FAMILY SUPPORT TEAM

The Family Support Team provides support to families/whānau with children with delayed or disordered development who attend the Champion Centre. In keeping with Champion Centre philosophy, the Family Support Team aims to promote the wellbeing of children and their families/whānau. All members of the Family Support Team hold qualifications in Social Work, Sociology or Psychology. Social Workers are all qualified to a minimum of Level 6 within the NZQA Framework. Registration with the Social Work Registration Board is desirable. The Psychologists hold postgraduate degrees and are registered with the Psychology Board.

Members of the Family Support Team work directly with families/whānau to:

• Encourage the concept of families/Whānau as partners in the Early Intervention process and support their involvement within the process.
• Advocate for families/Whānau both within the centre and externally, and assist in the accessing of resources, such as benefits, transport, respite care and community support.
• Provide information and learning opportunities for families/Whānau, such as parenting skills and behaviour management.
• Provide emotional support to families/Whānau, for example: grief and acceptance, chronic sorrow, mental health issues, relationship issues, self-esteem and sibling support. This is delivered via informal and formal counselling sessions within the centre or in the home, via parent/caregiver support groups, and/or via referral to an external agency.
• Encourage the development and understanding of positive social-emotional skills and behaviours. Assessment and intervention for specific challenging behaviours is provided when needed.​

The Family Support Team directly supports the work of the Early Intervention teams by:

• Gathering and providing information about the child/family/whānau to the overall team to assist in delivery of the early intervention service.
• Following up with families/whānau on issues identified by the clinicians as impacting or potentially impacting on a child’s well-being and development.

 
The Champion Centre, including the Family Support Team, is working to promote the needs of Maori whānau in early intervention for children with developmental delay. One member of the Family Support Team is employed as a Kaiwhakapuawai with a brief of responsiveness to Maori. 
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