www.southlandmissions.org, www.gracehomestead.org
Grace Homestead – Clinical Bed
The current project (Grace Homestead) is a facility in the Lockyer Valley, which caters specifically for mothers who are struggling with a substance use disorder and mental health condition. The facility enables a mother with up to two children to seek treatment while continuing to care for her children. Only a handful of similar centres operate across Australia leaving a gap in service provision to this population. Similar centres operating overseas have reported effective outcomes such as lower relapse rates, increase in social responsibility, and self-sufficiency (Conners, Bradley, Whiteside-Mansell, & Crone, 2001). Children living with parents who have a substance use disorder often have poorer developmental outcomes, more likely to be neglected or otherwise abused, and more likely to experience social disadvantage (Dawe, Harnett, & Frye, 2008). In addition to substance use rehabilitation and mental health therapeutic intervention, the Grace Homestead program will provide mothers with parenting training to assist to develop skills to become effective parents. Each of the nine clinical beds costs $23333 per year to maintain. That is, the cost of the Clinicians and Support workers to provide support and therapeutic intervention is $23,333 per resident. The application for the Tucker Foundation funding would assist us to maintain one of our clinical beds for three years. In human terms, this funding means that we can change the lives of six mothers over three years.