Services supporting family relationships for new immigrants and refugees in Australia

Services Provided to Support and Nurture Family Relationships of New Immigrants or Refugees to Australia

The objective of this work is to assess the provision of resources families who are new immigrants or refugees to Australia and to provide a rationale for such need of resource provision to these families.

THE ADULT MIGRANT ENGLISH PROGRAM (AMEP)

Harriet Spinks reports concerning the Adult Migrant English Program (AMEP) makes the provision of basic English language tuition to adult migrants who are eligible as well as humanitarian entrants toward assisting them and has committed $49.2 million in the 2008-09 Budget for the "extension and enhancement of the AMEP." (2008, p.1) Spinks reports a steady increase in AMEP funding over the past several years and relates in the report that while concerns have been expressed that AMEP is lacking in funding and that the entitlements of tuition fail to meet the needs of clients that these concerns are "not borne out by research into the program's performance." (Spinks, 2008, p.1) Spinks states that a report of the Australian National Audit Office (ANAO) audit report found during 2001 that the primary issue is that there has been a failure on the part of clients to "take up and complete their tuition entitlement." (2008, p.1)Spinks reports that client satisfaction surveys were conducted on a commission of the Department of Immigration and Citizenship (DIAC), which "indicate a high level of satisfaction amongst AMEP clients." (2008, p.1) the evidence that the DIAC presented to a 'Supplementary Budget Estimates' hearing in 2006 states indicates that only a very few clients actually "complete the hours of tuition for which they are eligible." (Spinks, 2008, p.1) Reasons stated for this included: (1) gaining employment; (2) family commitments; (3) moving to other Commonwealth funded English language programs. (Spinks, 2008, p.1) the AMEP appears to be making a move in the direction of "using the AMEP as a pathway to employment for new arrivals, rather than simply an on-arrival settlement program aimed at assisting migrants and humanitarian entrants to settle into Australian society more generally." (Spinks, 2008, p.1)

II. The CHILD SUPPORT AGENCY

The Child Support Agency announced a change based on a December 2003 government inquiry regarding child custody arrangements in cases of family separations. During 2004, the Australian Government is stated to have formed a Ministerial Taskforce on Child Support and Reference Group, which is an independent organization for the review of the Child Support Scheme. A report entitled: "In the Best Interests of Children - Reforming the Child Support Scheme" reports the findings of the taskforce. It is related in this report that there is a "need for a greater emphasis on shared parental responsibility and the importance of both parents remaining actively involved in their children's lives after separation. The report also recommended replacement of the current fixed percentage of income used to work out child support payments with a new way of calculating payments based on their findings about the costs of raising children." (Child Support Agency, 2008, p.1) in February 2006, the Government of Australia announced reforms would be introduced to the Child Support Scheme to reflect changes in Australian society since the Scheme was first established in 1988. The new Child Support Scheme has as its focus better balancing the interests of both parents of the child with more emphasis on the needs of children and the costs associated with raising children. The new scheme states aims as follows: (1) the reduction of conflict between parents about parenting arrangements; (2) encouragement for share parental responsibility; and (3) to ensure that child support is paid both in-full and on-time. (Child Support Agency, 2008, p.1) Under the new scheme it is stated: (1) child support payments will be calculated based on Australian research into the actual costs of children; (2) the combined income of both parents will be used to calculate child support payments, treating the income of both parents in the same way; (3) both parents' contributions to the cost of their children through care and contact will be recognized; and (4) children of first and second families will be treated more equally. (Child Support Agency, 2008, p.1)

III. EARLY INTERVENTION PARENTING PROGRAM

The 'Early Intervention Parenting' (EIP) program makes diverse provisions in Australia for prevention of child abuse and in bringing about improvements in parenting and in strengthening families with a primary focus on meeting families with special needs in the rural and remote areas of Australia and most specifically those of indigenous families and families "from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds (CALD)." (Australian Government Department of Family and Community Services, nd, p.1) Included in the projects are various intervention models: (1) parenting education; (2) home visits by professionals and volunteers; (3) supported playgroups; (4) outreach services; (5) family support services; and (6) community development. (Australian Government Department of Family and Community Services, nd, p.1) Holistic and multi-faceted approaches are reportedly utilized by the majority of projects. Findings reported in a study state that there is a great level of "responsiveness to local needs and consumer participation; (2) the holistic approaches used build "community connections." (Australian Government Department of Family and Community Services, nd, p.1) There is a great focus on strengths in families and in building skills of the family: (3) Early intervention is important in the life of a child and therefore intervention is offered at key transition points with a long-term preventative orientation. It is related that presently there are eighteen active projects which are "delivered in collaboration with other services and 23 projects are actively involved in networks of other service providers around supporting parenting." (Australian Government Department of Family and Community Services, nd, p.1)

IV. FAMILIES FIRST CALD PERINATAL PROJECT

The work of Gallegos et al. (2007) entitled: "Service Provision in the Upper Northern Suburbs for Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Communities: A Scoping Study" reports a scoping study of CaLD service provision and an investigation of the: (1) level of contact between service providers and CaLD residents; (2) capacity of service providers to deliver services to migrants and refugees; (3) perceived gaps in service provision; and (4) movement of CaLD residents into the upper northern suburbs. (Gallegos, et al., 2007, p. 1) Findings in the study state: "There appeared to be little interagency or interdepartmental information sharing or collaboration in spite of the fact that many of the CaLD service providers receive funding from the same government programs (IHSS and SGP). A lack of interagency information sharing and collaboration may result in agencies competing for clients by offering the same programs and failing to meet the needs of other clients. Agencies with some knowledge of the complexity of the issues have been calling for a greater degree of interagency collaboration and stronger links with CaLD communities." (Gallegos, et al., 2007, p. 8) Stated as an "ongoing issue.." For residents in outlying metropolitan areas are related to "access to viable public and private transportation options." (Gallegos, et al., 2007, p. 9) Stated additionally is: "An overriding theme from the findings of the scoping study relates to the lack of available information regarding the needs and experiences of CaLD individuals and families..." (Gallegos, et al., 2007, p. 10) it is noted in the report that ethnospecific services are lacking in many locations as well as are cultural competency training of employees and translated materials. (Gallegos, et al., 2007, p. 31-32)

V. STRENGTH to STRENGTH (STS) FAMILY RELATIONSHIPS PROGRAM