Are you a parent or carer? Would you like to speak with a Carer Support Worker with lived experience?

Carer Support Workers have lived experience of supporting a child or young person with mental health challenges. They are employed by CAMHS to use their lived experience to assist parents and carers whose children are currently accessing CAMHS services.

Carer Support Workers can:

• Help you to navigate CAMHS services and participate in treatment
• Help answer questions you might have about our service
• Offer hope of recovery as they have experience of supporting a child or young person through the treatment journey themselves.

If you are interested in finding out more, or want to arrange to speak to one of our peer workers, please contact xxx@health.wa.gov.au

Carers

A child is often cared for by another person or family members other than their immediate parents. Caring is often short term for children whose parents are unable to care for them on a full time basis. Sometimes, young people in care can come from complicated family situations and carers have great responsibility in ensuring they are able to provide a safe, secure and loving environment.

A range of local and national services are available to help and support carers.

Foster carers

• WA Department for Child Protection – Foster caring - provides information about foster caring what's involved in becoming a foster carer in Western Australia. 
• Foster Care Association -Western Australia represents foster carers, their families and the children they care for, throughout Western Australia.
• Create Foundation - provides a voice for children and young people in out-of-home care. The website has information on programs, activities and events run to reach foster children throughout Australia.

Grandparents as carers

• Australian Government Department of Human Services – Support for non-parent carers (external site) has information about financial assistance and services available for grandparents and other non-parent carers who provide full-time care for a child.
• Wanslea Grandcare - provides support for grandparents who are raising their grandchildren on a full-time basis. Various support groups are located in the Metropolitan and southern Western Australia.
• Family Relationships Australia - gives grandparents advice on family relationship issues.

Young carers

Young Carers WA - are dedicated to improving the lives of young carers in Australia, they provide information, advice, events and more to assist young carers in the day to day demands of being a carer.

Parents

Raising a child with a mental illness can be challenging even for the most experienced parents.

The links below provide information to help parents understand what their child may be going through and how they can help. Support services are also available for parents struggling to cope.

Same-sex parents

• Gay Dads Australia is a resource specifically for gay men who are fathers, or who want to have children.
• The National LGBTI Health Alliance is a national organisation promoting the health and well-being of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) people. The website also links to LGBTI services in each state and territory that provide advice and support to same-sex parents.

Sole parents

• Australian Government Department of Human Services – Child support and separated parents has information about child support payment and support services for separated families.
• National Council of Single Mothers and their Children - aims to empower single mothers, particularly those living in hardship.
• Parenting and Child Health – Single parenting provides tips and advice for single parenting.
• Parents Without Partners (PWP) - offers social, emotional and educational support for sole parents.

Step-parents

• Family Relationships Online - has information and advice about family relationships as well as a telephone support service.
• Parenting and Child Health - Blended families provides information and advice on a range of common issues for blended families.
• Relationships Australia - offers counselling, education programs, mediation services and other help for individuals, couples and families.
• Stepfamilies Australia - operates Australia-wide offering family support services and information to stepfamilies.

Teenage parents

• Core of Life - provides education about pregnancy, birth, breastfeeding and early parenting for adolescents.
• Teen Health – Pregnancy options links to information about options for young people who are pregnant.