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Support seeking

Legal service

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I’m still in shock. My daughter is in hospital for a drug overdose and my grandchildren are living with me. How did this happen! 

 

I know it isn’t safe to leave the children with Sarah at the moment. When she passes out anything could happen! Plus I think her behavior is traumatising the children. Lewis is so clingy and Ellie has started to wet the bed.  Sarah needs time to sort herself out but I don’t think she will just let the children stay full time with me.

 

After doing some searching online, I contact my local community legal centre to get advice. They tell me that If my daughter agrees, I can look after the kids on an informal arrangement. However, this doesn’t guarantee financial support. The formal way is to go through the child protection system, or I can go directly through the family court.

 

Why is the legal system so complicated? I don’t want to take my daughter to court to be able to help my family.

Hand with tissue
More than 1 in 4 (26.3%) of family members reported diagnosis of post-traumatic stress disorder
Mobile phone
Over one quarter (28%) of family members accessed two legal services in the 12 months prior to being surveyed
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Health

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  • Physical health

The pressure of the situation has been getting to Carol and she hasn’t been feeling well lately. She has been neglecting her physical and mental health and every day is becoming a struggle. Carol loves being with the children but looking after them full time with all the dramas happening, is really hard.

 

She speaks to her manager who luckily is really understanding and agrees to let her take her annual leave and long service leave one after the other.

 

Carol uses this time off to focus on the situation, which starts with attending many appointments.

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  • Mental health

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Health

Physical health

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Today, I went and saw my family doctor. We have known each other for the past 14 years so it wasn’t hard to tell him about the situation with my daughter.

 

I also told him about the pains I have been having in my chest. He was kind about the situation and thinks the pains are being caused by the overwhelming stress I am experiencing. He urged me to seek some emotional support as this will help me with my anxiety and stress. We even talk about completing a mental health care plan so I can see a counselor for free but I don’t think I am ready for that just yet.

 

Before I leave, he prescribes me medication for my nerves and writes me a doctor’s note for my employer. I leave feeling a bit better but as I walk out the door a thought hits me; what would happen to those children if I end up in hospital or even pass away.

Doctor

The vast majority (84%) of family members reported diagnosis of at least one chronic health condition, with 69% reporting diagnosis of two or more chronic conditions.

 

The prevalence of poor health and chronic health conditions presented a challenge to families accessing services.

It’s all about relationships!

 

A strong theme that came from the families is that relationships are very important, regardless of domain.

 

Stories of isolation, loneliness, and the absence of positive social support, from family, friends, and neighbours were linked to reduced mental health. 

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Ongoing support

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  • Formal support

Carol knows that holding onto her emotions and keeping her problems to herself is having a negative impact on her health and generally making life harder. If this is to improve, she needs to find an ongoing source of sustainable support. That can be easier said than done.

 

Carol is glad that she has been able to find a couple of support options to pursue. After all, the children rely on her. Where would they go if she got too unwell to care for them?

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  • Informal support

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Ongoing support

Formal support

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You might remember Nikki from the support agency I contacted a while back. Well she rang me back this week and offered to catch up to talk.

 

We met in a local park close to my house, which was helpful as it didn’t interrupt Lewis’s nap time. Nikki listened to me as I told her about what had happened in the last couple of weeks. She seemed to understand my situation and offered some good advice. She also said there are some financial assistance options available to me and even offered to make a referral for me to go and see a financial counselor.

 

Nikki says she will continue to provide support for me. I am really grateful for this. Her emotional and practical support has been so important. I think I am going to need all the help I can get over the next few months.

Support worker

Families expressed a need for systems and services to be designed from the perspective of lived experience.

A key barrier to families engaging with services is access;
– inflexible eligibility criteria
– disconnected systems
– cost
– complex navigation issues
– location (local is best)

Families listed the top attributes of good support to be: empathy and competency – In other words, be kind, help me and follow through.

 

Other attributes includes: good listening, respect, autonomy, reciprocity, mutuality, partnership

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Financial issues

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  • Food

A few weeks into caring for her grandchildren, Carol is feeling overwhelmed both emotionally and financially. Her relationship with her daughter is volatile and so far, she has not received any financial support, either from her daughter or from more formal sources.

 

Financially, things are heading towards rock-bottom, and Carol is forced to make some difficult choices.

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  • Debt

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Financial issues

Food

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I lost my job today. I have used up all of my leave entitlement and my boss told me she can’t wait any longer. The children and I have been getting by until now but without a salary, I just won’t have enough money to cover all of our basic needs.

Boss

Understand the stats

85%

of families do not have access to $500 in an emergency

With regards to employment, families reported significant barriers when trying to to get and keep a job (or just increase hours of employment):
- Illness or disabilty (46%),
- Discrimination (age, race etc), (29%),
- Perception they had wrong or not enough qualifications (28%),
- Child care responsibilies (17%)
Empty wallet

Understand the stats

75%

of families do not receive a wage/salary based income

Many barriers exisit to enployment (or increasing hours of work) including; illness or disabilty (46%), discrimination (age, race etc), (29%), perception they had wrong or not enough qualifications (28%), and child care responsibilies (17%)

For families who were on Jobseeker, most (82%) had at least one chronic health condition and at least one mental health condition (76%)

Early today I drove to a charity that over the phone said they could help me with food. I feel so ashamed to ask but, well I have no choice. We have to eat. I didn’t take the children with me as I want to protect them from all this.

 

When I arrived, they gave me a food parcel no questions asked. The people were friendly and it was a nice chance to just connect to others. The food was okay quality and enough to get us through the week if I cut my portion sizes down. I am grateful but I felt so low to have to go there. I didn’t get to choose what I wanted.

 

I leave with my head down and drive back to the house ready to put on a brave face.

Staff

Adults have lower food security than children, who potentially are sacrificing food and going hungry in order to feed their children.

58% of adults experienced hunger and did not eat because there wasn’t enough money for food.

27% of families saying they needed to reduce portion sizes to make food last longer.

Food emergency relief was the most commonly accessed service by families at 72%.

This is not surprising considering only 7% of families reported high food security with 80% of adults having low food security (this is compared to 58% for children)

Boss

Understand the stats

85%

of families do not have access to $500 in an emergency

With regards to employment, families reported significant barriers when trying to to get and keep a job (or just increase hours of employment):
- Illness or disabilty (46%),
- Discrimination (age, race etc), (29%),
- Perception they had wrong or not enough qualifications (28%),
- Child care responsibilies (17%)
Empty wallet

Understand the stats

75%

of families do not receive a wage/salary based income

Many barriers exisit to enployment (or increasing hours of work) including; illness or disabilty (46%), discrimination (age, race etc), (29%), perception they had wrong or not enough qualifications (28%), and child care responsibilies (17%)

For families who were on Jobseeker, most (82%) had at least one chronic health condition and at least one mental health condition (76%)
Staff

Adults have lower food security than children, who potentially are sacrificing food and going hungry in order to feed their children.

58% of adults experienced hunger and did not eat because there wasn’t enough money for food.

27% of families saying they needed to reduce portion sizes to make food last longer.

Food emergency relief was the most commonly accessed service by families at 72%.

This is not surprising considering only 7% of families reported high food security with 80% of adults having low food security (this is compared to 58% for children)

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End of story

Thank you for exploring
Carol’s journey

Scroll down if you want to make an impact

Calls to Action

Families repeatedly asked us before, during and after their engagement; ‘how will my information be used to make a difference? It is through this lens and in the context of your own influence and responsibility that these calls to action should be viewed.

Support people to identify and achieve their life goals – their way

Families are intimately familiar with their own circumstances and needs and hold valuable perspectives about what approaches would work for themselves and their communities.

Elevate the role and amplify the voice of people experiencing disadvantage

Families consistently reported that they often don’t feel seen or heard in policy or practice settings and would like to add their voices and lived experience in designing, implementing and evaluating policies, programs and social change that impacts them.

Ensure every Australian has access to adequate income to meet their basic needs

The 100 Families WA evidence demonstrates the positive benefits that the Coronavirus Supplement had on family members, which ultimately supported them to live with a greater dignity.

Build and strengthen local community networks and supports

Families draw on their relationships with family, friends, neighbours and community networks when available, for both practical assistance and emotional support to meet a variety of needs.

Challenge stigma and create a safe, supportive environment for people

Family members continue to experience stigma and discrimination at individual, community, service and societal levels. Safe, supportive environments can help reduce people’s experiences of stigma and discrimination.

Make it easy as possible for people to access support when they need it

Family members reported a range of personal, organisational and systemic barriers to accessing formal and informal supports. Reducing these barriers can reduce the financial, emotional and time costs for families who are currently navigating multiple formal supports.

Prioritise and develop trusted and enduring relationships

Families’ positive experiences of seeking support depends on being genuinely listened to and supported with care and understanding of their individual circumstances.

Invest in prevention and early supports

Policies, services and community-based programs focused on prevention and early support, in addition to crisis services, can help support people to solve issues before problems escalate.

Recognise the value of caring roles and other contributions to society

Recognising, valuing and supporting the multiple ways that family members contribute to their families and society can create social and economic benefits and reduce inequality

Reflection

Informed by what you have learned, please answer the below question. Your comments are made anonymously and will not be attributed back to you.

Learning

Interested in continueing your 100 Families journey? Stay connected to 100 Families WA by adding your details below (only quarterly contact will be made via newsletters and project opportunities).

Click on the links below to download key resources to help you on your learning journey.

Download the Full report
Download the Summary Report
Download the Lived Experience Framework
To access further 100 Families WA resources, click here
To access other helpful resources, like the WACOSS Advocacy Toolkit, Outcomes Framework and more, click here
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contact us on 100familieswa@wacoss.org.au

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Brianna, Aboriginal Family

Background

Carol is a 60 years old grandma whose husband passed away. She lives alone and helps her daughter to take care of her kids since she is struggling with mental health and drug addiction.
Vision/goals

I want my daughter and my grandchildren to be happy and healthy. I would love Sarah to get back on her feet so she can go back to being mum and I can go back to being grandma.

Background

Carol is a 60 years old grandma whose husband passed away. She lives alone and helps her daughter to take care of her kids since she is struggling with mental health and drug addiction.

Vision/goals

I want my daughter and my grandchildren to be happy and healthy. I would love Sarah to get back on her feet so she can go back to being mum and I can go back to being grandma.