Families NSW (formerly Families First) is a prevention and
early intervention government strategy to help parents give their children a
good start in life. This means supporting families during pregnancy and in early
years of a child’s life when development is rapid. Families NSW is about
improving outcomes for children and their families and changing the way we work
to support families with babies and young children (0‐8 years of age) so that
support is available as early as possible. Families NSW is aimed at enhancing
the capacity of the service network to be able to identify problems and provide
support early.
CALD Community Facilitator Project
The project is intended to create an opportunity for
effective and meaningful consultation between service providers and community
groups. The project will provide a way to overcome interpretive barriers between
service providers and community groups.
Why facilitators?
The rationale for using community facilitators is that often
in a consultation process, cultural meaning for a community about ideas that are
discussed are left for the interpretation by the body governing the
consultation. This cultural meaning may or may not be interpreted correctly or
may be interpreted and used inappropriately by the consulting agency, in either
case the overall experience is disempowering for culturally and linguistically
diverse groups who were involved in the consultation. The community facilitator
project provides a way to overcome these interpretive barriers.
Role of facilitators
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To interpret the meaning of both the service provider and
the community during a consultation
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To allow each community to speak in their “own” language
indicating cultural and social signifiers in relation to feedback
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To guide the consultation process so that it is
meaningful to their communities.
Project Management
MigrantLINK manages the project for Warringah Council, which
is the auspicating organisation; project management includes identifying and
working with communities and facilitators, organizing training for the
facilitators, and negotiating with service providers who wish to engage the
facilitators.
MigrantLINK convenes the Project Reference Group, which
advises on and monitors the implementation of the CALD Community facilitator
project.
