You are in an archived section of the Child Family Community Australia (CFCA) site. Publications in this section were produced by the former Communities and Families Clearinghouse Australia which is now part of CFCA. Please visit Child Family and Community Australia website for a full list of our publications and other resources.
Key ingredients of effective interventions
10. Social inclusion initiatives
The programs highlight various pathways for increased social and community involvement of parents in highly disadvantaged areas. Engagement is an ongoing challenge, although the involvement of local schools has helped to recruit parents to one particular program.
Underpinning the programs is a facilitation approach to enable a self-directing group, with the role of the worker (or workers) gradually diminishing as the group becomes self-sufficient. To a large extent, learning and skill development is achieved through peer learning and support. While one volunteer program has a structured program, the format, structure and activities of other programs are largely determined within the group. Groups meet regularly in a safe and accessible environment and are provided with resources (e.g., venue and computers).
People can effect change in themselves and their community, if supported, encouraged and trusted. (Project Manager, PAGE)
I feel good about myself because I’m doing something for the community. When you look how far we’ve got, and how others have listened to us, it’s wonderful. I feel we’ve achieved things by talking to people. Once I would have thought I’m a nobody but now I know I can speak out … and you know what? You know how we talk a lot about people “above us”, well, we have found out there is no one above us! (Animation Project Participant)
The pathway to community involvement is graduated (e.g., starting with a training course before work experience, learning by doing), and several pathways to participation are available, such as volunteering, mentoring and participation in community events and school activities. Programs lay the groundwork for capacity-building by using the group activities, such as group cooking and tackling community issues, as a vehicle for building social support within the group.
Most programs facilitate pathways to education and employment through the provision of training and other personal capacity-building opportunities (e.g., computer lessons, leadership courses, diverse work experiences, mentoring, etc.). Most of the programs have a strong leadership component that is nurtured either through formal leadership courses or micro-skilling, such as providing participants with opportunities to chair a meeting, take minutes, organise events and conduct supervised intake sessions. Involvement of the wider community in program activities encourages parent participation and social inclusion.
Source: Promising Practice Profiles: Final report (PDF 2.2 MB) (Soriano, Clark & Wise. 2008). p46
List of key ingredients:
- Parenting and family support
- Parenting support for young parents
- Early learning and care
- Supporting "first-time" mothers
- School readiness
- Supporting children with additional needs
- Supporting "at risk" youth
- Capacity-building for service providers and enhancement of service provision
- Community "hubs"
- Social inclusion initiatives