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Messages to Mum and Dad

14 September 2021
Safety and Wellbeing
Image of 2 plastic bags filled with paper items. At left, the bag is filled with a pack of pens and a booklet featuring a young girl in the cover. At right, the bag has an orange poster featuring a traditional design and text including Belonging to Family

Keeping families “on the outside” connected to Mum or Dad ”on the inside” through providing ‘Family Connection Packs’ during lockdown.

For some, lockdown means being stuck at home with boring mum and dad, energetic kids and the sleepy cat. For others, lockdown means separation from the people we love most.

With the NSW prison system in lockdown due to the current COVID-19 outbreak in correctional centres, many children are unable to visit their parents in custody.

One group in NSW is trying to maintain that family connection. SHINE for Kids is an organisation supporting children, young people and families with relatives in the criminal justice space.

SHINE for Kids receives funding through NIAA’s Indigenous Advancement Strategy and has reshaped their service delivery to creatively provide support services for Aboriginal families and children while visits are suspended in NSW.

SHINE’s Family Connection Packs are available for children “on the outside” to write to Mum or Dad “on the inside”.

The Family Connection Packs include a journal, worksheets and craft materials to help children stay connected with Mum or Dad. The packs can be ordered through Messages to Mum or Dad in custody – SHINE for Kids.

Support is available through SHINE for Kids as well as through various national hotlines:

  • Headspace – support for young people aged between 12 and 25 
  • Kids Helpline – phone, online chat or email service for children 
  • Lifeline – 24/7 counselling support 
  • Parentline – support for parents, grandparents and carers