Supporting Positive Family Relationships

The difference we want our work with families to make is for children to have a good start in life and for parents to be positive, skilled and interested as their children grow up.

In 2010-2011 Children North East services came into contact with 1,176 families, 66% more than the previous year. We also worked directly with 620 fathers to encourage greater involvement in their children’s lives.

A report published in 2011 by The Children’s Rights Alliance for England includes Children North East Families Plus services as an example of good practice in considering the rights of children and young people in work with families.

The services listed here illustrate how we affirm family relationships.

Families Plus Integrated Services - During this year, 34 Children North East volunteers worked with 65 families (including 146 children) in Newcastle, Gateshead and County Durham. 45% of the parents had some form of mental ill health. Volunteers are trained and supported by paid staff who also liaise with the many other agencies involved with the families. The service costs just £1,360 per family.

Our volunteers provide an emotional outlet for parents; and they help parents and children join local activities they would otherwise not have the confidence to do. They also help parents set up safe, healthy homes and establish family routines. The support is always planned with the family and can be available 7.30 am to 8.00 pm, 7 days a week. The outcomes are: parent’s confidence and competence improves; families become less isolated; and children are happier, healthier and more engaged in school.

Homeless Families - In 2010-2011, 71 families passed through Newcastle City Council’s temporary accommodation for homeless people. Children North East provides an after school club for school age children and an Ofsted inspected ‘outstanding’ crèche for pre-school children who are living in this accommodation in central Newcastle. We make contact with every family that moves in and offer the same sort of support as our other Families Plus services. Families end up in homeless accommodation for many reasons – financial hardship, domestic violence, chronic illness, mental health problems, drug or alcohol misuse. Our aim is to support them back into tenancies as soon as possible and in the meantime ensure children still have places to play, space to do homework and somewhere safe to chill, have fun and make friends.

Families Plus School Attendance - Newcastle schools can refer children aged 5 to 13 years to this Children North East service, because their poor school attendance causes concern. Paid staff and volunteers work directly with families in their homes. We frequently find that poor school attendance is just one of many family problems; for example, 83% of the parents had a mental health difficulty; and some of the children were waiting for psychological or psychiatric assessments. Like other Families Plus services the approach is to gain family members trust; understand the problems from their point of view; and then provide practical and emotional support to make changes for the better. As one child said: “Thank you for helping my Mum, because I can go to school now every day and I love it.”

Hidden Harm Services - This specialist service offers very intensive family work to families in crisis. Our staff are available to spend as much as 20 hours a week with parents and children for up to 6 weeks where the parents misuse drugs or alcohol, have mental health problems, there is domestic violence and social workers are gravely concerned about the children. Following the intensive period we can provide continuing support lessening gradually over time, some support can be from specially trained volunteers.

The service is very cost effective for example; in 2010-2011 we worked with 19 children in 9 families in Gateshead who were at immediate risk of going into care. At the end of our support, all 19 were able to remain safely with their parents. The service can be provided to individual families anywhere in the region at £7,500 per family, a fraction of the cost of looking after a child in care.

The service has been independently evaluated and found to be highly effective and excellent value for money. The government agency ‘Centre for Excellence in Outcomes for Children and Young People’ features the service as an example of good practice on its website: www.c4eo.org.uk

“I can’t praise any of you enough. You have helped scrape my family off the floor to where it is now – normal, happy. Your service stepped in when we were at a critical point … thank God you found us as we could have lost everything without you.” A Mother.

West Riverside Children's Centre - The ‘West Riverside’ area of Newcastle has a high proportion of families from minority ethnic backgrounds, economic migrants and asylum seekers who are at greater risk of isolation, mental ill health and other difficulties. This service makes contact with isolated families, gains their trust, provides practical and emotional support and helps them to use Children’s Centres and other services such as Citizen’s Advice Bureau and legal advice. In time, families build their own support networks and friendships. Unlike statutory services our staff can be available to families from early morning and all day into the evening, 7 days a week.

In 2010-2011 we worked with 87 children (6% of whom had a disability) in 43 families, 44% of whom were from black or minority ethnic groups.

Fathers Plus Services - Children North East is a national leader and innovator working with fathers and family men. Our Fathers Plus service has developed effective ways of working that include men as service users and employees in early years, schools, health and family services. We offer training and consultancy for organisations anywhere in the UK who want to include more family men in the services they offer.

Fathers Plus offers these programmes:

• Dad to Be – preparation for fatherhood courses for expectant fathers, grandfathers and male carers
• Dads on Track – for fathers of babies and toddlers, usually delivered in Children’s Centres
• Family Man – involving Dads in their children’s learning in primary school
• Forest Teens – ‘outward bound’ type activities that build relationships between Dads and their teenagers
• Healthy Mind Healthy Body - open access ‘fitness programmes’ for men featuring martial arts but also providing advice on wellbeing and family problems

This year ‘My Dad Matters in Sunderland’ – brought together all these programmes delivered by Fathers Plus. In 12 months 236 family men were engaged in ‘parenting training’ for the first time, exceeding the target by 60%.

Father’s Plus also worked with the Durham Light Infantry Museum on a series of open days particularly for the children of service men and women to help them understand more about what their parents did at work.

The Fathers Plus Website is packed with posters, ‘Dad’s Guide’ postcards offering information and advice for Dads of babies, toddlers, teenagers, starting school, living apart, Children’s Centres, breastfeeding, midwives and more, as well as other items for sale that support our aim that family and children’s services are as open to fathers as they are to mothers. The website includes information about our training courses and the ‘Father Inclusive Audit’ for organisations to assess how good they are at including men and how to improve.

Fathers Plus Family Man Schools Programme - Children almost always do better at school when Dads as well as Mums are involved in their children’s learning. The Family Man Schools Programme successfully brings men into their children's schools to support their learning in and outside the classroom. The programme has run in over 60 schools across the region and engaged over 1000 men and their children, helping build supportive partnerships between schools and family men.

What we are planning to do next:

Children North East expects to maintain all the family services described here and extend them to benefit more children, young people and their families.

• We will help families of disabled children in Gateshead to access the services available to them.
• We will develop training programmes for volunteers to support families when children are subject to child protection plans.
• In partnership with other organisations, we will provide opportunities for children living in a Women’s Refuge to play and socialise; and we intend to support prisoner’s families in the community.
• We will explore providing training online for ‘Dad’s to Be’ to help them understand what to expect of child birth and babyhood.