Dalwood Spilstead jilted – crisis charity funding cut by NSW Government

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Dalwood Jumble Sale August 2023
Dalwood supporters promote a jumble sale in 2023.

Dalwood Spilstead Family Intervention and Support Service’s (DSS) funding is being significantly reduced as NSW Health reallocates it to The Benevolent Society.

Dalwood Spilstead, in Seaforth, is a ‘one-stop shop’ charity that provides a range of services to support families in crisis and help guide the development of young children. Many of those in their care come from vulnerable situations (for example, escaping domestic violence), are overcoming trauma, or endure social challenges (such as neuro-diversity).

The sanctuary/support centre/educational facility is much-loved by its clients and almost unique in that it provides a multitude of services under one umbrella.

For the last 15 years, Dalwood Spilstead has assisted up to 90 families (including approximately 150 children) each year.

Dalwood Home Seaforth c1880. Photo: NB Council Library

Currently, Northern Sydney Local Health District (NSLHD – part of NSW Health) and Department of Communities and Justice (DCJ) provide and allocate funding, while The Benevolent Society facilitates the funding distribution through a contract to DSS.

From 30 June 2024, Dalwood Spilstead (founded in 1978 as an extension of the 1920s Dalwood Children’s Homes) is facing a shortfall of up to $1 million in annual funding, which will likely result in two-thirds of the families currently receiving help being turned away.

Publicly-donated children’s presents delivered to Dalwood, Xmas 2023. Photo: Alec Smart

Put simply, from July 2024, the service will be limited to supporting around 25 families and 45 children, annually.

Furthermore, the range of DSS services, including (but not limited to), Childcare, Play Therapy, Speech Pathology Assessment + Treatments, Father-Specific Programs, Parent Life Skills, Caseworker Home Visits, Brokerage Services, plus Trauma Assessment + Therapy, will be severely reduced.

Most concerning, say supporters, is that DSS will have to turn away future appeals from single mothers in crisis.

In 1924, the charity was a home for mothers and babies set up by the Food for Babies Fund. In 1931, it became a public hospital and, thereafter, provided vital support to children who could not be cared for in their own homes. Photo CLAN

Survival appeal

In an online statement, Dalwood Spilstead said:

“The Dalwood Spilstead Service [DSS] has, for years, been attempting to convince policy-makers of the value of its model via formal research, advocacy, consultation and parent testimony to no avail. They have been repeatedly dismissed for a plethora of reasons including: Based in Northern Sydney families must have a lower level of need; It must be more expensive; It’s not scalable; The research doesn’t include randomized control trials (RCTs); It doesn’t fit nicely into one government department. All these excuses have been refuted.”

The statement is scathing of NSW Government crisis care practice:

“This snub is being repeated again as the DCJ minister has just released her Redesigning Family Preservation in NSW discussion paper. Why isn’t the DSS model, which has been locally designed, researched and internationally acclaimed as world’s best practice, not been included as one of the recommended models to be considered for the new look DCJ service across the state?

“Unfortunately, as is often the way in Australia, this government seems to be disregarding an evidence-based model at their doorstep in preference for programs trialled overseas.”

“Unfortunately, as is often the way in Australia, this government seems to be disregarding an evidence-based model at their doorstep in preference for programs trialled overseas.”

It’s the second funding crisis Dalwood Spilstead is facing for their survival in recent years.

The multi-faceted aid and support organisation operates from a Heritage-listed sandstone property (constructed in 1880) and seven outlying buildings in Dalwood Ave Seaforth. The historic site includes a family care facility, a day care centre, an assessment unit and a school for country children.

In 2019, the NSW Liberal government proposed dividing up the estate to build four residential developments on the Seaforth hillside property, which overlooks picturesque Peach Tree Bay and Middle Harbour. However, a concerted campaign by Dalwood Spilstead clients and community activists forced them to abandon this in September 2019.

Dalwood Home, Seaforth, c1930s. Photo: Care Leavers Australasia Network

NSW Government response

A spokesperson for Northern Sydney Local Health District told Manly Observer that the family preservation case management services program, currently managed by Dalwood, will now be provided by The Benevolent Society.

“Families currently engaged with the program are still receiving assistance from Dalwood Spilstead staff who are committed to continuing to work with these families through to December 2024,” they added.

“The Northern Sydney Local Health District continues to offer a range of other services to the local community and welcomes families to speak with its healthcare professionals if they need child or family health support.”

Dalwood fundraising badge from a bygone era.

From the mouths of supporters

Manly Observer visited Dalwood Spilstead and met a number of the clients who access the programs. They insisted that, without the safety net of advice and support they received from DSS during their own crisis, they would not have coped.

Some added that the existing State Government-approved or managed services had let them down in their time of need.

Louise, President of the Dalwood Spilstead Parents in Action Group, summarised the anxiety they are facing over the funding crisis.

“This is our community. Some of us are very long-term members and we don’t want to lose it,” she said.

“Most of us come to Dalwood and are told, ‘We will give you one year of intensive support, see where you get to,’ yet we are all still here after numerous years.

“But for some of us we’re in a mentorship role now… We’ve moved on [from crisis], or we got to a point where our family life improves, and we don’t have kids that fit the needs criteria, but we come back and offer the mentorship and support to others.”

Rebecca, another client of Dalwood, added, “Basically we get the advice that we need because… well, some of us are first-time mums, so we have someone to ask about things like parenting… Dalwood also runs classes and activities for parents, like boxing – we’ve got a personal trainer teaching boxing twice a week – and somebody doing yoga techniques for relaxing… plus art programs, pottery and that kind of stuff.”

Louise continued, “We have a very high level of volunteers that work with our kids, either through babysitting or childcare in the pre-school, or the home-visiting program – we have a very high engagement with volunteers. By having this, we’ve been able to see just how good a support service can get.”

Jade added, “I’ve done probably every parenting course here twice! Because I don’t want to parent my kids how my parents parented me, it was really punitive. I’m very lucky to have had Dalwood teach me the skills that I didn’t have, because I didn’t know what to do, kids don’t come with a manual!”

“I’ve done probably every parenting course here twice! Because I don’t want to parent my kids how my parents parented me, it was really punitive.”

Rebecca revealed, “I have been involved in other family help services that have said, ‘Okay, go here! And then go there, and then go over there!’ But this is a problem, because sometimes you fit in several boxes, but there isn’t a service that covers them all, like Dalwood. The others are like, ‘Oh, we’re only a mental health service’, or ‘We’re only an early childhood service.’

“This is why Dalwood is amazing because they cover almost everything, like looking after your children along with high quality care for the parents’ mental health. If there is an issue that they can’t help treat, if you need something, they help sort out an appointment [with the necessary service].”

Dalwood House c1930

Jade, a former drug addict recovering from personal traumas, revealed how important DSS was to her recovery; she’s been drug-free for nine years.

“I started using heroin at 16 and went to rehab and got clean when I was thirty, and then had my first child at 34, and then started to feel like the stress and the pressure. I got referred to Dalwood because I had minimal support elsewhere, because after all those years in addiction I did damage to all my personal relationships. But everyone I knew was still using drugs, so I had no friends.

“I started using heroin at 16 and went to rehab and got clean when I was thirty, and then had my first child at 34, and then started to feel like the stress and the pressure. I got referred to Dalwood because I had minimal support elsewhere.”

“When I came to Dalwood I made lots of beautiful friends! It’s like a family here. I don’t know what I’d do without Dalwood… I’ve been supported in so many ways through family counselling, help with housing tribunals, NDIS [National Disability Scheme] stuff. Both my children have had speech therapy – when my son came here he could say just 25 words and now he doesn’t stop talking! But they’ve since built really nice friendships with other kids.

“My boy started big school this year and Dalwood helped support him to go to a special school because he got his autism diagnosis done here too. They’ve supported us the whole way. They check in to see how he’s going…”

Lexiea revealed, “When my [eldest] son was 10 he was outside the Dalwood service, but Kerry [Kerry Gwynne, Service Manager for Dalwood Spilstead] managed to get him in and they diagnosed his autism, so he could get put into a Special Needs classroom in high school.”

Rebecca affirmed, “Our trust in Dalwood has been proven over and over again, they are in your corner. Whereas with so many other services you don’t know who’s there and they often talk down to you… I had one woman, she tried to ring me once and I missed her phone call because I was busy, but I never heard from her again. And then she told that service, ‘I couldn’t get a hold of her!’

“But Dalwood will keep ringing you to make sure, they follow you up. If you miss an appointment, they’re flexible, whereas other places are like, ‘Oh well, obviously you don’t want our help, so…’ Dalwood gets that our lives are difficult and we’re all doing the best that we can.”

Children At Play at Dalwood House, 20 July 1941. Photo: State Library NSW

Lexiea revealed, “I had a lot of drug usage in my past and problems like that… There was domestic violence during my pregnancy…. We had a custody battle and I got custody of my son, but at about aged one he was referred to the Dalwood Spilstead program… Through them we started the home visiting programme. He had delays [neuro diversity] and they picked up on that.

“I also had a myriad of problems. I was referred to a family counsellor and had therapy. I was literally here every day of the week, every single day!

“Then my second son was born and because I was still on the Dalwood programme, he naturally came in too… I ended up having DCJ – it was DOCS at the time – remove the children from my care, due to my mental health issues, and placed in their father’s care. The boys’ father, when he took over custody, he was up here every day too, and he stayed engaged and did the parenting programs. I was doing them as well, we were both up here.

“Then they moved away, down to Canberra, but, through Dalwood, I was still able to maintain a relationship with my children…  Without Dalwood, I would not be alive today, I would be dead…” [At this point of the interview she burst into tears.]

Louise declared, “If other communities had this type of service as well, if the Dalwood model was everyone’s local area health service – with a broad level of support – then it would mean that those of us who needed to move areas would be able to whilst maintaining this support service. That’s something that can’t happen at the moment.”

Saba confirmed, “Yeah, it’s an amazing service, amazing! And the government would be killing us to take away this program, to shut it down. It would be such a stupid thing to do.”

Louise finished the interview declaring their united opposition to the NSW Government’s decision to abandon Dalwood and force it to become a reduced service – which she insisted would send it into terminal decline.

“When you’re unsure of the future, you’re not going to create anything. But the best creation would be to replicate this service across the state.

“However, we’re not prepared to accept ‘no’ from the government.”

Opening of the Dalwood Childrens Home in 1928