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Mercy Family Services provides a range of
services for children, young people and families.
Out of Home Care
We care for children who are unable to stay at home
because of their protective needs. 'Out of Home Care' includes Foster
and Kinship care, Residential Care and Specialist Foster Care.
Foster & kinship carers provide safe and caring
homes for children for short or long periods of time. Foster carers are people living in the community who have the capacity to care for
other children and who, after a period of training and assessment, have
been approved as suitable carers. Kinship carers are people from
within the child's own family or community who assume the responsibility
of caring for children.
Specialist foster care provides additional
resources to certain foster carers who are looking after children with
particularly challenging behaviours. These additional resources may
include supplementary payments, respite care and extra services to
assist the child.
Not all children are able to live within a family
environment and Residential Care provides an alternative. Young
people live in houses in the community with a team of youth support
workers, one of whom is always there. Within this safe and supportive
environment young people are encouraged to form positive relationships,
develop their potential and gradually prepare for independence.
In all 'out of home' care programs, we strive to
respond to the needs of Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander children,
their families and communities. In Toowoomba, an Indigenous Placement
Unit works in partnership with the local indigenous community.
Our Foster Care Programs are based at Goodna,
Logan, Zillmere, Toowoomba and Woolloongabba and our Residential Care
Programs are based at Goodna, Logan, Zillmere and Woolloongabba.
Out Other Programs
Our Counselling & Reunification Program in
Toowoomba is closely linked to foster care. A multi-disciplinary team of
social workers, psychologists and family support workers provides
assessments, therapeutic intervention and support for children in foster
care placements or in the process of family re-unification.
Our Men and Family Relationships Program based
in Goodna engages with men and families of all backgrounds and provides
counselling, relationships education and skills training groups.
A Sexual Abuse Counselling Program has
counsellors located in Goodna and Toowoomba for children and young
people referred by the Department of Child Safety from within the
Department's Ipswich and Western Zone.
New Families at Zillmere supports young women
who are pregnant or parenting a baby in circumstances that would,
without participation in the program, result in their baby being
assessed as being at risk or serious harm.
Supported Independent Living Programs in North
Brisbane and Toowoomba provide opportunities for young people who have
been in 'out of home' care to make the transition to independent living.
The Unaccompanied Humanitarian Refugee Minors'
Program at Woolloongabba and Toowoomba has responsibility for young
people with refugee backgrounds under the age of 18 years who arrive in
Australia without parental support. Many arrive with family members
while others are admitted on Temporary Protection Visas. The young
people live with their proposer or nominated carer. All referrals to
this program are received through the Department of Child Safety,
following notification of arrival from the Department of Immigration and
Multicultural Affairs.
Working On at Zillmere is delivered in
partnership with Brisbane City Council and aims to assist young people
aged 15-29 years, in recovery from substance abuse to acquire work
skills and obtain meaningful long-term employment.
St Vincent's Home Former Residents are
supported by a social worker in accessing personal information, by
providing counselling and support about their time at St Vincent's Home
and coordinating reunions at Nudgee.
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