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The Family Centre’s aims and objectives are to provide children and their families with early preventative therapeutic interventions that will seek to protect and promote the welfare of the most vulnerable children in our local community.
The Family Centre will strive to work in a multi-agency manner and will encourage an integrated approach to the assessment of need of children referred. Early years intervention by the Family Centre and their partners will seek to put into place action plans that will, wherever possible, prevent a child becoming a child in need.
HEALTH – Midwifes, Health Visitors, GP’s, Consultants, CAMHS.
EDUCATION – Nursery Schools, Primary Schools.
SOCIAL WORK – Area Team, Fostering & Adoption, Disability Team, Throughcare, Mental Health Team, Criminal Justice Team.
VOLUNTARY SECTOR – Barnardos, Children 1st.
SELF REFERRALS.
All families referred to the centre will be entitled to an initial assessment of need.
Family support will aim to provide children and their families with advice, guidance and assistance. Seek to identify strengths and abilities and encourage and motivate families to meet their children’s basic social, emotional, educational and health needs.
Family support will seek to build positive relationships between parents and children and workers will facilitate opportunities for children and their parents/carers to share in nurturing and mutually beneficial experiences.
The Family Centre will endeavour to respond to families’ needs in as flexible manner as possible and will at all times seek to work in partnership with referrers.
Parenting children is probably the hardest task that we as adults are asked to do. There is an expectation that without any formal training we will automatically understand and respond to the needs of our children.
The family centre is aware that there are many factors which effect and sometimes inhibits adults’ abilities to parent and as a result have developed a number of approaches that will help adults with the parenting task.
This is a group work programme run in the family centre by health visitors and family centre staff
6/8 week rolling programme
- Video interactive guidance
This type of work concentrated on offering parents on an individual basis, advice and guidance. Parents have the opportunity to wear a phonic ear during sessions. This enables them to receive immediate feedback on any positive skills and abilities they already have and also to receive suggestions on methods of positive parenting, distraction techniques etc that they can put into place and practice while in the safe environment of the family centre.
This is a group work programme that aims to improve bonding/attachment through the medium of art and play.
The group offer support to young mothers experiencing P.N.D. or who have a dual diagnosis of mental health issues and addiction.
When attending the group participants will access an on site crèche where babies and young children are cared for by trained staff.
Art therapy where art materials are used for self-expression and relaxation.
Aromatherapy, reiki acupuncture to aid relaxation and group members are taught baby massage and baby yoga to aid bonding and attachment.
Counselling and practical advice and guidance are an integral part of the postnatal depression group work programme.
Creating images can be a powerful way of working out our relationships with others or getting in touch with deeper feelings. The art therapist is there to listen and to support you find your own way of understanding life’s experiences. Being good at art is not important. A doodle can say as much about how you are feeling as a carefully composed painting.
Stress management using for example, acupuncture, aromatherapy massage techniques are now an integral part of the Family Centre service for young mothers. By teaching young mothers stress management and coping strategies, the tension and anxieties within the family home can reduce and therefore vulnerable young children can benefit from a calmer home environment.
Out alternative therapist provides group work where people learn stress reduction techniques.
Individual relaxation sessions.
Teaching baby massage and baby yoga to parents on an individual basis.
Both the girls and boys groups will seek to provide children involved with a safe secure warm environment within which they can build and develop their self-esteem/self image. Improve their listening skills and their social skills, and learn how to express feelings in an effective manner.
The group work programmes will attempt to provide children with activities and experiences that will allow them to explore their issues in a fun, non-threatening and safe manner.
This is a method of working with families that seeks to empower them to find their own lasting solutions.
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