Funding cuts hit help for city’s refugee kids

JOHN VAN KLAVEREN
YOUNG people from refugee families in Geelong’s northern suburbs are suffering behavioural problems, anxiety and depression from experiences before arriving in Australia, an agency says.
But CatholicCare said its program to help the “haunted” youths was facing serious funding shortfalls.
CatholicCare regional manager Kaye Ward-Bissett said refugee families were “finding life tough” in Geelong.
One in six students at North Geelong Secondary College was from a refugee background, she said.
“We’ve been working intensively with young people from Burma, Liberia, Congo and South Sudan.
“Children and young people are past the initial stage of being thankful to be here because their emotional well-being has become fragile.
“The trauma they experienced in their own country and in refugee camps is coming back to haunt them.
“Children can appear resilient but often they’re protective of their parents and internalise issues.
“Children are assimilating into Australian culture and clashes with family tradition are typical.
“Some young people have seen members of their family murdered and others don’t know if their family members left behind are still alive.”
Ms Ward-Bissett said Federal Government had reduced funding for refugee services.
Geelong’s Give Where You Live funded CatholiCare’s pilot program but the agency was still operating the program’s counsellors at North Geelong Secondary and Northern Bay colleges.
“The program costs $200,000 a year but we’re only doing what we can afford at the moment.
“General practitioners report a dire need for counselling services for refugee families in the north.
“The local schools have been crying out for additional counselling support services to address the anxiety, grief and trauma among this growing population of children and adolescents.”
Ms Ward-Bissett said the agency would continue lobbying for government funding.
“In the meantime we are grateful for any donation dollars, from trusts and foundations or the public.”
North Geelong Secondary College principal Nick Adamou said losing the program would “severely affect” the school.
“If it was to be cut these kids would miss out on the individual attention because their level of need is much higher.
“It would be very sad and disappointing because this program makes a huge difference. These students have all sorts of complexities they are dealing with. You name it, they have it.”