I’m a Family Support Worker Supervisor at
Kurrajong Early Intervention Service (KEIS). I have a Masters in Child and Adolescent Welfare and have been in my current role for 2.5 years. Prior to this I worked as a Teacher's Aide full time at a primary school, while I studied by distance education.
My job involves lots of talking with families and therapists. There really is no such thing as a typical day here but some of the things I do in the course of a day include:
- Conducting initial contact interviews with families entering the service
- Staying with families through the assessment process
- Attending sessions with therapists
- Attending groups to talk with parents or assist educators
- Conducting parenting programs such as Triple P
- Completing Family Assistance Fund applications
- Arranging Angel Flights for families
- Debriefing with KEIS therapists and educators
- Liaising with Community Services
- Assisting parents with childcare and pre school placements
- Assisting parents with transitioning to school
- Referring families to other services eg Brighter Futures and ADHC
- Organising social outings for parents
- Organising awareness days
- Researching information on conditions for families
- Helping families to understand their child’s issues
The list is endless! My day never goes to plan and that’s why I love it. To do this job you must like people and love children. You need empathy, compassion, a good sense of humour, good time management skills and a good grip on reality - we can’t solve all the problems of the world but we usually will try.