Strengthening Support to Families: Basing a Family Support Worker at a Primary School in Melbourne, Australia
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Strengthening Support to Families: Basing a Family Support Worker at a Primary School in Melbourne, Australia Elizabeth Senior1 • Sarah Carr2 • Lisa Gold2
Springer Science+Business Media New York 2016
Abstract This mixed methods study examines the benefits of basing a family support worker (FSW) at a primary school in Melbourne, Australia. The school has a number of high needs families requiring extensive support from school staff. Pre and post intervention data was collected on the time spent on social problems in the school community. These included managing students with behavioural and emotional issues, providing support and practical assistance to parents with problems and liaising with agencies to access support for students and families. Pre and post intervention Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaires were completed by teachers whose students and families were clients of the FSW (n = 8) and compared with non clients (n = 10). Semi-structured interviews were held with FSW clients (n = 6), class teachers (n = 3) the assistant principal, principal and the FSW. Employing a FSW showed a reduction in the amount of time spent on welfare cases for teachers, and therefore a monetary saving for the school. Qualitative data collected from school staff and FSW clients was overwhelmingly positive. Having a FSW based at a primary school provides savings in teacher time, and expenses to the school. Teachers are freed to
& Elizabeth Senior [email protected] Sarah Carr [email protected] Lisa Gold [email protected] 1
EACH Social and Community Health, 1063 Burwood Highway, Ferntree Gully, Melbourne, VIC 3156, Australia
2
Deakin Population Health SRC, Faculty of Health, Deakin University, Melbourne Burwood Campus, 221 Burwood Highway, Burwood, VIC 3125, Australia
concentrate on education and the parents valued the relationship provided by the FSW. Keywords Schools Cost-effectiveness Teachers Families Vulnerable children
Literature Review Bronfenbrenner’s (1986) ecological model is useful in understanding how a child’s immediate family experiences and systems-level family dynamics are linked to school behaviour. Bronfenbrenner (1986) postulates that what happens in a micro system, such as the home in which a child lives can influence what happens in the meso system, including the school or a playground, and what happens in a school or a playground can in turn influence interactions at home. If we want to understand what influences a child’s behaviour, we need to look at the ecological systems surrounding that child and intervene at all levels. The ecological model sees environments, from the family to political structures as part of the life course from childhood through adulthood. In line with Bronfenbrenner’s model (1986) there is extensive literature that confirms the importance of involving the family in order to provide effective schoolbased programming for students with emotional and behavioural issues (Australian Government Department of Families Community Services and Indigenous Affairs,
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