Mission Statement

To build and maintain the capacity and resilience of families and carers who support people with a disability, through partnerships between families, carers and professionals using a whole of life approach.

News

Important announcements from FIP will appear here...More news here.

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News and Updates from the Families in Partnership Co-Operative.


Co-operative Newsletter
The Co-operative produces a Newsletter each quarter to provide information on current issues of interest to families and service providers. They contain contacts and details of new services, government announcements and upcoming events within the community. Contributions from both families and services are very welcome and can be made by contacting the Coordinator.

December 2009 Newsletter
July 2009 Newsletter
May 2009 Newsletter
June 2008 Newsletter
April 2008 Newsletter
January 2008 Newsletter
October 2007 Newsletter
July 2007 Newsletter
April 2007 Newsletter

Staffing Changes:
Firstly, with much regret Families in Partnership Board of Management wishes to farewell Bob Lester who has been the FIP Co-ordinator for the past five and a half years.

Bob has decided on a career change and is now working for Wollondilly Council as a community project officer, which will still allow him to work closely with the local communities.

On behalf of the Board of Management, Parents, Families and Community Partners we wish to take this opportunity to sincerely thank Bob Lester for all his hard work and dedication he has shown over the past years. During this time, Bob has worked diligently in partnership with families to improve the services and support systems for people who have a disability and their families in the Macarthur region.

Secondly, the Board of Management would like to welcome Julie Howard, our new Administration Officer. Julie has been employed on a three day basis to manage the Families in Partnership office. Julie comes to this position with many years of office experience.

Julie has a daughter (11) and twin boys (9), one of which was recently diagnosed with ADHD. She has lived in the Macarthur area for nine years. She is looking forward to working in partnership with families and professionals to facilitate the aims of the Families in Partnership Cooperation.

Helping Children with Autism
The Commonwealth Government has recently committed $190 million over the next four years to deliver a suite of initiatives under the banner of Helping Children with Autism, to address the considerable need for support and services for children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). These new initiatives include:

The Co-operative has gathered currently available information into a fact sheet to provide additional details of the Government's commitment. Fact sheet link.

In addition to the Helping Children with Autism package, commitment was given to establishing six new autism-specific child care centre as part of the broader commitment to provide up to 260 new child care centres nationally.

The Co-operative will be working closely with other family based organisations to track the implementation of the package' initiatives and provide additional information to families as it comes available.

Our Co-ordinator is available to discuss any questions you may have on the announced package and how you could benefit from them.

PlayConnect Playgroup opens for children with Autism or ASD like disorders.

The first PlayConnect Playgroup site has been announce as Campbelltown NSW and will start next Friday 31 October.

The venue address is Hurley Park Hall, Dumaresq St, Campbelltown NSW.

PlayConnect Playgroups will offer play-based learning opportunities for children with ASD or ASD like symptoms, and create and extend social support networks for their families and carers. These Playgroups will also connect families and carers to resources available in their local area and to other elements of the Helping Children with Autism package.

If you would like to attend these PlayConnect playgroup Sessions please contact me, Sandy Kervin on 1800 171 882.

Thru the Maze

A great resource has been re-published by the Association for Children with a disability NSW (ACD NSW), providing a wealth of information and support for parents of children with a disability. As children grow, the territory changes for parents in terms of who to contact and issues to face, with many transitional point along the way. It can be a maze of services and people for many families and this book is a guide for parents to use and reuse.

Electronic copies can be obtained through the Associations website on www.acdnsw.org.au. Free hard copies of the booklet are available from the Co-operative.

Advocacy Services across NSW

A wide variety of Advocacy services are funded by the Commonwealth and State Governments to assist families, carers and people who have a disability. In addition a number of services and organisations, like the Co-operative can advocate for people and lobby for changes to government. A listing of Advocacy Services has been developed to assist people who need to assistant of an advocate or in self advocating.