Mt Druitt

$14,000,000 has been approved to the Mt Druitt community for a range of crime prevention and community development strategies over three years from 2002 - 2006.

All of the initiatives funded in the Mt Druitt community have been identified through working with the local community.

Community organisations, Local Government and State Government agencies worked to together to find solutions to priority issues affecting the Mt Druitt community.  The government met with community organisations, government service agencies in April 2002 to identify priority issues that needed to be addressed and to agree on initiatives that would assist to solve those issues.

The initiatives will address these issues identified by the community:

• High crime levels
• Domestic violence
• Social disadvantage
• Unemployment
• School attendance and retention
• Drug and alcohol abuse
• Family support
• Access to services and facilities
• Improved coordination of government services

The initiatives that will support crime prevention and community development in Mt Druitt are:

• $400,000 to develop an integrated neighbourhood service to develop the service capabilities of Mt Druitt.  Many of the services required by the Mt Druitt community are not provided locally or are centrally located.
• $254,608 to expand support to the Ja-Biah Aboriginal youth accommodation program, which focuses on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander offenders at risk of homelessness and assisting in reintegration into the community.
• $378,000 to establish an identified space where the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community can meet, hold activities, and access essential community, health, and support from Government and other agencies.
• $63,251 to provide funds for the Mt Druitt Volunteers in Policing (VIP) to lease two minibuses to allow the VIPs to conduct day patrols and crime prevention information distribution to the community in urban shopping centres.
• $144,000 for the recruitment of a Pacific Island Project Development Worker who will implement and coordinate programs and strategies which will enhance the wellbeing of Pacific Island communities.
• $27,000 to establish a coordinating group to oversee the production of the Mt Druitt edition of the Tagata Moana Pacific Island Youth Magazine.
• $22,000 to set up an office from which the Samoan Community Support Service group can develop, plan and coordinate its activities.
• $3,225,385 to implement a comprehensive family violence response and support strategy. 
• $302,000 to provide a temporary video link facility in Mt Druitt to assist in Local Court proceedings (AVO’s, etc) pending the construction a Local Court for Mt Druitt.
• $382,140 towards a range of activities that target 'at risk' youth for early intervention and behaviours consequent upon abuse of drugs and alcohol. These include both school and non-school approaches.
• $1,288,815 to implement three educational initiatives to the multi-campuses of Chifley College focussing on supporting students (and their families) at risk from a number of factors.
• $65,408 to implement proposals to promote economic development and development of pre-employment skills in particular disadvantaged groups: sole parents, people with disabilities, and people with psychiatric disabilities.
• $49,215 towards parenting support for vulnerable families with young children.
• $728,541 towards the implementation of various projects to provide support to offenders after release, mostly targeting young adult offenders, to reduce the risk of recidivism.
• $252,899 to establish a “drop-in” centre for disadvantaged or at risk young people.
• $802,119 towards the establishment, over several years, of four 'Schools as Community Centres'.
• $539,000 to provide recreational, sporting, cultural and artistic programs to address the serious deficiencies in after school and vacation activities for children, particularly those aged 7 to 13 years.
• $40,524 to improve amenity of local shops and enhanced lighting of public places. This is to enhance the amenity of local shopping areas and to restore the confidence of the community in using these areas.
• $90,000 to establish a Smaller Non-Government Agencies Working Together project (SNOW) to assist the many and fragmented smaller NGO’s in Mt Druitt to better align their service delivery through greater cooperation.
• $800,000 to establish a mobile outreach therapy team for children 3-5 with minor disabilities (communication, fine motor and gross motor delay, learning difficulties, and behavioural problems) - delay in treating these children contributes significantly to adverse educational outcomes.
• $160,000 towards intervention and support with projects such as parenting support for vulnerable families with young children and programs to address youth services (aged 13-18) in Mt Druitt.  
• $400,000 to refurbish existing buildings to create Family Centre Service Hubs in three sites throughout Mt Druitt. These service hubs will provide better local access to services and bases for outreach services. 
• $2,400,000 to extend home visits for children at risk aged 0-5 years.
• $94,500 to support the necessary changes to service delivery, to reduce crime and to build the capacity to make a sustainable difference to the situation investment is required in the local facilities and capacity of the community to meet the challenges.
• $50,000 to facilitate a Youth Partnership with Pacific Island Communities.
• $50,000 to facilitate a roundtable to provide 30 mentally ill young people a clear pathway from health and rehabilitation services to employment support services in Mt Druitt.

For further information

Contact	:	Community Solutions, Communities Division, Department of Community Services
Email	:	communitysolutions@communitybuilders.nsw.gov.au

WWW

:

http://www.communitybuilders.nsw.gov.au