Youth and Family Services works with young people and their families aged 12-25 who live, work, study or have a significant connection to the City of Greater Dandenong.
Youth and Family Services provides an important universal service base for young people and families. We seek to support the healthy physical, social and emotional development of all young people in our community, through building and enhancing protective factors and working with young people to develop their strengths and skills.
Youth and Family Services is a generalist youth service, comprising of three teams, Family Support, Youth Engagement and Participation and Youth and Community Development.
The team is based at 39a Clow Street, Dandenong.
Katharina, Coordinator Youth and Family Services
katharina.verscharen@cgd.vic.gov.au
Katharina is the Coordinator of Youth and Family Services and is responsible for leading the entire service, comprising the sub teams of Family Support, Youth and Community Development, and Engagement and Participation. In her spare time Katharina enjoys spending time with her children and grandchildren, travelling, listening to reggae and socialising with friends.
Sylvia, Senior Team Leader Youth and Family Support Services
Sylvia oversees the Youth and Family Support Team which supports the wellbeing and safety of children. Sylvia is also a psychologist and provides counselling and mental health support to young people aged between 12-25 years. She loves all things food - especially sharing food with friends, and will go exploring on a day trip any day of the week.
Aishling, Team Leader Youth and Community Development
Aishling leads the Youth and Community Development team which supports and encourages young people’s active participation in their own communities. This includes promoting youth voice, building leadership and capability; facilitating learning, skill development and volunteering opportunities. In her spare time Aishling enjoys hanging out with family and friends, exploring the great outdoors and holidaying.
Madeleine, Team Leader Engagement and Participation
madeleine.power@cgd.vic.gov.au
Madeleine (Maddy) became a youth worker because she loves supporting young people to be themselves and feel confident in who they are. She currently leads the Youth Participation and Engagement team, which means she works with a group of awesome youth workers to deliver exciting programs and events for young people across the City of Greater Dandenong. In her spare time, you’ll find Maddy swimming (at the beach if possible!) and hosting dinners for friends and family.
Matilda, Youth Planner and Engagement Officer
Matilda (she/her) is passionate about co-design and youth participation, ensuring that young people are at the forefront of shaping their own futures. She brings a mixed bag of skills to her work- she’s both a qualified counsellor and English language teacher, and she’s worked extensively with international students and LGBTQIA+ young people in the past, as well as supporting youth-led advocacy campaigns. Outside of work, Matilda is an avid gardener - she spends way too much time chasing her dog, Hubble, out of her veggie patches.
Venushi, Youth Development Officer
Venushi (she/her) facilitates our Young Leaders program, supporting young people to plan and deliver projects that positively impact the community. She has a background in health promotion, and delivers a range of educational programs to support young people's health and wellbeing, including smoking and vaping cessation. Venushi loves spending time outdoors, checking out new brunch spots and making desserts.
Jim, Youth Planner and Engagement Officer
Jim (she/her) brings a background in community development and social impact evaluation to her role as Youth Planner. Jim loves working with young people to build their capacity within their community, and never ceases to amazed by how creative the young people around her can be. For someone so fulfilled by working with young people, she really does have some mature habits - knitting, reading, and spending as much time as she can with her border collie, Stanley.
Emma, Youth Development Officer
Emma, a youth worker with a background in event management, is driven by her passion for social justice and co-design principles. She works with the FReeZA Committee, assisting young people to plan and deliver youth-led events for the community. In her spare time, Emma is usually gardening, getting creative, and being out in nature.
Adheesha, Youth Development Officer
Adheesha works as a Youth Development officer, running many amazing Youth and Family Services programs and projects. As a previous teacher and swimming instructor, Adheesha loves working with young people to give them as many opportunities as possible to shine. In his spare time, Adheesha loves hiking around Victoria, travelling around the world and playing with his black Labrador, Koda.
Stephen, Youth Development Officer;
Stephen is passionate about working with young people and the community to support positive impact within people's lives. He has a background in health promotion and utilises this to facilitate and deliver programs such as the Holiday Activities Committee and the podcast program. Stephen likes to spend his spare time with his partner and cat relaxing, watching anything combat sports related and seeing his family.
Esther, Youth Development Officer
Esther is a Youth Worker with a passion for working with young people and seeing them reach their full potential. She enjoys facilitating and planning different programs and events for young people in the community. In her spare time, Esther loves reading a good book, whether that be by a campfire or river, watching movies and musicals, and spending quality time with friends and family.
Commitment to Child Safety
Greater Dandenong Council Commits to:
- Hold a zero tolerance to child abuse, both within the community and within its organisation
- Ensuring the child’s best interest and safety remain a focus of all services and programs provided by Council
- Actively work towards empowering children in their own right, and that their voices and opinions are taken into consideration and influence governance and decision making to improve the lives of children
- Be responsive, caring and culturally sensitive in the services/programs provided to ensure child safety remains a priority for all children and young people
- Implement prevention and management strategies for child abuse risks, including both physical and online risks
- Uphold the safety of all children, including culturally and linguistically diverse, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and children with additional needs and disabilities
- Ensure stringent screening and implementation of appropriate training in the prevention and management of child abuse, including duty of care of executive management, volunteers and all employees.
Feedback and Complaints
We welcome your feedback about the service, both positive and negative. We want to hear about what we are doing well and what you like about the service, so that we can continue doing it, and also to know how you think we can improve our service. Please let us know if you need support such as an interpreter or advocate to provide feedback.
Your feedback can be provided by:
- Talking directly with a staff member or asking to speak with a member of the Youth and Family Services Leadership Team
- Completing a feedback form
- Contacting us via phone, email, letter, website or social media
We will take your feedback or complaint seriously and will provide you with a response within five working days.
Opening Hours
| Day | Time slot | Comment | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Monday - Friday: | 9:00 am-5:00 pm | |||
| Saturday - Sunday: | Closed | |||
