Phone 4342 2070 Fax 4342 2071 Email us

2002 (c) Peninsula Community Access Newspaper Inc

 

Child abuse service closes

 

Umina's Child Abuse Prevention Service (CAPS) closed on June 30, having been unable to secure recurrent State Government funding.

The centre has been operating for the last 14 years providing support for families in crisis in the Umina area.

The centre, run from a house owned by Gosford Council, runs courses on parenting, coping skills, and child development.

Centre coordinator Ms Carolyn Goddard said that she has been saddened by the closure of the service.

"There aren't a lot of other places for people to just ring up and have a chat," she said.

"There's nowhere else for our clients to come and have a laugh or have a shoulder to cry on," she said.

Despite funding from Convoy for kids, Community Chest and Rotary, Ms Goddard said that without the State Government funding it was not possible to keep the centre open.

State Government funds paid for a co-ordinator two days a week and volunteers kept the centre open an extra three days.

Some of the volunteers at the centre had been there for the last 14 years.

Ms Goddard said that over the years the volunteers had turned the centre into a family home, where people could be accepted and not judged.

As an on-going support service, the centre had some clients since its inception in 1988, others for short periods during times of trouble.

Ms Goddard estimated that up to 400 people had been helped by service in the last year.

"Now our clients will have to look further afield," she said.

The nearest CAPS centre is now at Wyong, which Ms Goddard said was "extremely busy" and probably too far for clients to travel.

She said that clients could still ring the phone service run from Ashfield on 1800 688 009 or utilise other government services.

Alison Branley, June 25