Our Programs
Targeted Supported Groups
A suite of structured group programs for families and young children with more complex needs, facilitated by at least two professional staff members as well as trained volunteers.
Good Beginnings’ targeted supported group programs are aimed at families with complex needs, some of whom require supervised contact with their children, while others have children in care.
Attendance in these targeted groups is intended to be static, with the same small group of parents and children attending across a 10-week program.
Click on the links below to find out more about some of these targeted groups:
Contact Play & Learn
Contact Play & Learn is a free program for parents who are not their children’s primary carer, and whose contact visits with their children are required to be supervised, whether due to a lack of parenting confidence or enforced through a court order.
This program operates weekly sessions during school terms, with the same small group of parents and their children attending each week.
Parents who use this service often experience tension and conflict in their relationship with their ex partner. As non-primary parents, they often find themselves isolated, have limited opportunities to learn about parenting, and rarely see their children interact with others.
The aim of the Contact Play & Learn program is to model interactions and behaviour management techniques that increase the skills and involvement of parents/carers who are not the child/children’s primary carer. The group aims to increase opportunities for children to develop a strong relationship with their non-primary parent and for parents to develop social links with parents in similar situations.
To achieve this, the sessions are structured to include a parent education session followed by a playgroup session attended by both the children and their parents. After the children leave, parents have the opportunity to debrief and discuss the session and receive support from Good Beginnings’ professional staff.
Play2Grow
Play2Grow is a program for vulnerable parents who are working with a Child Protection agency regarding their parenting.
This program operates weekly two-and-a-half hour sessions during school term, with the same small group of parents and their children attending each week.
Parents who use this program are often experiencing high levels of parenting anxiety. They are frequently isolated and have limited opportunities to learn about parenting.
The aim of the Play2Grow program is to provide an environment where vulnerable parents can learn essential parenting skills in a relaxed, non-judgmental and relevant way. As well as increasing parenting skills and knowledge, Play2Grow offers families the opportunity to develop networks with other parents from their local community who face similar issues, concerns and needs.
The group sessions offer parents an opportunity to develop their parenting skills through practical activities. Children are cared for in the on-site crèche free of charge while parents attend an informal parent education session, developed specifically in response to needs identified by the families. When children join their parents for a two-hour playgroup, parents get the opportunity to practise the strategies they have discussed.
Parents Plus
Parents Plus is a program for parents who have lost custody of their children for any number of reasons.
Many parents who have lost custody find it difficult to access other forms of parent and family support offered as part of the Child Protection-facilitated reunification process. Referrals to this group are exclusively through Child Protection Agencies.
Supervised contact between children who are in care and their parents can be demoralising, disempowering and stressful, both for parents and for their children. Many parents in this position are keen to prove to themselves and others that they can be good parents but often lack basic skills in playing and communicating with their children.
The aim of Parents Plus is to provide parents whose children are in care with an opportunity to build on and develop their parenting skills in a non-threatening and non-judgmental environment of support and respect. The group also provides children with the best opportunity to create lasting, happy and positive memories of time spent with their parents. In addition, the group aims to provide children whose parents are working towards reunification with the best opportunity to be returned to a safe, loving and nurturing environment.
In order to achieve this aim, the program engages with parents and their children, usually up to school age, by providing a meeting place with an informal atmosphere. Each session starts with a parent education session, where parents also get the chance to get to know one another and form supportive relationships. Children then join their parents for a playgroup session in which each family is paired with a trained volunteer to support the process. Volunteers and professional staff encourage children and their parents to participate in experiences together and model positive parenting strategies and interactions.
Intensive Supported Playgroup
The Intensive Supported Playgroup is aimed specifically at indigenous families, some of whom have complex needs, and provides professional family support in a group environment.
The aim of the program is to help build parents’ and carers’ capacities and positive relationships with their children. The groups also build social networks and act as a referral point, linking families to outside support services. The program aims to improve the social, emotional, cognitive, behavioural and physical development of young children up to school age and to increase their confidence and general wellbeing.
To achieve these aims, the groups provide quality playgroup sessions, offering play activities that engage both parents and children and enhance their relationship. Professional staff provide support and information and assist families to link into other support resources in their community. A Child Development Worker ensures that playgroup activities promote and provide stimulating experiences to meet each child’s developmental needs. The groups also offer support to both parents and children in making a smooth transition into the school environment.