Support for carers

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

Our Carer Support Workers and Peer 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.

Peer 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 

To find out if the CAMHS service you are using has Peer Workers available, please speak with your Service Manager.

Carers

A child is often cared for by someone 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 and what's involved in becoming a foster carer in Western Australia
• Foster Care Association WA –  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 – 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 area and southern WA
• Family Relationships Australia – gives grandparents advice on family relationship issues

Young carers

• Young Carers WA – 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 LGBTIQ+ Health Alliance is a national organisation promoting the health and well-being of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex and queer (LGBTIQ+) people. The website also links to LGBTIQ+ 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
• Council of Single Mothers and their Children – aims to empower single mothers, particularly those living in hardship
• Parenting SA – single parenting guide
• 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
• Child and Family Health Service – 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