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Auspicing Innovative Action as Advocacy
Modelling Good Practice In Aboriginal Child Health and Education In Derby Western Australia
Please note that all photographs used in this project have been published with the permission of Jalaris Aboriginal Corporation.
Jalaris Links
The Project - Jalaris Kids Future Club
Donations & Sponsors
Jalaris Aboriginal Corporation
The Derby Context
Kids Future Club - Questions and Answer Sheet
Video Of Jalaris At Work
Friends of Jalaris - Update October 2006
This update is intended to inform the Friends of Jalaris about progress towards securing funding and progressing our children and family programs. As you know we have been working hard with friends and supporters of Jalaris Aboriginal Corporation to gather support, resources and funding to implement a 5 year children and families' program in Derby. The program includes:
The Jalaris Kids Future Club, supporting positive experiences of education and health for primary school aged kids;
Continuation of the Family Support and Health Outreach Service in collaboration with the Community Health Service;
Providing short course and accredited training to Jalaris staff and local parents in childcare and family skills; and,
A longitudinal research and evaluation program looking at the changes to health, child development and family function resulting from Jalaris' work.
The Jalaris Kids Futures Club
The Kids Futures Club kicked off in late August and has been running every Wednesday afternoon. Each week we have had up to 30 children attending, with a handful of parents, family members and carers lending a hand. Activities have included cooking, sport activities, painting and recently starting to make Christmas cards and decorations. Staff from Derby Community Health come each week and are helping to design age appropriate activities and document the initial observable impacts on participating children. About 10-15 children are regular attendees and work is underway to establish a first cohort to be tracked over time as part of the evaluation of the project. Staff and family members are seeing a rapid improvement in some children's fine motor skills (such as using scissors for the first time) and children working together in a cooperative manner. Parents and family members have been running small activities and assisting with preparation of healthy food each Wednesday.
Funding
We are pleased to say that FACSIA has provided 12 months funding under a Results Based Funding Model Pilot Project. In combination with our remaining Lotterywest funding, this will enable Jalaris to cover the basic operational costs for this financial year (06/07), and get the Kids Future Club underway. However we are still seeking secure funding for future years (from July 2007). Our aim is to secure a minimum of 5 years funding, as the early intervention work needs at least this time frame to be effective and make the necessary impacts on the Derby community.
The Public Health Association (PHA) has taken up Jalaris' work as a model of good practice in Aboriginal child health and education. At their recent national conference Jalaris' work was profiled and gold coin donations from the sale of coffee and tea were gathered to donate to Jalaris. PHA is providing Jalaris with valuable networks and helping with promotion and accessing donations. Other organizations, such as SNAICC (Secretariat National Aboriginal and Islander Child Care) have provided inkind support through providing educational resources, dvd's, work books and craft materials. Jalaris continues to receive local donations of goods, clothes and food for use in their programs, all of which enable programs to continue while we look for secure funding.
A teleconference is scheduled for late October with potential funding partners and supporters of Jalaris to develop a coordinated strategy to meet our aim of 5 years secure funding for our programs. Although we have some strong support we need additional major funding partners to join us in order to achieve our goals. We need additional support to find these partners, as without additional funding most of the administration and fund raising for Jalaris is being done by volunteers who also undertake on the ground work supporting children and families. This volunteer energy can not continue indefinitely.
Research and Evaluation
Jane Freemantle from PHA and the Telethon Institute for Child Health Research visited Derby in late August. During this visit Jane and Jalaris staff met with staff from Community Health and potential research tools and models were discussed. We are in the process of looking at tools and methods to establish some baseline data on individuals and families involved in the project, and to use for ongoing evaluation.
Initial data and observations from the Kids Futures Club show that this evaluation will contribute valuable information about the issues and experiences of participating young people, however funding and practical support to the design and implementation of this evaluation program is still needed. We are looking for partners to commit to working with Jalaris long term to implement this longitudinal evaluation.
Training and staff development
Discussions with training organizations in our region have led to plans for accredited on the job training for our future staff, and we have developed partnerships with local health organizations to provide workshops and short courses on child development in the future. However until we can offer secure employment we are unable to commence our staff development and training program. In the meantime we have been supporting volunteers to participate in learning opportunities and collaborating with other programs to model good practice in early childhood. For example, over coming months of the wetseason, Nunga Women's Group will be running their mobile playgroup out of the Kids Future Club, providing an opportunity for families to learn about structured play that supports their child's development.
For more information about Jalaris, or to provide support and funding please contact:
Brenton Morris: 0438 904 170 brntnmorris@yahoo.com.au
Jalaris Aboriginal Corporation: (08) 9193 2200 jalaris@westnet.com.au
Maya Haviland: 0418 366 699 maya@communityprojects.com.au
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