CLIPPER ROAD CHILD CARE CENTRE, EAST NOWRA, STAFFING
Page: 21005
Mrs SHELLEY HANCOCK (South Coast) [4.31 p.m.]: This evening I express support for the work of Illawarra Area Child Care Ltd [IACC] and in particular I raise the challenges faced by the staff at the Clipper Road Centre in East Nowra which was auspiced by the IACC in 2003. The Clipper Road Centre in my electorate is a 40-place community-owned service, catering for children 0-5 years. The hours of operation are from 7.30 a.m. to 5.30 p.m. for 51weeks of the year. The centre is situated in an area surrounded by public housing and is one of only four centres in the Nowra-Bomaderry area which caters for 0-2 year olds, the closest being six kilometres away. Due to the high-support needs of the children and families attending the centre, staff members are struggling to manage those needs, and are in urgent need of additional trained staff to care more adequately for children at the centre.
A high percentage of the families and children who attend the Clipper Road Centre experience significant problems, including high percentages of children with parents in correctional facilities, frequent Department of Community Services [DOCS] notifications as a result of domestic violence or neglect, high numbers of families on the highest percentage of child care benefits, high numbers of single parent families, high percentages of children with challenging behaviour, or with a disturbing lack of verbal or developmental skills, significant numbers of children whose parents have a mental illness, children in foster care or with grandparents as carers, parents with limited access to transport, parents with drug and alcohol issues, and a number of parents with poor parenting skills related to hygiene, dental care, head lice and family budgeting issues. There is also a high percentage of indigenous families at the centre.
The Clipper Road Centre is more than just a child care centre, with staff time and resources directed to parent assistance for those in the community who are experiencing genuine problems. The centre's goal is to provide a high-quality children's services program. With the special needs of so many children at the centre, a second early childhood trained teacher is required on the premises five days a week. IACC regards this as a valuable resource to support the children and other staff to deliver developmentally appropriate care and education to improve educational outcomes for the children. An additional teacher would relieve the increasing pressure on staff and would work with the director to ensure the development of programs which are culturally appropriate and meet the needs of the children and parents.
The Clipper Road Centre is vital for the East Nowra community. It fulfils, more than perhaps in many areas, an early intervention facility for young children and babies, many of whose parents, for one reason or another, are struggling with parenting issues. Without appropriate early intervention, many of these young children will begin school without the appropriate skills to be able to cope. The cost of providing the services provided at the centre cannot be passed onto the families, many of whom struggle to meet the minimum fee of $13.85 per day. The centre's staff spend much of their time dealing with DOCS notifications, or referral of parents to other services, such as family support or drug and alcohol counselling. The centre's staff earnestly would like to have the service strengthen its role as a family resource for this struggling community in a marginalised area. As we all know, access to high-quality child care is the most effective means of improving child outcomes and providing children with the chance to start school on an equal footing with their more advantaged or privileged peers.
The staff has also informed me of the high number of children with dental caries and ongoing head lice infestations. They would like to introduce and implement programs to deal with those issues and to assist parents, but parents simply cannot afford any more additional costs to deal with issues such as these. Whilst I may have painted a fairly depressing picture of the Clipper Road Centre and the challenges it faces, the reality is that the staff are struggling to cope with enormous issues they face daily while doing a wonderful job. They are wonderful individuals who just get on with the job and provide a warm, caring, loving environment for children and babies in their care, and for parents or grandparents, many of whom are trapped in a cycle of poverty and who face their own individual and critical issues.
Today I request that the Minister perhaps visit the centre to acknowledge it for the important programs it delivers for the East Nowra community. I also request that consideration by given to the provision of additional funding by the Government for one additional trained early childhood worker to relieve the dreadful pressure that is being experienced currently and to ensure the ongoing success of the centre. The Clipper Road Centre is well known for the programs delivered to children and babies in my electorate. It is a vital service for the East Nowra community which is, in many senses, a disadvantaged community. The morale of the staff currently is fairly problematic. They see many challenges they would like to deal with and many programs that they would like to implement. Without the provision of funding that I have asked for, which does not involve a great deal of money, I foresee many of the staff perhaps turning away from the role they are fulfilling so well at the moment. I urge the Government to seriously consider providing assistance for this small child care centre in East Nowra. IACC currently is doing a fantastic job.