Family support programs and social inclusion: early findings from the evaluation of the Intensive Family Support program at the Womens Centre Cairns
Genevieve Sinclair
James Cook University and Womens Centre, Cairns
Contact Email:   genevievewirc.org.au

This presentation aims to discuss some of the early findings from an exploratory evaluation of the Intensive Family Support program at the Womens Centre Cairns. The evaluation, which forms the basis of current studies for a Masters in Social Policy (James Cook University) is supported by the Queensland Department of Communities and is undertaken using an action research model
with mixed qualitative and quantitative methods and informed by feminist principles. The project commenced in April 2006 and is due to conclude in December 2007. Specifically, the inquiry has explored the efficacy of the Intensive Family Support (IFS) program at the Women’s Centre Cairns, in particular, the relationship between the provision of a family support program and improved social connectedness and housing stability. The evaluation has also aimed to improve our understanding of how concepts of ‘social capital’ and ‘social exclusion’ function in a specific local context. Data collection has included substantial quantitative and qualitative data (including: exhaustive program statistics; literature review; narrative studies; focus groups; and client feedback forms).

Most of the families engaged in the IFS program at the Womens Centre Cairns are fleeing or have recent experiences of domestic or family violence and approximately 40 per cent of families participating in the program are Indigenous Australians. Some of the early findings from the evaluation include:

-The critical importance of social inclusion in improving safety outcomes for women and children;
-The role women (e.g., family, friends, neighbours etc.) assume in providing informal social support networks for families in crisis;
-Strengths and dilemmas associated with family and social support networks for Indigenous families engaged in the program;
-The impact of the current national housing affordability crisis on social connectedness, particularly for families who have historically experienced considerable structural barriers to accessing affordable accommodation (e.g., single mothers, Indigenous families);
-The value of agency collaboration in order to strengthen ‘bridging’ type social connections for families in crisis

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