The Canterbury Family Centre came into being in 1977. In May 2000, the new organisation Connections UnitingCare was created with the amalgamation of the Canterbury Family Centre, Copelen and the Wheelers Hill Family Centre.
[Taken from the ReConnections and Re-collections document http://www.connections.org.au/pdfs/ReConnections-and-ReCollections.pdf]
The Family Centre stood on the old site of the Presbyterian Babies' Home, Linda, 19 Canterbury Road.
A major change was implemented under Director Carol Richards, following a successful pilot program in 1974 to care for children in a small group of five with three live-in staff, acting as surrogate parents, on a 24-hour roster. Despite funding difficulties, building work was undertaken to create four units in the grounds of the centre, where children and staff would have immediate access to a psychologist and social workers. Senior Social Worker, then Assistant Director, at this time, Sherrie Coote, recalled the closure of institutionalised residential care for children from birth to 8 years of age and the subsequent opening of a Residential Assessment Unit, operated by a specialised multi-disciplinary team of professionals. Rather than separating at-risk children from their parents, the whole family was admitted into the therapeutic unit for three months.
1928 - 1977 Presbyterian Babies' Home
1977 - 2000 Canterbury Family Centre
2000 - 2017 Connections UnitingCare
2017 - 2020 Uniting - Connections
2017 - Uniting (Victoria and Tasmania) Limited
Sources used to compile this entry: 'Historical Details', Kildonan Uniting Care, 7 September 2007.
Prepared by: Cate O'Neill
Created: 21 April 2009, Last modified: 4 August 2014