The Kindergarten Field Officers Group (KFOG) professional development and support group, has been in operation for more than 20 years. Cairnmillar is currently researching the impact on young children under six who have witnessed prolonged domestic violence, sexual abuse, verbal and emotional abuse. Some have lost a parent. Others have a disturbed or drug addicted parent. We know that KFOG is valuable. We know that this program works. We now need the research evidence to demonstrate how it works. The Big Tent Project will allow us to gather the research to confirm the program’s worth and extend its reach. The Big Tent is a strong metaphor for a new way of caring for thousands of traumatised children of around four and a half years of age in kindergartens across Melbourne, the state of Victoria, and then out to the rest of Australia.
The rationale for the research project being; If we help build one child’s self-worth, we set that child on a new and better pathway into their future. If we can help one traumatised child in the kindergarten, we help their 30 or so classmates; we help the staff; we help the parents. The project will explore how, without this help, these children may grow into troubled and potentially disturbed and violent adults.
Donations
If you would like to make a contribution to this important research project, please click here to visit our Clinic donation page.
Educating Practitioners