The Adult Migrant English Program and Child Support Agency's role in supporting immigrant families 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)

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

The 'Strength to Strength' (STS) Family Relationships Program in Australia is a Humanitarian Entrants Program. This program is funded by the Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs (FaHCSIA) under the Family Relationship Services Program (FRSP) the STS Program offers humanitarian assistance to entrant families through relationships with various providers and a range of interventions including workshops and intensive family therapy. Clients may come in contact with the STS program through: (1) approaching the service and referred to other sources by Centrelink; (2) through bridging connections between agencies; (3) STS worker picks up the case through another agency and continues seeing the client in an ongoing manner; and (4) bridging clients to other service providers without terminating the present arrangements. This provisions are based upon the knowledge that there is a "range of pressures, such as poor English language proficiency, lack of information and life skills within the Australian context and loss of traditional family support structures. These are often compounded by their past traumatic experiences and limited formal education; learning a new way of life while sustaining one's beliefs can be hard. This often causes stress for these families and problems can emerge around areas ranging from couple relationships to parenting..." For humanitarian entrants." (Allan and Bafoon, 2008, p.1) Client outcomes are stated to include: (1) increased parenting confidence and better outcomes for parents in managing problems with their children such as: truanting, violent behavior, substance abuse, running away, depression and self-harm; (2) improved relationships between parents and children and a mitigation of the effects of migration and resettlement on these relationships for youngsters, increased self-esteem and a sense of belonging and, for parents, reduced isolation and expanded social networks; and (3) increased safety for family members in terms of domestic violence and other forms of abuse. (Allan and Bafoon, 2008, p.1) Limitations of the program were acknowledged after a study reported findings which state: "...there an awareness of hidden areas of trauma that exist in this population, such as, for instance, an awareness that most humanitarian entrant women (between 80% and 100%) have been the victims of rape and the shame associated with this mitigates against disclosure and dealing with the effects of it." (Allan and Bafoon, 2008, p.1)