Kingsleigh Group Home

Kingsleigh Group Home was established by Church of England Homes in St Ives in 1980. It moved to a new location in Blacktown around 1984, at a time when the Anglican Home Mission Society was focusing its welfare programs in the Western Sydney area. Kingsleigh Group Home was a temporary accommodation service, providing crisis care for up to seven children. In 2002, Kingsleigh Group Home changed its name to the Paul Street Adolescent Program.

A 1984 Church of England Homes pamphlet described Kingsleigh at Blacktown:

Kingsleigh, our home in Blacktown, provides temporary, crisis accommodation for up to seven children. Perhaps mum is in hospital and dad is working out of town. Perhaps mum simply needs a week away from the pressures of running things on her own. At Kingsleigh, the children can relax for a short time in a stable, supportive situation while the [Church of England Homes] social worker deals with things at home.

The newsletter described the purpose of its group homes:

Cornwall [Cornwell], Buckland, Havilah and Marella are our Group Homes which provide longer term care. Perhaps the children aren’t getting normal care at home. Maybe they have missed out on it for a long time. These homes provide a kind of holding situation. But one which avoids damaging them still further by providing them with a good model of a positive family-type experience. Meanwhile, everything possible is being done through the counselling service to restore family relationships. Hopefully, after six months, usually sooner, the family can get back together or foster placement can be arranged. Two of our homes are for Aboriginal children. They are managed and staffed by Aborigines and are the first of their kind.

At the time, Church of England Homes employed a team of social workers to work with the family and help communications between parents and children, as well as provide counselling and short-term financial support, if needed.