Playford teen parents get more support for work
Families in and around Playford will have extra help to provide a safe, happy and healthy environment for their children as part of the Gillard Government’s new workforce participation reforms.
The Parliamentary Secretary for Community Services, Julie Collins, and the Member for Wakefield, Nick Champion, today visited the John McVeity Centre in Smithfield Plains and announced that Anglicare SA will receive a further $1.1 million to deliver an expanded Communities for Children service across Playford.
Ms Collins said the expanded Communities for Children site will focus on supporting teenage parents and jobless families who are part of a Gillard Government trial operating in ten communities across the country, including Playford.
“Ensuring children have the opportunity to grow up happy and healthy and with the best start in life is central to breaking the cycle of disadvantage,” Ms Collins said.
“Under this trial, teenage parents and jobless families on government payments will have new responsibilities as well as extra support to help finish their education, prepare for work when their children are older, and make sure their children are getting the best start in life.
“Playford was selected as a trial community due to the high rate of teenage parents and jobless families with young children.
“Anglicare SA will work with local parents to build their parenting skills and improve children’s health and early learning outcomes.
“Communities for Children services have helped to change the lives of parents and children – with marked improvements in children’s language skills, parents getting support to find work and mothers getting more involved in their local community.
“This expansion brings their total funding under Communities for Children to more than $3.7 million over three years.”
Mr Champion said the local community would benefit from the boost to family and children’s services, as well as the new welfare approach.
“This is a great initiative to help vulnerable families across Playford,” Mr Champion said.
“All parents should have the opportunity to experience work and we want to help vulnerable parents build a better future for themselves and their children.
“The Government is investing in Playford to support young parents get back and finish school or get a vocational qualification, so that when their children start school, they are ready for work.”
This expanded service will support teenage parents in Playford receiving Parenting Payment to meet new participation requirements starting on 1 January next year.
New participation requirements and matching supports for jobless families start on 1 July 2012.
Targeted income management will also start on 1 July 2012 in Playford as part of the trial. Income management will apply to vulnerable families and individuals including:
- Parents referred for income management by state or territory child protection authorities;
- People who volunteer for income management;
- People assessed by Centrelink social workers as being vulnerable to financial crisis which could include people referred by housing authorities who are at risk of homelessness due to rental arrears.
The Gillard Government is investing $254.6 million over four years across the ten communities to trial this new approach.
For more information about the trials visit: