Family drug and alcohol service (CICADA Centre NSW)
Contact
Phone: (02) 7825 2446 or 0427 516 617 (available between 8:30am-5pm)
Email: SCHN-CICADA@health.nsw.gov.au
Clinic Location: The Children's Hospital at Westmead
Clinic days: Mondays and Tuesdays
About our service
What does the CICADA Family Service do?
The Family Service is part of The CICADA Centre NSW. The Family Service supports the health and wellbeing of children, young people and their families who have a parent or carer with drug and/or alcohol concerns. We use a family centred trauma-informed approach.
The Family Service provide assessment, management, and intervention for a variety of medical and psychosocial concerns. This might involve:
- Medical assessment and management to ensure appropriate development is occurring
- Allied health assessments and intervention to help identify any developmental concerns and support improved functioning
- Psychosocial assessment and intervention including age-appropriate interventions for complex trauma
- Parenting and family support, including running parenting programs
- Liaison with existing supports and linking into other services as needed.
Our team includes:
- Paediatrician
- Clinical Psychologist
- Senior Social Worker
- Speech Pathologist
- Occupational Therapist
- Aboriginal Care Navigators
Referral process for clinicians
Our department is using Consultmed to manage referrals. The Consultmed platform allows health professionals to send e-referrals to us securely.
The Family service accepts referrals from GPs, paediatricians, other organisations.
Don’t have a Consultmed account?
Create an account to refer to our clinics.
Consultmed questions and technical support: helpdesk@consultmed.co
Referral and appointment process for parents and carers
Am I eligible?
We accept referrals for children under the age of 16 years, whose parent is engaged in drug and alcohol service and/or has a current substance use disorder.
As our family service focuses on the children in the family, it is important that the parent/s with substance use concerns are engaged in their own drug treatment program. If that’s not the case, give us a call and we can help provide some local options for accessing adult supports.
Making a referral
We accept referrals from GPs, paediatricians, other organisations and directly from families.
If you are a paediatrician, GP or other organisation making a referral, please use Consultmed to submit the referral. The Consultmed platform allows health professionals to send e-referrals to us securely.
If you are making a referral for your family, please give us a call and we can talk to you about whether you are eligible, or tell you about other more suitable services. If you are eligible for our service, we can book in an appointment and talk you through the process of getting a GP referral
Track your referral
We will be in touch with the referring doctor once we have discussed the referral as a team to let them know if we are the right service for you.
If we’re not the best service, we’ll let you know some other options.
We may also give you a call to ask for some more information. If the referral is accepted, we will contact you to book an appointment.
If your clinician has questions about Consultmed or require technical support, they can contact helpdesk@consultmed.co
Need support?
If you need help or have questions about the referral and appointment process, please contact us on (02) 7825 2446 or 0427 516 617.
What to expect at your initial appointment
When you come to see us the first time, there are a few things that might be handy to bring:
- A snack
- Water bottle
- Activities or toys that you like (we will also bring some things to do!)
Usually, our first appointment runs for 90 minutes. Don’t worry if you or your child needs to finish earlier. We understand it can be a long appointment and we do ask you lots of questions in the first session. The first session is all about us getting to know you and your family’s story. It’s okay if we need to finish early.
When you arrive, check in with our friendly reception team and then take a seat in the waiting room. We will meet you in the waiting room. Usually, you will meet the doctor and the Social Worker or Clinical Psychologist. We will talk all together and then we might separate for the second half of the appointment.
At the end of the initial assessment, we will all discuss together what we think is a good plan moving forward. This might be our team providing some specific supports and/or suggesting alternative supports. It might also be us recommending alternative supports.
Support for Aboriginal young people and families
We strive to promote and support the delivery of culturally safe and accessible care to Aboriginal bubs, kids and families attending the CICADA Family service.
As part of our team, we have two Aboriginal Care Navigators, Josh, a proud Wiradjuri man, and Lauren, a proud Bundjalung women. Josh and Lauren can walk alongside your journey with CICADA, helping to:
- Provide support at appointments and be a friendly face to have a yarn with!
- Support you in talking with and providing information to the clinical team
- Advocate for cultural needs in terms of appointments, assessment and recommendations for care
- Engage young people with outreach in community
- Connect families with local Aboriginal services