Strong Start works with first time mothers (aged under 25 years) during their pregnancy and continue working with the family until the infant is two years old. The program is for families experiencing complex issues.
Strong Start provides direct case management, with Child and Family Health Service (CaFHS) providing nursing. The aim is for the families to make a successful transition to parenting and ensure their children have the best possible start to life. Research tells us that providing intervention and tailored support early in a woman’s first pregnancy achieves the best outcomes for infants and children in the long term.
Strong Start operates in two regions, North and South Metropolitan Adelaide.
How Strong Start practitioners work with families
Strong Start practitioners aim to provide high quality, tailored intervention services. This can include:
- parenting education
- monitoring children’s development and growth
- addressing financial or housing issues
- linking parents to social supports.
The team delivers services with openness, honesty, and transparency. They have difficult and challenging conversations with families about child protection risks.
Strong Start teams are culturally responsive. They ensure that Aboriginal people, families, and communities are supported by services that believe in self-determination and true partnership.
Likewise, the teams ensure that Cultural and Linguistically Diverse (CALD) families are supported in ways that acknowledge and recognise cultural diversity and practices.