It is at this time of year that we like to thank all the communities that we work with including services that partner with us, funders, other stakeholders and of course our neighbourhoods and families.
It has been a huge year for NCNS, with a number of new programs. These have included the Functional Family Therapy team working therapeutically with families in the child protection system. This gold standard, evidence based model is a new way of working and it is so exciting to be on the forefront of this work.
I would like to thank our funders and partners at Wentworth Healthcare, the providers of the Nepean Blue Mountains Primary Health Network, as well as our community, for putting their trust in us and supporting our tender for the Closing the Gap project. In May this year we transitioned the amazing Closing the Gap team over from Wentworth Healthcare over to NCNS. We have recruited a whole lot of workers and now have a full team of Clinical Care Coordinators, Aboriginal Health Outreach workers and Health Promotion Workers, working across the region with Aboriginal clients who have chronic and complex diseases. Together we are closing the gap on Indigenous disadvantage, particularly aiming to increase life expectancy.
Another new program is Aboriginal Dual Diagnosis. The team are now taking referrals and working across the region from Hawkesbury to Lithgow. We know many Aboriginal people have fallen through the gaps of the mainstream mental health and drug/alcohol system. This program aims to provide cultural and clinical support to re-engage clients, set realistic goals and achieve better outcomes for people with these complex conditions.
Meanwhile our other projects; Community Development, Child & Family Services, Parenting Programs, Brighter Futures & Youth Hope Casework, Neighbourhood Centres, Chaplaincy, Youth Workers and the rest of the NCNS team have been busier than ever, working with communities in new and different ways, as we evolve our programs.
We went to the next level of collaboration with our friends at Platform Youth Services, embarking on a shared management structure for our Caseworkers bringing together the strengths of both of our organisations. Watch this space for innovative practice development in 2018.
The work we do collectively is not possible without strong partnerships and we are very fortunate to have such amazing colleagues in so many organisations. Thank you to each and every one of you!
Best wishes to all you, we hope that you have a relaxing time with your loved ones over Christmas and New Year. We look forward to seeing you all again in 2018.