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Healthy Families

The Healthy Families Department provides a range of services to individuals and families who are affected by substance misuse issues, under the umbrella of the Healthy Families Program. This twelve week residential program uses a holistic model specifically designed for Aboriginal and Islander people. Our philosophy is that alcohol and other drug misuse can be treated more effectively by involving the whole family in the program. We acknowledge, encourage and support involvement by sober family members and children in the program.

How does it work?

The Healthy Families Program runs for twelve weeks and includes educational sessions in the areas of history and human rights, substance misuse, livelihood, culture, family health, parenting, family violence and gambling.

Participants undergo a number of short courses, including the Indigenous Family Violence Offender Program (IFVOP), the Introduction to the Prevention and Treatment of Substance Misuse (IPTSM) and the Certificate I in Work Preparation. For more information on these, please see the individual course outlines in the Training section.

Recreational sessions are also run as part of the 12 week program; this includes activities at night and on weekends. These include cultural activities, fishing, sport, cooking, swimming and gardening.

When participating in the program, accommodation is provided in our Dolly Garinyi Hostel. This houses singles, couples and families in self-contained units with ensuites, private verandahs and kitchens. The Hostel is in a semi-rural bush setting and includes a recreational area and kids play equipment. For more information on the Dolly Garinyi Hostel, please see the Hostel page.

Programs

As part of the Healthy Families program, we have staff members dedicated to the following programs/initiatives:

Withdrawal Program: Two-week medicated or non-medicated residential withdrawal program under the supervision of a registered Withdrawal Nurse. For more information on this, please see the Withdrawal Program page.

Indigenous Children’s Program: Provides information to children on protective behavior which they can use to stay safe, as well as learning basic reading, writing and numeracy. For more information on this please see the Indigenous Children’s Program page.

Supported Accommodation Assistance Program: Outreach service to the clients who have been housed with Territory Housing, includes client advocacy, referral/support to counseling and services for the homeless. For more information on this please see the Supported Accommodation Assistance (SAAP) page.

The Return Home Support Initiative: Assists people who are in Darwin to make changes to their itinerant lifestyle by either returning them to their home community, or by referring them to other agencies to assist them with their health and social problems.

Get involved

If you are a service provider and you would like to refer a client, please complete the Referral form which you will find in the Information for Clients section.

If you wish to enter the program yourself or you know someone who does, please call our staff on (08) 8922 4852 to make an appointment for an assessment.

The Assessment form as well as a list of items to bring into CAAPS can be found in the Information for Clients section.