Respite program helps to share the key

City of Yarra parents wishing to undergo drug treatment can now benefit from a respite care scheme from foster care organisation Share Care.

Share Care’s Family Support Respite Program will focus on low-income families, especially where the parent is either a single mother or a pregnant teenager.

It aims to lessen community prejudice by fostering social interaction and participation at neighbourhood level among women and children who have been isolated and stigmatised because of substance abuse.

Share Care Manager Janet Elefsiniotis said parents with drug addictions face considerable difficulty seeking and receiving overnight and ongoing respite care for their children.

‘Lacking a support system of friends and relatives to temporarily look after their children, drug using parents are often reluctant to enter a detoxification treatment program because of fears their children will be taken from them and placed in statutory care.

‘Should such an action occur, concern and anxiety over the welfare of their children severely compromises their ability to recover, Ms Elefsiniotis said.

‘It is well known that where parents receive regular and ongoing support with the care of their children, they are less likely to experience stress-induced crises and, consequently, more likely to maintain a healthy lifestyle.

‘Children benefit greatly from reliable and consistent care as well as exposure to drug-free family life, mentors and positive role models within the local community.’

Ms Elefsiniotis said Share Care’s Family Support Respite Program is a response to a community need identified at last year’s Yarra Drug and Health Forum, resulting in a drug strategy.

Share Care has been providing foster care for families in the City of Yarra for more than 18 years.

It is currently recruiting carers for its Family Support Respite Program.

• For more information contact Janet Elefsiniotis on 9417 1288.