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 Reconnect Young Refugees
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What is Reconnect Young Refugees?
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What are some of the issues facing newly arrived families and young people?
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Making a referral to Reconnect Young Refugees
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Reconnect brochure in your language
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Contact Reconnect Young Refugees
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What is Reconnect Young Refugees?
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Reconnect Young Refugees is a support service run by CMY, which helps newly arrived and refugee young people aged 12-18 who who are experiencing difficulty at home, school or in their community.
We cover the Cities of Greater Dandenong and Hume. The service supports families to talk about their needs and develop positive strategies to assist young people to feel more connected with their family, school, friends, and community.
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We can provide support if the young person:
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- is newly arrived (in the country less than 5 years) and/or has come from a refugee experience;
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- is living, working or studying in the Cities of Hume or Greater Dandenong; and
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- is having difficulty at home or school, or has other personal problems.
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Services provided to young people and their families:
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- Personal support - someone to talk to
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- Practical help e.g. filling in Centrelink forms, enrolling in study, or getting to appointments
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- Pathways to resolving conflict with family, friends, or school and help to access family mediation if desired
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- Advocacy with other services if you would like extra help
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- Information about options or issues that concern you
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- Support to link in with other services
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Reconnect Young Refugees maintains confidentiality, which means we won’t talk to other people about your family without your permission, unless we are required to by law.
We work with interpreters and respect your choice about the language you would prefer to use.
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Reconnect Young Refugees is a CONFIDENTIAL, FAIR, SAFE and SUPPORTIVE service.
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What are some of the issues facing newly arrived families and young people?
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Being a parent in a new country is not easy. Many newly arrived families find that financial pressure, learning a new language and adjusting to a new environment are already hard enough. When you are worried about your children as well, you can experience a great deal of strain.
Many families in this situation find it can be useful to have someone to talk to about their concerns and support to try new ways of communicating with one another. With help, each member of the family may be able to listen to one another better, and find solutions which are good for everyone.
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Here are some common experiences for many newly arrived families:
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- Your children want to spend more time with their friends than at home.
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- Communication is difficult, and the family is not the way you would like it to be.
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- You have disagreements about money or attending school, doing school work, or finding work.
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- You have different ideas from your children about what is expected, for example about relationships or marriage.
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- You are getting to know one another again after having been separated, or because there is a new marriage or other changes in the family.
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Being a teenager in Australia is also difficult. Many newly arrived young people find it hard to find a balance between what is expected at home, and with their friends or school. They can often feel alone, and like no one really understands what they are going though.
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The young person may be:
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- having problems at home or have left home recently;
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- having difficulty with study, or with their school, teachers or other students;
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- lacking interest in life, or feeling lonely or bored;
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- feeling angry or frustrated, and having arguments;
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- finding things difficult with Centrelink, have no income, or want to find work;
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- getting in trouble with the police or have legal issues.
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Our service is about keeping families together wherever possible. We can’t force a young person to stay, but we will try to help the family find ways to solve some of the problems that causes the young person to feel they have to leave.
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Making a referral to Reconnect Young Refugees
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You can make a referral to Reconnect Young Refugees by completing an online CMY Referral Form.
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Reconnect brochure in your language
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Download the Reconnect Young Refugees brochure in Arabic, Assyrian, Bosnian, Dari, Kurdish, Somali and Vietnamese.
The English version of this brochure is the same as the ‘What is Reconnect Young Refugees?' section on this webpage.
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 Arabic (711Kb)
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Assyrian (1.6Mb)
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Bosnian (875Kb)
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Dari (813Kb)
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Kurdish (515Kb)
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Somali (514Kb)
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Vietnamese (497Kb)
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Contact Reconnect Young Refugees
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General program enquiries
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info@cmy.net.au
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Tel (03) 9340 3700
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