Supervised Contact and Mentoring

CareSouth’s Family Connections program provides Supervised Contact and Mentoring services to children and young people in foster care.

Last financial year more than 40 Supervised Contact staff were employed to connect children and young people in care with their birth families. Supervised Contact workers promote a safe, secure environment for children and young people while they spend time with their birth parents. Staff promote positive relationships, monitor behaviour and write reports to ensure the safety and well-being of children and young people at all times. In the past financial year CareSouth’s Family Connections program provided around 500 hours of Supervised Contact each month or 6000 hours per year.

CareSouth also provides a one-on-one Mentoring program for 10 to 18 year olds to help young people develop new skills, build on their strengths and live up to their potential. CareSouth Mentors helped 12 young people in our Foster Care program this year by offering guidance, support and encouragement, as well as setting goals and making plans. Our CareSouth Mentors are carefully matched with children and young people based on individual needs and focus on relationship building.

Homework Hub

The Homework Hub’s aim is to empower students in CareSouth’s Foster Care, Residential Care, Aunties and Uncles and Brighter Futures programs to reach their full learning potential. The Homework Hub does this by creating a safe, secure environment for students to not only get help with their homework but to also form positive relationships with their peers and volunteer mentors who help boost their confidence and self-esteem.
Students in the program are aged 5-18 and are supported by volunteers from all walks of life. The program is mutually beneficial as volunteers – many of whom are teaching, psychology and social work students – gain valuable practical experience working with vulnerable children.
The Homework Hub has now been running for 12 months and the number of students has almost tripled from eight to 23. Surveys and weekly data collection on students’ performance in the six-month pilot phase of the program found:
• 50% of Foster Carers reported improvements in students’ work since attending the Homework Hub.
• 60% of students reported increased positive feelings about school work.
• 80% of students consistently attended Homework Hub.
Learning in the Homework Hub is tailored to the student’s individual needs and the Paws and Tales reading program is just one of the innovative ways the Homework Hub encourages students to engage in education. Students read to our registered therapy dog Matilda who provides a calm, non-judgemental environment so students can develop their literacy skills. When students receive five reading stickers they can take home a book of their choice.