Hi Everyone,
Save the Children has been delivering the "Basic Babysitting Course" as part of its "Future Parents Program" to young people in Qld since 1989, and in the last 12 months has begun to roll the program out nationally
. The "Future Parents Program" (FPP), is an early intervention child abuse prevention program, aimed at providing young people who provide care to siblings or other people's children with increased knowledge and skills related to childcare and children's rights.
We work with groups of between 8-15 young people, in partnership with locally based community / youth agencies, to increase young people's knowledge of how to care for children safely, increase their confidence in caring for children, increase their awareness of issues related to child abuse and domestic violence and how these impact on children and families, and increase their connection to locally relevant networks and supports in their community.
Over 90% of the young people who complete the FPP have already started caring for children (usually younger siblings), yet less than 15% tell us that they feel confident in these care roles. Often, young people will tell us that they behave in abusive ways towards these children in an attempt to "gain control" over them, for example, they will deprive them of food, lock them in rooms, lock them outside of the house, or punch, slap, bite, or kick them etc .. After completing the course, around 98% of young people tell us that they feel more confident in caring for children, and that they have a better understanding of children's needs, child abuse, and domestic violence. Parents often provide feedback that indicates that the levels of stress in the home have reduced and that young people are more understanding of younger children's needs, and more capable of providing safe and nurturing care - both in supervised and unsupervised contexts.
Each of our FPP course presenters has completed Cert IV in Facilitating Abuse Prevention Programs, to ensure that regardless of other qualifications they may hold, we can be confident of their ability to facilitate discussions about child abuse and domestic violence with young people.
The courses are usually delivered one session per week for an 8-week period, and cover a range of topics relevant to young people in babysitting roles .. including:
- child health and safety
- caring for other people's children
- finding childcare jobs
- basic child development
- the importance of play (toys and games)
- managing emergencies
- dealing with stress
- domestic and family violence
- child abuse and neglect
- personal safety and protective behaviours
There is no cost to young people to attend the course ... ever .. and each young person who attends a minimum of 6/8 sessions receives a certificate of attendance at the course graduation ceremony.
For more information about the FPP in the following states, please contact ....
Regards,
RE: [youthgas] bab
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