Allambi House was established in 1981 to meet the growing need for children and young people who were homeless and in crisis. Allambi House Youth Refuge is a non-profit organisation funded by the NSW Government to provide crisis accommodation for young people aged from 12 – 17 years.

The refuge houses up to 8 young people at any one time, 4 males and 4 females. These young people are in crisis; they come to us because they are homeless and are unable to return to family for various reasons. These reasons may include family breakdown, domestic violence, parental drug use, neglect or abuse. Allambi House aims to provide a safe, comfortable and supportive environment until more permanent accommodation can be found.

During their time at the refuge, young people are assisted to develop life skills; these include budgeting, daily care skills, cooking and cleaning. Young people are also given assistance to find a job and suitable longer term accommodation.

Allambi Youth Services cares for numerous young people in Residential Care placements. The Intensive Residential Program aims to provide an accommodation option for children and young people with traumatic and complex backgrounds.

Allambi Youth Services’ Intensive Residential Care Program provides services to children and young people who:

• Are aged from 12 – 17 years of age
• Reside in the Hunter / Central Coast area unless it is assessed by DoCS that the child or young person’s needs will be better met in a service outside their area / region of origin.
• Display or have a history of inappropriate behaviours, preventing them from group-style or family-based accommodation.
• Require assistance to transition from residential care to foster care, return to their family or begin the transition to independent living.

The Allambi Youth Services Residential Team understands that it is important that each child and young person reside in an environment that is suitable for both their past life experiences and future development. To accommodate this we provide these young people with various placement options tailored to their specific needs.

Allambi Youth Services Foster Care Team consists of Allambi staff, Foster Carers and Young People in care. We provide care for children and young people who cannot live with their own families, often through no fault of their own. Foster care occurs in different forms, including ‘full-time’, ‘short-term’ or ‘respite care’. ‘Full-time Care’ is where the young person resides with the foster carer/s until they are able to live independently. ‘Short-term or Temporary Care’ is where the young person resides with the Foster Carer/s until they can return home or a more suitable placement is located and ‘Respite Care’ is where the Foster Carer/s supports another Foster Care placement by having the young person for one weekend a month, hence giving the full-time carers ‘respite’. The Allambi foster care team, including staff, foster carers and young people work very closely together, as this is vital to the success of caring for children with complex backgrounds.

Foster Carers are every-day members of the community who have a strong commitment to children and young people. They can be either families, couples or singles, male or female. To become a foster carer, an initial interview and an accredited training course is completed prior to starting their caring role (see Recruitment and Training). Ongoing training is provided monthly by Allambi to assist Carers and staff in their caring role.

The Staff or Case Managers and Case workers as they are known, assist in the support of the Carers and Young People. Caseworkers visit the Foster Carer/s and Young Person regularly, building a close and supportive relationship. This support is vital when looking after the ‘high needs’ young people cared for by Allambi Youth Services Inc. The Case Worker and Case Manager work with and support the Foster Carer to make sure the seven key areas of a young person’s needs are met. These areas are health, education, identity, family and social relationships, social awareness and presentation, emotional development and self care skills.

Allambi Youth Services Disabilities program was established in 2003 and aims to provide children, young people and adults, with a disability, a flexible service that enable them to live within the community.

Allambi Youth Services’ Disabilities Program provides services to children, young people and young adults who:

• Are aged from 16 – 35 years of age 
• Reside in the Hunter / Central Coast area unless it is assessed by DADHC that the children, young people and young adult needs will be better met in a service outside their area / region of origin.
• Have a disability as well as behavioral issues and who need assistance to reside and access the community.
• Require assistance to transition from residential care to Alternative family placements, group homes, or drop in support return to their family or begin the transition to independent living.

The Allambi Youth Services Disabilities Team understands that it is important that each child, young person and young adult reside in an environment that is suitable for both their past life experiences and future development. To accommodate this we provide these people with various placement options tailored to their specific needs.

It has long been recognised by that not all children and young people can learn in the typical educational environment. The children and young people within Allambi have very complex backgrounds and as a result are often confronted with numerous barriers when trying to access an education finding it difficult to exist in a ‘Traditional’ classroom setting. These children and young people often respond to 1:1 support, minimal distraction, flexible delivery and a ‘hands on’ approach when learning.

The concept of the Learning Centre is to provide a safe, supportive and stimulating learning environment. It is about building reciprocal relationships and creating a sense of belonging, providing skills and opportunities to establish good work habits, assisting young people to identify and build on their interests, promote the development of organisational and independent learning skills and address shortfalls in Key Learning Areas.

So what is it that we hope to achieve at the Allambi Learning Centre?. The primary goal will always be the re integration of children and young people into behavioural or mainstream education whenever possible, thus minimising time spent outside a formal educational setting, this is vitally important so that they can further develop their social and interaction skills when dealing with peers and adults.