Promising Practice Profiles

Onkaparinga Community Connections Project

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Project practice

School-based approach to building community capacity, resilience and self-reliance

Project undertaken by

Partnership between Hackham West Community Centre (HWCC), Noarlunga Downs P-7 School and Hackham South School CPC-7

Start date

October 2005

Focal areas

Program

Local Answers (LA)

Issue

The Onkaparinga Community Connections Project (OCCP) is a partnership between Hackham West Community Centre (HWCC), Noarlunga Downs Primary School and Hackham South Primary School. It helps to build community capacity and develop personal skills in the communities of Noarlunga Downs, Hackham West and Huntfield Heights. With an average SEIFA Index rating of 838, this is an area where residents are faced with significant challenges. The area has high levels of mental health problems, family instability and transience. Substance abuse and gambling compound this socio-economic disadvantage.

In 2004, a project known as the Corner House Project was established to provide direct support to families identified by Families SA as being in high need of support. A large number of these families came from Noarlunga Downs P-7 School indicating a particularly high level of need in that school's catchment area. Together, it was decided to seek funding for a project that could focus more closely on the needs of these families. In discussion with HWCC about a project partnership, it was decided to include Hackham South Primary School in the project partnership. The needs of the families in the catchment area of that school were almost identical and the Community Centre was aware that, of the three nearby schools, there were very few families from these two schools accessing the programs at the centre - possibly due to geographic and transport issues.

At the beginning of the project in late 2005, a survey of local community members, community workers and counsellors identified the following risk factors for local families:

Program context

Since 1998, HWCC has been working with local schools to increase family participation in school and community life and increase school retention. The focus on the most vulnerable and disadvantaged families is based on the observation that those families who are most in need of support are frequently the families least likely to access community services.

The Onkaparinga Community Connections Project (OCCP) has a primary focus on the families of the two school communities, but is inclusive of the broader local community. The community includes Indigenous families, a small number of families from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds, individuals living with physical and mental disabilities and a number of socially isolated public housing tenants aged over 50 years.

Community capacity-building activities serve to build social capital and provide participants with opportunities to develop transferable mentoring, leadership and project management skills. These skills, in turn, increase opportunities for economic self-reliance. The main activities of the project include:

Project goal

Strengthen support to families and communities by delivering better services and addressing unmet needs through the building of partnerships between local services.

Objectives

  1. Parents and families are linked to community and family support through their local school. 
  2. Parents are actively engaged in the planning and delivery of capacity building activities in partnership with their local school. 
  3. Parents are involved in activities that will strengthen their potential to improve their economic self-reliance.

Practice description

The Onkaparinga Community Connections Project addresses the issues facing the local community by providing brief counselling and capacity building activities while facilitating access to local service providers in the context of a safe, comfortable and accessible school environment.

The project has three main aspects, as described below.

On-site personal and familial therapeutic support

The OCCP worker provides strengths-based brief therapy to individuals and families on site. Therapy and counselling serve as a means of establishing relationships with parents and individuals in both of the school communities. It also provides a means of gaining information about local issues, which can guide community capacity building activities. For example, in being alerted to common issues (such as family violence, dealing with challenging behaviours in children and dealing with anxiety and depression), the project has been able to provide adult classes and activities to help families and individuals to better deal with these issues.

Flexible referral system

Families can self-refer, be referred by another family member, a community member, a school staff member or a local service agency. Initially, most referrals came from school staff, but as the project worker and her role became better known, more self-referrals were made. Self-referrals often followed a recommendation from someone else who had received support from the worker.

A unique aspect of the project is that support is often provided in an informal way rather than in a formal 'counselling' appointment. Similarly, follow-up can be conducted in an informal way such as when passing them by in the school yard. People accessing the service often commented that they felt more comfortable talking to someone they knew in an environment where they felt at ease rather than contacting an unknown service. Also, the comment was often made that they did not know where to go for help or how to go about it. Lack of confidence was another reason cited for not accessing services outside the school.

Capacity building projects as described above also serve as a connection point for individuals who may benefit from brief therapy and referral to relevant local services. The presence of the project worker at most of these activities enabled her to become well known to community members, thus making people feel more comfortable about seeking formal or informal support for personal/family issues. Capacity-building projects include:

These activities are elaborated on below.

Collaborative partnerships with local services

Project partnerships and collaborative working relationships with local health services and other community service agencies is a feature of OCCP. This has ensured the provision of effective referrals for short- and long-term support, when required. Partnerships and collaborative working relationships have been established by connecting workers from local service agencies with the project in a variety of ways (e.g., establishing and maintaining a Community Garden at Noarlunga Downs Primary School, planning and implementing Anti-Poverty activities at Hackham South Primary School, working together on committees/groups to address local issues, case-management, consultation and sharing of knowledge and expertise.

Community-initiated capacity building projects

Each school has established a Community Action Group (CAG) as the key decision-making group for the project. This group of community volunteers meets regularly and uses feedback from the community to plan and implement community capacity building-activities, which include groups, classes, workshops, training, community events and the establishment of a community garden.

The formation of the CAG within each school community early in the life of the project provided the structures that established the vision for the program and the major themes and issues to be addressed. Through the school newsletters, the community was informed of the intention to establish these groups and were invited to volunteer. It was mainly through personal approaches by the project worker, school staff and key community members that these groups were established. Once established, membership remained quite stable. At one school, due to a common interest in scrapbooking, a number of the members were recruited through the scrapbooking class, which was held on the same day as the CAG meetings.

Activities such as adult classes (e.g., computing, scrapbooking, first aid), and community activities (e.g., Anti-Poverty Week projects at Hackham South School and the community garden at Noarlunga Downs School) have a practical and positive focus that reflect the needs and interests of both school communities and help to build relationships between families. The activities are planned by regularly consulting with the school community through school newsletters, surveys and personal contact.

In the community garden project, community members ranging in age from their 30s to their 70s volunteer their time to work alongside students and share their knowledge of gardening. In the scrapbooking groups, conversations about parenting and life issues occur between the members which include young mums in their 20s, parents in their 30s and 40s and older grandparents.

Community ownership of the CAGs has ensured that project activities have proceeded at a pace determined by the group. As skills and self-confidence have developed, new community leaders have emerged and a number of the CAG members have joined the Governing Councils at Hackham South and Noarlunga Downs Schools. At Hackham South School, three CAG members have gone on from being participants in scrapbooking classes to become tutors. Two CAG members went on to conduct a weekly computer class and plans are under way for community volunteers to run a series of weekly adult classes on healthy low cost cooking.

The two CAG groups recently decided to meet together once per school term in order to build on the effectiveness of each group. This will include connecting the garden project at Noarlunga Downs with the kitchen project at Hackham South to provide the community with a kitchen garden project. Together with the Anti-Poverty Committee, the CAGs plan to produce a cookbook by the end of the year that is produced by the community for the community with the aim of supporting families to produce simple, healthy, low-cost meals at home.

Safe and accessible environment

For disengaged families, the school is the one community agency that is relatively familiar and accessible. The OCCP Worker has been critical in ensuring that the school is perceived as a place of support rather than a negative bureaucratic system. The establishment of a separate Community Room within each school has been vitally important.

Very early in the project, each school set aside a classroom for use as a Community Room and each CAG took responsibility for making it a welcoming place. This included volunteers painting the walls, making curtains and arranging furniture to provide for the room being used in a variety of ways to meet the needs of individuals and groups. The community was introduced to the rooms through school newsletters, community events, group activities, meetings and individual counselling sessions. Each school chose to have their Community Room close to the Child Parent Centre to make it easily accessible to families with children in the early childhood years.

Coffee and tea making facilities are available at all times and information on community resources can be accessed via notice boards, pamphlets and information folders. Recently, free computers have been installed for ready access by community members. The project worker has a working space in each room and is present two days per week at each site.

Culturally-specific approaches

Through the project, stronger connections have been made with the Indigenous community. This has mainly been via personal contact by an Indigenous volunteer and by Indigenous school staff members. Indigenous community members have participated in community events, morning teas, workshops, group activities and working bees. Short term and ongoing support has been provided to individuals and families.

The worker has served as a useful link between families, the school system and local resources. Success has been based upon the following practices:

Whether in counselling or group projects, relationships are fundamental and are focused on developing strengths rather than addressing perceived deficits. In establishing a culture of respect within OCCP, the role of the worker is to model appropriate behaviour, to mentor and support and to work with groups to solve problems and resolve conflicts.

Research base

The Onkaparinga Community Connections Project promotes positive change for individuals, families and the local community through using an integrative approach, which seeks to create a culture that is based on:

The project is school-based, as it is believed that this is an effective way to engage and support families and build social capital through the development of community capacity. Some of the available evidence on the effectiveness of such approaches is described below.

Practice evidence in school-based programs

The ACT Schools as Communities Program was based on research which indicates the effectiveness of early intervention, cross-sectoral collaboration and community development approaches to improve outcomes for children and young people at risk. The model locates services in or near schools that serve a large number of at-risk families. Activities are coordinated in or near the school so that services are community-based but school-linked. The Program recognises that schools are ideal locations to connect families with other community resources. See http://www.dhcs.act.gov.au/childandfamilycentres/schools_as_communities.

The broad-based Schools as Community Centres Project is an initiative of the NSW Families First program in which schools are used as venues to access children and families in an effort to involve the wider community in the development of healthy families and communities and the prevention of child maltreatment and other social ills. The evaluation of the Schools as Community Centres pilot project (Social Systems & Evaluation, 1996) indicated that:

Community representatives noted the positive impact of the local centres on the communities' perceptions of themselves, "people have begun to feel good about their community and to take action to improve amenities" (Social Systems & Evaluation, 1996, p. 2).

From June 2002 to June 2004, the Australian Government funded the Care Health Education and Community (CHEC) Project, which was based at a school and preschool in the western suburbs of Adelaide. The project was underpinned by the same underlying principles as the Onkaparinga Community Connections Project. Near the end of the CHEC Project, questionnaires were sent to 17 agencies to evaluate the impact of the Project on the agency. Twelve detailed responses were received. The responses indicated that the CHEC Project had supported other agencies to achieve their organisational goals through:

Use of an integrative approach

An increasing number of studies are indicating that integrative approaches to early intervention are the most effective when working with families identified as being at risk. Landy and Menna (2006) stated that "the main objective in this approach is to enhance the optimal match between families and intervention" (p. 140). The approach that they use is integrative, in that it:

Use of an empowerment approach encompassing a strengths perspective

The practice is based on the principles of Empowerment Practice:

  1. an historical view of oppression;
  2. an ecological view, encompassing knowledge of individual adaptive potentialities;
  3. an ethclass perspective - realities of class structure, racism, ethnocentrism and heterosexism;
  4. a feminist perspective; and
  5. a critical perspective (Lee, 1994, p. 26).

To achieve empowerment, Ife and Tesoriero (2006) recommended:

Use of a community development approach

For community development, good process is the most important outcome that can be achieved. The process, if it is a good one, will enable the community to determine its own goals, and to remain in control of the journey as well as the destination. It seeks to establish a way of thinking where people interacting with each other is important, where the quality of the collective experience is valued, and where it is in the experience of community processes that people are able to maximize their potential and achieve their full humanity. (Ife & Tesoriero, 2006, p. 186)

In contrast to the above, disconnectedness or non-involvement in the community, can have serious social consequences such as alienation, loneliness, low self-esteem, boredom, intolerance of others, lack of motivation, and may negatively impact on family functioning or impair child development (Tomison & Wise, 1999).

Use of systems theory

Use of ecological systems theory takes into account "the complex interactions between clients and all levels of social systems as well as the meaning the client assigns to these interactions" (Compton & Galaway, 1994, p. 118). Dysfunction is viewed as part of the social system rather than as individual pathology thus building on the use of a strengths perspective.

Use of basic social work values

Using the basic social work values of warmth, empathy, genuineness and respect promotes the development and maintenance of positive relationships which have been critical to the success of the Project. Moore (1999) provided evidence that social support from peers, family or institutions greatly assists the ability of individuals to cope. This support takes the form of a mutually supportive network where one receives information that one is loved, cared for and valued. This evidence is supported by Mitchell (2000) who found that developing trusting and respectful relationships is critical in programs aimed at preventing youth suicide.

Using a collaborative approach

Trusting relationships are essential not only to the effectiveness of working with community members, but also in working collaboratively with other service providers. In order for this to happen, it is essential that organisations have some commonality in terms of culture, values and philosophy (Harris et al., 1995, cited in Mitchell, 2000).

Necessary conditions for this to occur include:

A supportive culture

Use of the above approaches with attention to process helps to develop a culture which is supportive of individual and community development.

The worker is responsible for seeing that the group process is constructive for all members - those who conform and those who don't - and that it is purposive - able to mobilize its energy to achieve its goals. (O'Connor & Setterland, 1995, p. 138)

Outcomes

The OCCP practice delivers a range of long-term benefits to the communities of Hackham South and Noarlunga Downs schools. The OCCP practice has:

Specifically, this proposal has shown evidence of the following outcomes:

Evidence of outcomes

An independent evaluation was completed by Paul Laris and Associates in March 2007. The evaluation was based upon surveys, interviews and focus groups with parents, school staff and other stakeholders. The evaluation demonstrates that within 12 months of its inception, the OCCP had achieved significant outcomes in five key areas, as outlined below.

Access: Improved access for parents to the school and to other supports, services and opportunities.

The survey conducted for the Laris Evaluation found that overall parents saw their schools as somewhere that they could go to for help, and that this view had grown stronger since OCCP had been running:

By the end of the project in May 2008, the following outcomes were observed:

Capacity: Improved capacity of parents to work in partnership with the school for their children and to expand their control over their own lives.

The development of accessible pathways for parents that serve to connect families and individuals is a critical feature of the OCCP practice. From an initial engagement through counselling or informal school activities, parents are encouraged to explore new opportunities and broaden the range and depth of relationships within the school and local community. Laris (2007) found that there had been a statistically significant increase in parent's level of trust in the school in the first 12 months of the project. The staff of both schools reported increased levels of confidence displayed by parents:

"Who would have thought that parents would come in here (to the Community Room) it they're having a hard time and share things with other parents... Cos you don't. Not around here. You keep it to yourself. But now people do. They feel as if they have a connection with other people." (Teacher)

Laris cited the garden project and the winning of grants as evidence of parents taking on new challenges. He also found that overall there was strong agreement that there had been an increase in parents and school staff working in partnership for the benefit of students. A teacher told Laris:

"There are conversations between parents and teachers in the hallway - where before it would just be parents coming in to pick up their kids. A parent chips in: It's a feeling... its a real hum, its gorgeous."

By the end of the project in May 2008:

Collaboration: Improved community linkages with local agencies

The Laris Evaluation (March 2007) reported that the principal interagency partners believe that, as a group, they have worked well together, maintained good communication and shared similar values and commitment to OCCP and its aims. Indeed, they see the project as having consolidated their collaborative relationship.

In May 2008, the project reached the end of its funding, but will be able to continue some of its activities due to the high level of commitment of agency partners and three external Community Development Workers who have been strongly linked to the project through the Community Garden and Anti-Poverty projects. Agencies will continue to connect through the Project Management Team, the CAGs, the Community Garden Project, the Kitchen Project and Anti-Poverty Activities.

Parent engagement: More positive relationships between parents and the schools and a stronger sense of community ownership of OCCP projects.

Teachers at both schools commented that OCCP has made their work more productive and fulfilling. It has extended their role into the community in partnership with parents and other community members. A teacher at Hackham South PS commented that the project fitted very well with the values and approach of the school, which are focused on working with the whole child, rather than just the student. She believed that the small size of the school helped build this community feeling:

"I have parents of kids who are not even in my class just dropping in to say hello. And we met lots of parents and the 'meet and greet' that (the Coordinator) helped organise. Its really nice." (Laris, 2007, pp. 11-12).

Trust: An increase in the generalised sense of trust in the local community and increases in the capacity of local parents to organise and maintain local projects.

The success of adult learning activities at both schools and Anti-Poverty Week activities at Hackham South and Community Gardening work at Noarlunga Downs is testament to the ability of local families to establish and maintain local programs.

The Laris Evaluation (March 2007) reported the following comment from a Noarlunga Downs teacher:

"There's gradually more and more parents helping in the school. They do canteen work, help in the classrooms, on excursions and all that sort of thing. And it used to be so hard to get them in."

Sustainability

Additional evidence of the success of the project has been displayed by the strong commitment to sustain the project displayed by parents, school staff and agency partners. As funding was drawing to a close, all of these stakeholders took part in strongly advocating for additional funding to maintain the position of the project worker. Although not successful before May 2008, each school made a firm commitment to sustain the project as far as they are able to do so without the support of a project worker. This includes maintaining the Community Room, providing staff support to the band of volunteers working in the project and providing access to school resources.

A new look Project Management Team will oversee the project. This will consist of the two school principals, the team leader at HWCC, representatives from each CAG and key agency partners.

Note: In June 2008, the Commonwealth Government announced that it would refund the project for another 12-months. This is testament to the strong advocacy of the local community members and workers.

Policy analysis

This is an excellent example of a promising practice that supports socioeconomically disadvantaged, isolated families through the establishment of empowerment strategies, based on two local schools. The project is particularly impressive in that parents as a group have been enabled to advocate for their own communities with apparent success, thereby increasing community strengthening and skill development. Moreover, this project has tapped into and optimised the use of a universal and local community institution (the school) as a vehicle for recruiting disengaged parents and as a pathway to increasing parental community engagement.

The practice is sustainable, as evidenced by continuity after the initial project funding period was over, and would appear to be replicable in other communities.

Project evaluations

The independent evaluation completed by Paul Laris and Associates in March 2007 was based upon surveys, interviews and focus groups with parents, school staff and other stakeholders. The evaluation demonstrates that within 12 months of its inception, the OCCP had achieved significant outcomes as described above.

Project related publications

See material in the sections on Research and in the References

References

Beilharz, L. (2002). Building community: The shared action experience. Australia: Solutions Press.

Compton, B. R., & Galaway, B. (1994). Social work processes. California: Brooks/Cole Publishing Co.

Ife, J., & Tesoriero, F. (2006). Community development: Community based alternatives in an age of globalisation (3rd edition). Australia: Pearson Education.

Interagency School Community Centres Pilot Project: Interim Evaluation Report for the NSW Departments of School Education, Health and Community Services Social Systems and Evaluation Perth 1996

Jamieson, R. (2004). Care Health Education and Community (CHEC) Project: Final Report to Australian Government 28th May 2004.

Landy ,S., & Menna, R. (2006). Early intervention with multi-risk families: An integrative approach. USA: Paul H Brookes Publishing Co.

Laris, P. (2007). Onkaparinga Community Connections Project: Final evaluation report. Laris & Associates.

Lee, J. A. B. (1994). The empowerment approach to social work practice. New York: Columbia University Press.

Mitchell, P. (2000). Building capacity for life promotion: Evaluation of the National Youth Suicide Prevention Strategy (Technical Report Volume 1). Melbourne: Australian Institute of Family Studies.

Moore, S., M. (1999). A stress and coping approach to adolescent sexual development. In E. Frydenberg (Ed.) Health, well-being and coping in young people: A special issue of the Australian journal of guidance and counselling. Melbourne: Institute for Social Research, Swinburne University of Technology.

O'Connor, I., & Setterland, D. (1995). Social work and welfare practice (2nd edition). Australia: Addison Wesley Longman.

O'Hanlon, A., Kosky, R., Martin, G., Dundas, P., & Davis, C. (2000). Model projects for early intervention in the mental health of young people. Canberra: Commonwealth of Australia.

Tomison, A. M., & Wise, S. (1999). Community-based approaches in preventing child maltreatment (NCPC Issues No. 11). Melbourne: National Child Protection Clearinghouse, Australian Institute of Family Studies.

Schools as Communities Program

Contact

Tim Deslandes
Team Leader

Website

http://www.hwcc.net/

More information

More information on the Promising Practice Profiles can be found on the Communities and Families Clearinghouse Australia website.