PARKERVILLE — SUPPORTING KIDS IN NEED
The Stan Perron Charitable Foundation has announced major funding to support a ground-breaking program set to reduce the impacts of child abuse in Western Australia.
The program, which will operate from Parkerville’s Stan and Jean Perron Child Advocacy Centre, is delivering desperately needed support for vulnerable children and adolescents, many who face life-long trauma as a result of their experiences.
The organisation currently operates a wide range of child advocacy and protection services across Perth and its surrounds, as well as regional services in Murchison, the Wheatbelt and the South West.
The Stan and Jean Perron Child Advocacy Centre opened in Midland in 2019.
Along with providing a visible and accessible basis for advocacy, education and professional development for those working with children, the centre serves as the headquarters for Parkerville’s Multi-agency Investigation and Support Team program (MIST).
This initiative brings together experts from a variety of different areas — including police, child protection workers, psychologists, child and family advocates and allied health professionals — who collaborate with one another to support abuse victims and their families.
The MIST program is designed to minimise some of the difficulties involved in the investigation, treatment and recovery process, and ensures that the needs of those affected by trauma remain paramount — for example, by allowing victims and families to work with a single agency, rather than having to deal with multiple institutions over time.
This latest round of funding by the Stan Perron Charitable Foundation will contribute to Parkerville’s maintenance of the MIST program through to 2027. During this time, the organisation hopes to establish sustainable funding for the program over the longer term, as well as investigating possibilities for establishing another Child Advocacy Centre to serve communities in the south metropolitan area.
Published: 3 October 2022