Key Worker and Parent Support

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At Advocate for Me,  Key Worker Specialist Services, we have listened to families and we understand the difficulties experienced when your child has many dedicated professionals in their team all working towards achieving their goals but not working together. Parents/Caregivers express confusion overwhelm and difficulty embedding suggested strategies to support their children in their daily lives. 

The common thread that emerges most consistently from research and evolving practice is how important it is for families to have a single trusted team member who helps them access and coordinate the external resources that the family requires and build their own internal resources to meet child and family needs.

To support families, we provide a Key Worker to be the main point of contact. This transdisciplinary model is a collaborative approach and currently viewed as best practice in early childhood intervention.  We partner with parents/caregivers and work collaboratively with all team members to strengthen their capacity to provide opportunities and experiences that will promote their child’s learning, development and participation in everyday activities.

At Advocate for Me, the most important role of the Key Worker is to build a supportive, respectful connection with the family and primary caregivers. The focus is on the child in the context of the family and community, rather than the child in isolation. Taking time to understand the family’s circumstances, routines, interests and values as a basis for supporting and coaching the family finds ways of promoting the development of the child’s competencies in their home life, educational settings and community.

The role focuses on five areas:

1. Emotional Support 
2. Information and advice
3. Identifying and addressing
4. Advocacy
5. Service coordination