I would like to acknowledge what a particularly difficult time this is for all of us.
The outbreak of the coronavirus COVID-19 has impacted people in varying ways on an international scale. It is understandable that during times like this, people may be feeling afraid, worried, anxious and overwhelmed by the constantly changing alerts and media coverage regarding the spread of the virus.
In this time of uncertainty, I wanted to reassure you that the health and wellbeing of our children, families and communities is paramount. We understand that many in our community are feeling anxious about COVID-19 and the risk it poses to our physical and mental health and that of our friends and loved ones. COVID-19 will affect people’s livelihoods, peoples jobs and our overall way of life so it’s crucial that we take care of each other as best we can. As a result, staff across both KARI Ltd and KARI Foundation are still actively servicing new and existing clients in an effort to support the wider family and community service sectors. We have mobilised our staff to be able to be innovative in the way they service clients and are actively distributing key information and useful tips across our social media platforms.
To all of our corporate partners who have assured us that they are committed to our joint program initiatives – Thank you!
I’d like to end this message with some exciting news. Last week we were officially advised by the Office of the Children’s Guardian that KARI Ltd has had its accreditation renewed for an additional five years. Accreditation is the process of evaluating the performance of statutory out-of-home care providers and certifying that standards have been met to the level required. Agencies must be accredited by the Children’s Guardian to provide statutory out-of-home care. I am extremely proud of all of the staff at KARI for demonstrating their commitment to supporting children and young people to navigate their time in care with a strong connection to family and culture.
I hope all of you are in good spirits and are keeping safe at such a challenging time. Together we will get through this.
Regards,
Casey Ralph
KARI CEO