Springwood Neighbourhood Centre Co-operative Ltd

Below is a letter sent to Minsister Goward to protest recent developments in the community services portfolio. Please feel free to use as a base or send your own letter to: 'office@goward.minister.nsw.gov.au'

Dear Minister,

I am writing to protest the recent cuts and changes you are making to the community services portfolio. While I support your aim to work towards a NSW where fewer children need to be removed from their parents, this should not be achieved at the price of adequate support for children currently in and entering the system, and the health and wellbeing of their family carers.

Kinship carers have been told that they ‘should’ apply for child support from birth parents. Many kinship carers are helping their adult child with their drug or mental health problems while also looking after the grandchildren. If the parents are supported they may be able to resume at least some care of the children; grandparents may now feel pressure to choose between the rehabilitation of their children which could be compromised by paying child support and the immediate needs of their grandchildren.

Relinquishing parents may seek to regain legal custody just to avoid child support payments which would return the children to a harmful environment, or demand further access visits which could result in more trauma for otherwise now settled and recovering children. Birth parents may also be in and out of rehabilitation, hospital or jail, and are hence unlikely to be earning any money. Why put grandparents though all the extra paperwork and jumping of hoops when systems are already stressful enough to navigate?
Cutting the allowance to kinship carers by $212.70 per fortnight, and indicating that Centrelink youth allowance will make up the difference, ignores the individual circumstances of carers and Centrelink’s eligibility requirements. Many carers will be worse off under this change. If much needed allowances will be cut by Family & Community Services regardless of whether replacement income is available, what will be next – further cuts on the basis that birth parents will make up the difference?
When compared with others their age, young people in out of home care in the first 5 years after leaving care are more likely to be:
• less well educated
• living in transient poor quality accommodation
• unemployed
• an early parent
• financially struggling
• suffering loneliness and mental health problems due to limited social, emotional and financial support

When kinship carers receive insufficient financial and general support, the needs of the vulnerable children in their care will not be met. We can choose to invest in these children now so that they will be the contributing citizens of tomorrow, or face the consequences down the track of further rising government costs and human misery.

For the want of a nail, a shoe was lost….

Yours sincerely,

Tina Napier
Kinship Care Regional Project Coordinator
Springwood Neighbourhood Centre