The Brighter Futures Camp is an early intervention program aimed at Aboriginal families engaged in KARI’s Brighter Futures Program. The purpose of the camp is to assist parents in building strong, trusting relationships with their children. Parenting skills, support networks and community resources are provided in order to help make these families successful in staying together.
The feedback we have received from parents who attended the camp in the past is that they felt that they really bonded with their child or children, gaining their trust while supporting them to complete tasks.
KARI were recently awarded funding from the City of Liverpool Council to the value of almost $5,000, which will go towards purchasing materials to support this camp. The funding has allowed us to purchase:
- Hats
- T-shirts
- Towels
- Tote bags
- Sunscreen
- Sleeping bags
- Drink bottles
The Brighter Future’s Camp is one of KARI’s most valuable programs. This is because it offers vulnerable Aboriginal families support to allow them to build strong, trusting relationships with their children. The camp provides these families with the opportunity to establish as well as develop strong friendships with one another. They also have the chance to share personal parenting skills and strategies.
Strong family relationships are extremely important in the Aboriginal community and can help prevent Aboriginal children from entering the foster care system. The Brighter Futures Camp provides the appropriate early intervention and support to families who are at risk. . The statistic below shows the high percentage of Aboriginal children in foster care and the need for support programs such as this within the Aboriginal community.
There is significant over representation of Aboriginal children, young people and their families in the child protection system within NSW.
Aboriginal children and young people represent around 5.4% of the population, but in 2014/15, 36.8% of those in care were Aboriginal (FACS, 2016).
This program directly benefits Aboriginal families in the South West Sydney community who are at risk of entering the KARI Out-of-Home Care Program.
Expected outcomes of the camp
- Learning new parenting skills in a fun way
- Developing new relationships with other families
- Gaining knowledge on improving family and social interactions
- The ability to experience family bonding
- Obtaining self-care skills
- Discussing strategies to regulate negative emotions
- A greater understanding of culture
We are thrilled to be able to provide participants of the Brighter Futures Camp with these valuable resources. This will allow KARI to better support them during their time in the Brighter Futures Program. We thank the City of Liverpool Council for their generous contribution and ongoing support.