Hosted by ANGLICARE Sydney, the forum heard from key practitioners on the importance of developing a continuum of support for families and carers, overcoming the social stigma and the isolation experienced by carers and families, as well as developing a rights-based approach that better accounts for the rights of both the person with a disability as well as other members of their family.
ANGLICARE which runs a wide range of other disability and carers support programs, is seeking to even better understand the needs of families of children with severe to profound disabilities, advocate on their behalf and work towards developing better policy options for support and respite.
Kingsdene Special School principal and forum organiser Anna Green said the forum was an important way to raise the complex needs faced by thousands of Australian families and discuss practical solutions for care and support.
"The mental health and wellbeing of carers, parents and especially the siblings of children with disabilities is an area that receives not nearly enough attention from policymakers and is little understood in the broader community.
"One of the things we know from decades of working with families and children with severe to profound disabilities is that there is no one-size fits all solution to providing care and support both to the child with a severe intellectual disability and their families", says Ms Green.
"This is why it is vital that carers, families, service providers and governments work together to develop real solutions to ensure the appropriate care for children with disabilities whilst ensuring the wellbeing of the families and carers."
ANGLICARE Sydney announced last year that the Kingsdene Special School and Residence that the organisation has run for the last 33 years would close at the end of 2010 as a result of an inability to secure sufficient recurrent funding. The organisation remains committed to assisting the students of Kingsdene and their families as well as the families of hundreds of other children who needs are still not being adequately understood or addressed.
Article source: http://www.anglicare.org.au/news-research-events/latest-news/forum-brings-together-families-carers-and-practitioners