Community & Business
1 February, 2023
New facility to help families
FAMILIES navigating the challenges of separation and divorce on the Tablelands now have access to a safe space and comfortable space for children to maintain contact with parents they no longer live with and other family members in a safe environment.
Community social services group, Better Together, officially opened their Children’s Contact Centre recently at their Mabel Street centre.
The centre will provide a neutral and secure environment for children to have contact with family members, while ensuring the safety and well-being of the children.
Children’s Contact Centre coordinator Claire Niyokwizera said she was excited to announce the opening of the facility and hoped it would benefit the many young people and their families currently facing hardship.
"We are excited to launch this new service the first on the Atherton Tablelands, which is a vital resource for families in our community," she said.
"The Children's Contact Centre will provide a safe and secure environment for children to maintain relationships with non-custodial parents and other family members, which is essential for their emotional and psychological well-being."
The facility also offers supervised “changeover” services, where parents can exchange their children in a safe and neutral environment without contact with the other parent.
Up until now solutions for parents in these situations was to go to Relationships Australia in Cairns or meet at a parking lot or another public meeting place to exchange kids.
Ms Niyokwizera said this could be daunting for some parents facing domestic violence, but also very anxiety provoking for children.
The other function of the centre is to provide a friendly environment for parents to have su-pervised visits that include rooms with toys and a small garden with a sand pit.
The Children's Contact Centre is now open and accepting clients, a “changeover” costs about $5 and a supervised visit is $20.
The fees are kept low and no one will be turned away if they are facing financial hardship and cannot pay.
For more information contact Better Together on 4091 3850 or visit the website at bettertogether.com.au
