Goodstart has been able to support more children and families at risk this financial year than ever before, through the Special Child Care Benefit (SCCB).
SCCB is an Australian Government payment provided to assist children at risk of serious abuse or neglect, or where families are experiencing temporary financial hardship, by covering the full cost of child care for up to 13 weeks.In the first 11 months of the financial year, 2 611 families and 3 639 children have been supported by SCCB payments, exceeding those helped last financial year and providing a direct benefit to those who need it most.
Providing Australian families with access to these payments goes a long way to improving outcomes for vulnerable children.
Research shows that access to quality early learning can reduce vulnerability by identifying problems early and working on solutions but unfortunately in Australia, many vulnerable children who would benefit most from access to early learning do not attend child care, preschool or kindergarten.
Identifying vulnerable children and making these payments available to families is a combined effort of educators, centre directors and Goodstart’s SCCB team.
Goodstart acting CEO, Warren Bright, has praised the SCCB team for their tireless effort in supporting some of Australia’s most vulnerable children.
“This team has done an outstanding job and are unsung heroes of the organisation. Their work is incredibly important to children, families and also to our teams on the ground in centres.
“Without their efforts thousands of children would not have had the benefit of an early learning experience, let alone a Goodstart early learning experience. I've seen first-hand how grateful many centres are for the support that’s offered to their families.
“The team is often exposed to some very tragic events, but they always think first of how they can benefit the children, families and centres.”
To date this financial year, the SCCB team has secured over $16M in payments for children and families in need.