Kinship Family Support

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Kinship Family Support

Sometimes a kinship family's support needs are quite significant and a more specialised service may be required. The Child FIRST Intake service will decide if a kinship family is appropriate for this service, and if so, will further assess the kinship family situation to determine the supports required.

As part of the range of services that can be accessed through Child FIRST, OzChild will shortly be providing a specialist Kinship Family Support worker. This worker will work with Child FIRST and a range of Family Services to provide more specialist support to kinship carers, who are eligible for Child FIRST services living in the local government areas (see below).

Who will be able to use Family Support?

Kinship families who have:

met the eligibility criteria for Child FIRST
a private/informal kinship arrangement in place
a permanent care arrangement
a kinship arrangement that has been made with the support of Child Protection Services but is not currently receiving support from OzChild's Placement and Support Service.

What does Family Support offer?

The Kinship Family Support worker will provide a consultative role to Child FIRST. In addition, the worker may be available for joint visits and on occasion, some short term, brief and occasional support, depending on the needs of the kinship family.

How to access Family Support?

The Kinship Family Support worker can be accessed through Child FIRST.

If you think you can use the services of Child FIRST you can contact your local Child FIRST directly:

Child FIRST area	Local government area
Frankston / Mornington Peninsula	Frankston, Mornington Peninsula	1300 721 383
Inner Middle	Bayside, Glen Eira, Kingston, Port Phillip, Stonnington	1300 367 441
Outer South	Greater Dandenong, Casey, Cardinia	(03) 9705 3939

About Child FIRST

Child FIRST also has extensive information about the services that families can access in their local areas. The primary purpose of Child FIRST is to ensure that vulnerable children, young people and their families are linked effectively into relevant services.

Please remember to tell the Child FIRST intake worker that you are a kinship carer.

OzChild has a history of helping children which dates back to 1851. Today, the organisation is continuing to build on this strong foundation, with around 170 staff and 500 volunteers.

We run multidisciplinary and culturally aware programs across a range of areas to strengthen the potential and life opportunities of Australian children. Services include foster care, kinship care, child and family support, disability, training and consulting, outreach services, school and community support and youth pathways.

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Tannesha

Tannesha, aged 4, was living with her mother, Abby, who was dealing with mental health and drug abuse issues. Abby was unable to provide a safe and stable home, and Tannesha was placed in out of home care. Tannesha was traumatised by being placed out of her mother's care and became withdrawn and refused all food.