PARENTSNEXT

PREPARING PARENTS FOR EMPLOYMENT

For many parents, particularly women, caring for young children means large breaks from the paid workforce and thus, they risk losing work-specific skills and the confidence to (re)enter paid employment.

ParentsNext is a Commonwealth Government initiative to ensure that such parents receive the assistance they need to prepare for employment by the time their children reach school age.

BTG will provide safe environments for parents to learn the skills required to build their capacity to navigate the complexities of child rearing, coping with changes and making one’s way successfully in today’s work and economic environment.

Our ParentsNext programme will:

• provide early intervention assistance
• help parents to identify their education and employment goals
• refer parents to local activities and service providers who will help them to achieve their goals
• help parents to gain confidence and feel empowered
• assist parents to gain new skills to engage in paid work

As an Intensive Stream Provider, Bridging the Gap will support Parents with:

• Specific mentoring and more intensive support
• Work-related and non-vocational assistance
• Training
• Post-placement (education or employment) support
• Wage subsidies and relocation assistance to take up a job
• Extensive referrals to complementary and supportive services

ELIGIBILITY

To be eligible for referral to the Intensive Stream, parents must reside in an Intensive Stream location and:

• Have been continuously receiving Parenting Payment for at least six months
• Have no reported earnings from employment in this six month period

And one of the following:

• An Early School Leaver with a youngest child at least six months of age
• Assessed as being highly disadvantaged and has a youngest child at least six months of age
• Has a youngest child at least 5 years of age

Additionally:

Parents will be eligible to participate as a volunteer if they are in receipt of Parenting Payment, have a child under 6 years and reside in an Intensive Stream location.