A weekend away to help strengthen relationships between dads and their children
This weekend away gives refugee fathers the chance to spend quality time with one of their children - to strengthen their relationship and build skills for better parenting.
Children have the best outcomes when they have great relationships with their dads, but past trauma can affect the confidence of many refugee fathers.
Parenting for refugee fathers can also be challenging when their children’s new Australian way of life leaves less time for traditional culture and identity.
The Refugee Dads and Kids Weekend is an opportunity for dads to spend time to explore these issues and improve their relationship with their child.
The weekends are led by qualified relationship educators who help participants to explore:
- parenting in the country of origin compared to parenting in Australia
- respect for traditional cultures
- understanding each other strengths
- ways to strengthen the father-child relationship
- working as a team to meet new challenges
- building a better understanding of family law issues in Australia, including child protection and family violence, etc
- understanding the impact of trauma on children's brain development
- parenting strategies to support and develop children's resilience at different developmental stages
The Refugee Dads and Kids Weekend is also an opportunity to meet and connect with other dads - to share ideas and experiences.
Eligibility
The program aims to support refugee and asylum seeker families from all communities, including: Afghani, African, Burmese, Iraqi, Syrian and others. A child may attend with another male relative, for example, an uncle or grandparent.
Fees
Weekends away are free of charge. All meals, accommodation and transport are provided.
More information
This program has evolved from CatholicCare’s African Dads and Kids program, which provided weekends away for African refugee families between 2009 and 2016.
From 2017, the program was extended to include other refugee communities including families from Afghanistan, Burma, Iraq, Syria and other countries.
Other services
You might also be interested in some of the following services offered at CatholicCare: