Couples sought for care scheme idea
Warm-hearted, resourceful couples are sought for the Presbyterian Support Services alternative support care programme for teenagers. An alternative support care programme being set up would provide temporary accommodation for teenagers through a support family. . The programme reflected the services’ move away from long-term fostering to a short-term relief for parents and children, said a P.S.S. child and family social worker, Mrs Jocelyn Wilson. The programme needed caring people who were interested in offering their homes to a teenager .for between a few days to two months. Support famine would receive financial help.
Parishioners would ini-
tially be canvassed for support, said Mrs Wilson. Older couples who had already successfully brought up a family would probably have many skills to offer in communication with teenagers, she said. A preparation programme would also be offered to prospective families to help them discover if this challenge was the right choice for them.
Social workers would also provide additional support to each family. The impetus for a change away from permanent relief care was the result of a review last year. The review revealed large gaps in relief work with teenagers. It found few agencies were able to handle the increasing number of requests from parents for relief in teen-
age care. Less people were willing to take on teenage children in faster care, but the need to extend present services to provide short-term and intermittent care had increased, said Mrs Wilson.
Previously it was thought that by removing the child from his or her family the problems would be able to be solved. But there were “lots of bonds” between parents and their children which were not easily severed, said Mrs Wilson. Increasingly, the P.S.S. found more troubled parents were seeking support in relief care for teenagers they could not cope with.
It' was hoped the alternative support care programme would hein
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Press, 27 February 1986, Page 16
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315Couples sought for care scheme idea Press, 27 February 1986, Page 16
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