December 2014 update from PCL

Women talk, we listenAs we reach the end of another year, it is valuable to reflect on the journey – filled with both highs and lows. It is a challenging time for the community sector with reduced Government funding and increasing expectations to deliver “value for money” and meaningful outcomes through our services.

There is currently an emphasis on the importance of early intervention and identifying risk factors where women, partners and families in the community are experiencing difficulties, be they mental health issues, financial burdens or drug and alcohol problems, which in turn impact on their relationships and their ability to bond with a new baby and to parent responsibly. Recognising these real issues in our community means that additional support can be put in place for those individuals and families to prevent child safety concerns in the future and thus strengthen families.

PCL embraces this opportunity to provide support and ensure that issues are addressed. Midwives, child health nurses and community workers are often the ones who see people who are struggling with these issues. The partnerships we have established with Metro North Perinatal Mental Health Unit, Kingston East Neighborhood Centre and Kyabra Community Services provide supported pathways to these vulnerable people.

While our focus is always on “providing services to clients” we need to ensure we have not lost our ability to consider individuals as part of communities that have fantastic capabilities and assets. Positive change will be realised by partnering with these local communities and ensuring that collaborative action is resourced alongside our service delivery focus.

We rely on the financial support of our members and supporters to ensure that we can continue with this important work.

We wish all our clients, networking partners and allied health professionals a Happy 2015.