Parent Link Home Visiting Service opened in Thornlie

15/8/96

An innovative service to help parents raise their children and improve their family life was opened in Thornlie today by Family and Children's Services Minister Cheryl Edwardes.

Mrs Edwardes said the new Parent Link Home Visiting Service was a significant development in providing community support for families in Gosnells/Armadale and surrounding suburbs.

The service was part of a $4.6 million State Government commitment to strengthen families by providing resources and skills development to parents.

"Being a parent is becoming more complex in our fast changing world and parents take on one of the most important responsibilities of their lives when they decide to raise a family," the Minister said.

"The new home visiting service will offer assistance from volunteers who are parents. These volunteers will visit families with young children in their homes to help them develop parenting skills."

Mrs Edwardes said the new service also aimed to increase community awareness of the important role and responsibilities which parents undertake.

"Families can make contact with the service or can be referred by other community agencies or government departments," she said.

"I would urge residents in the area to take advantage of this service in order to help them and their children have a far better family lifestyle."

The new Parent Link Home Visiting Service was developed in response to research commissioned by Family and Children's Services in 1995 which found that parents wanted to become better at raising a family.

The research highlighted that:

·       new parents felt under prepared for their role;

·       parents found problems easier to handle if they could talk to someone who understood what they were experiencing;

·       knowing what was normal or to be expected from their child was a key concern for parents; and -

·       parents found managing a stable, healthy family challenging and parenting difficult.

Mrs Edwardes said other home visiting services would be established on a pilot basis in Mandurah, Joondalup, Scarborough and Geraldton.

The service can be contacted on 493 6616.

Media contact : Peter Harris 321 2222