support groups (coffee morning and craft), advice, referrals and support, workshops, parenting education programs, and weekend family events, including a camp for grandparent families,” a spokesperson said.
“The placement of grandchildren with their grandparents has been cited as one of the fastest growing forms of out-of-home placement of children worldwide.
“The full-time parental care of children by grandparents is due to the birth parents’ inability to provide adequate care for their child/ren.”
Now recognised as an international phenomenon, the raising of children by their grandparents is often related to: a shortage of non-relative caregivers; the increasing proportion of hard-to-place children; evidence of poor long-term outcomes in children in non-relative care; and increased sensitivity towards the importance of ongoing connections between children and their biological family and community.
Benefits to grandparent/kinship care have been described in terms of reducing separation trauma, providing greater stability, preserving significant attachments, reinforcing cultural identify and preserving the family unit.
To be eligible for the Grandparents Raising Grandchildren service you need to be a Central Coast resident with the full-time care and responsibility of your grandchild/ren aged up to 16.
For more details call 4340 1585 or email ccfss@ccfss.com.au
Source:
Central Coast Family Support Services