The previous government offered a one-off funding commitment of $50,000 to the charity, which received no ongoing government funding, while the Labor Party met with the organisation and agreed to “examine” the request.
Now the new Labor State Government has agreed to provide $800,000 over four years to SIDS and KIDS SA to help the organisation continue its work.
SIDS and Kids SA chief executive Liza Jankowski told it was “an incredible gift to the bereaved parents of South Australia”.
“We are incredibly grateful for the $800,000 over four years funding commitment to SIDS and Kids SA,” she said.
“Now, when the workload warrants it, we will be able to increase counsellors’ hours to ensure all newly-bereaved parents are able to connect with a counsellor without having to wait.”
Jankowski said early support was vital and the organisation aimed to make contact with a bereaved parent within 72 hours of referral.
“The funding will provide us with some certainty moving forward and will allow for us to accommodate the increasing number of referrals we are receiving, as well as allowing us to reinstate regular mums and dads support groups which have taken a back seat in the past two years as our counsellors have been so busy just trying to keep up with the general counselling workload,” she said.
In February, Jankowski told that the charity was facing the prospect of not accepting any new referrals for the first time in its 45-year history because of “unprecedented” demand in 2020 and 2021, since the pandemic, not because there have been more babies and children dying but because “people just aren’t coping”.
“We think that the coping mechanisms and the resilience of the community as a whole is just not there because of the impacts of the pandemic,” Jankowski said at the time.
She said that in 2019, before the pandemic, the charity received 86 referrals and provided 721 grief counselling sessions.
In 2020, the first year of the pandemic, that grew to 116 referrals and 1210 counselling sessions.
In 2021, SIDS and Kids SA received 169 referrals and provided 1515 counselling sessions.
Jankowski said the majority of referrals in 2020 and 2021 – 86 per cent – came from SA government departments: mostly from SA Health hospitals and some from police.
The organisation received no government funding, unlike similar organisations in other states.
As with many charities, the pandemic also created significant fundraising difficulties.
Darren and Kathleen Halsey, who were supported by the charity when their daughter Mia was stillborn four years ago, were relieved and overcome with emotion to learn txjmtzywhe charity would now receive government funding and be able to continue its work.
Darren and Kathleen Halsey received vital support from SIDS and Kids SA when their daughter Mia was stillborn four years ago. Photo: Tony Lewis/InDaily
“I feel so grateful for the support of the government funding to allow other families to access a service from SIDS and Kids that is essential to continue for grieving parents and families,” Darren Halsey told .
“This funding will ensure other families have access to an outstanding and essential service that will continue unchanged without waiting lists or having people turned away.”
