Talking Families - How vulnerable families are affected by COVID

With the majority of the NSW community experiencing some levels of lockdown in the past 12 months, CatholicCare experts in the field met to discuss the impact COVID has and is having on the vulnerable families across Sydney.

Moderated by CatholicCare Sydney, family experts, Vanessa Harnischmacher, Practice Manager of Parent Line NSW and Hanin Al-Sayfee, Manager of CatholicCare's Intensive Family Preservation program shared how the harshest impact of COVID falls on the most vulnerable.

Managing Parent Line NSW, a service that supports more than 8,000 families across NSW each year, Vanessa provided insight into the challenges families are facing.

"The families that call us, are in more complex circumstances than they were prior to COVID. We are getting calls from parents who are really worried about issues from school engagement through to mental health issues such as depression, anxiety and self-harm. 

"We're used to having the break of school, work, extracurricular activities and seeing families and friends. No one is getting that and families have become really stressful places for lots of people."

Living, and working to support families, in South West Sydney, Hanin highlighted the current situation by sharing the stories of some of the most vulnerable families we help.

"The families we have been supporting in the Liverpool and Fairfield regions are the most vulnerable. They have been referred to our programs due to stress and concerns around child safety. These concerns include domestic violence, financial stress, neglect, challenging behaviours and risk of homelessness"

Watch the recording of this webinar below to hear more about how we are supporting these vulnerable families during this time of great need.

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