After school clubs, arts programmes and parent and toddler groups are proving to be critical initiatives in helping to ease pressures on families as the recession deepens.
That was the findings from an annual report presented by the Family Resource Centre National Forum (FRCNF) this week.
Speaking at the launch, the Chairman of the FRCNF Packie Kelly said. “The loss of employment or the reduction in family income is a very isolating experience for families. Outings and social occasions are often the first cutbacks. Over a period of time this can result in poor social contact, which is vital for self esteem and family support.”
“Ireland’s network of family resource centres has been actively building up a range of initiatives that enable families to stay in touch and feel supported through difficult periods. Arts projects are important in getting people to re-engage if they have been out of work and feel isolated. Apart from acting as a welcome respite from the pressures of everyday life, it is our experience that people often open up again and regain confidence very quickly if they are involved in an arts or crafts project. These interventions might seem trivial but they allow us to connect with families and build trust. Through such interventions we can help prevent some of the crisis scenarios that break families down and leave them without coping mechanisms.”
The FRCNF annual report highlighted some changes in the individuals and groups that typically access services.
“We are now seeing more men at our centres; a growing proportion of older people and a notable increase in two parent families, and while we continue to see lots of lone parents and women, attendance for services by this group is dropping,” said Packie Kelly.
Most FRCs offer courses and programmes which include professional counselling services and holistic health courses. Crèches can be accessed on a flexible basis by disadvantaged families and rely heavily on voluntary engagement.
During her address at the launch of the FRC annual report, the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, Frances Fitzgerald TD said “Families in Ireland today have wide ranging and diverse needs. But supporting families at all stages, particularly difficult stages, is at the core of the work of Family Resource Centres. Since my appointment as Minister I have had great pleasure in visiting Resource Centres from Clare to Donegal to Wexford and have always been impressed with what I saw. It is my determination to oversee the transformation of the country’s Child and Family Services and the nationwide network of FRCs will have an integral role to play in all this.”
The FRC programme is funded primarily by the Family Support Agency which operates out of the Department of Children and Youth affairs. It emphasises involving local communities in tackling problems they face and creating successful partnerships between voluntary and statutory agencies at community level. In 2010 a total of 2,783 volunteers were involved in the delivery of tasks from renovating community facilities to supervising youth groups. Their work input, if compensated at minimum wage, would amount to 5.7 million euro.
“As demand for the services and supports from FRCs increases, we depend hugely on the goodwill of people to allow us to deliver for the communities in which we serve; we are indebted to the volunteers. While the role of the volunteers becomes more crucial, many FRCs report increased waiting time to secure Garda clearance for volunteers. While such a clearance is absolutely required before we can engage a volunteer, the waiting time can be frustrating and does lead to volunteers moving on to other positions that don’t require clearance,” said Packie Kelly.
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