The use of whole family assessment to identify the needs of families ...

More documents

Recommendations

Info

Using ‘family friendly’ language when explaining anything helps toestablish a clear understanding of what is said and reduces intimidationor confusion. Use the family’s own words wherever possible rather thanchanging the language into ‘professional jargon’. This is more likely toencourage families to consider the Family Plan ‘theirs’ rather thananother formal document. The more a family ‘own’ their plan the morelikely they are to stick to the changes they want to make.The support may be ‘phased’ so immediate issues are addressed firstand longer term, possibly more entrenched issues, later on.Families may at times feels ‘flooded’ by the number of professionalsinvolved in their lives so a priority ‘Team Around the Family’ should beagreed who will initially have the closest involvement and where otheragencies may contribute via the Lead Professionals.It is important to talk to each member of the family, including thechildren. Sometimes it may be appropriate to talk to family memberstogether, sometimes individually. The Lead Professional should talk to allthose involved in the ‘team around the family’ to agree who is best to talkto each family member. It may that different workers undertake thepreparation work with different family members.If children are of an appropriate age and developmental level tocontribute they should be seen individually. The focus could initially beexploring their perceptions of living at home. Children could be helped totalk about what they enjoy about home life and what they would like tobe different. They may want to draw pictures which could be added tothe plan as their contribution. Feedback from children about what theywould like to be different can be a very powerful factor in influencingparents’ motivation to change. Workers should always be mindful of anyrepercussions for children of saying negative things about theirexperiences to parents and feedback needs to be made sensitively. It isalso important to be sensitive to the amount of detail appropriate forchildren to know about their parents’ difficulties.The worker should try to help the family member think about what theywould like to be different, or what needs to change.Possible questions may include:o What ideas have you got for how things could be different?o How can we help make things better / safer for the children/you?o What do you think we need to see before we could close the case/end our involvement?It may be helpful to talk to families about the need to:Stop doing -Do more of -Also try -the dangerous or risky behavioursthe behaviours that are protective and help members getalong wellsome new behaviours and ways of relating to each other.
What to include in a Family Plan A template for a possible Family Plan is provided but is only a guide;different agencies may have a different emphasis. ‘Those involved indrawing up the Family Plan’ (words taken from template) would includethe family members’ names and those of the worker facilitating theFamily Plan - it may also include those workers from a different agencywho are contributing support. The next section gives a summary about the plan and what may havebeen discussed with the particular family you are working with - thisshould be adapted to suit each family and situation. It emphasises theimportance of agencies working closely together to avoid duplication andto enable a more holistic view of the family. It is important to understandthe role each individual agency may have had with a family historically,looking at patterns, what has worked or not worked in the past, and whathas never been tried. This will influence future interventions. The actual family meeting arranged to draw up and agree a Family Planshould be facilitated by the worker most closely involved with the family(Lead Professional) and involve other agencies indirectly, otherwise thefacilitating of the Plan then becomes too formal and like ‘any othermeeting’ and is more difficult for family members to talk freely about theirhopes and worries. It is important to gain consent from the Family for the sharing ofinformation and permission to contact other agencies who may be ableto offer support to the family. The next section of the Family Plan explores strengths and concernsidentified by the family and the worker facilitating the plan - it mayinclude the views of other agencies. If family members are struggling toidentify areas of concern that agencies involved have identified theycould be asked ‘What do you think (your Health Visitor, Youth Worker)would say was the biggest worry?’ or ‘What were the concernsdiscussed with your YOT worker / Head Teacher?’ If there are safeguarding concerns that families are struggling to acceptor acknowledge it is important that these are included, even if the familyare denying them as valid concerns. It is important that families areaware of the consequences of not making any changes, this will be mostimportant at higher levels of vulnerability. This can be done in a positiverather than threatening way. Most families will not want services involvedwith their family so looking at ‘What needs to happen in order for theconcerns about your children to reduce’ could be a common goal whichthe family are motivated to work towards. If there is a possibility that children could be referred to Stay SafeReferral and Assessment Team as suffering significant harm (i.e. wherethe family has been consistently at a high level of need and preventativework isn’t having an effect) the family need to know what they could doin order to prevent this from happening. The Family Plan should clearlystate what the work is trying to avoid (for example referral regardingsafeguarding issues, eviction, children being further affected by adultalcohol issues, involvement with numerous agencies), as well as whatthe Plan is hoping to achieve.
Page 2 and 3:
This research report was commission
Page 5 and 6:
Department for EducationThe Use of
Page 8 and 9:
Page 10:
Page 13 and 14:
Page 15 and 16:
Page 17 and 18:
Page 19 and 20:
Page 21 and 22:
Page 23 and 24:
Page 25 and 26:
Page 27 and 28:
Page 29 and 30:
Page 31 and 32:
Page 33 and 34:
Page 35 and 36:
Page 37 and 38:
Page 39 and 40:
Page 41 and 42:
Page 43 and 44:
Page 45 and 46:
Page 47 and 48:
Page 49 and 50:
Page 51 and 52: ANNEX 1: REFERRAL AND ASSESSMENT: P
Page 53 and 54: Example 2 The Hybrid Model: Durham
Page 55 and 56: Blackpool is considering a new way
Page 57 and 58: Family DetailsSurname Forename DOB
Page 59 and 60: Family InformationPlease give detai
Page 61 and 62: SummaryWhat needs to change?Think F
Page 63 and 64: Development of unborn baby, infant,
Page 65 and 66: SummaryWhat needs to change?Think F
Page 67 and 68: GP’s Details - Are there any issu
Page 69 and 70: Mental HealthHow would you rate thi
Page 71 and 72: ParentingHow would you rate this ar
Page 73 and 74: Contract PlanInitial/Review Meeting
Page 75 and 76: Page 3 of 7Child / Young Person’s
Page 77 and 78: Page 5 of 7PlanTo meet outcomes; to
Page 79 and 80: Page 7 of 7Families views on meetin
Page 81 and 82: What would you like to change? (To
Page 83 and 84: Domain onFamilyAssessmentInitial Sc
Page 85 and 86: ANNEX 3: ISLINGTON COUNCIL WHOLE FA
Page 87 and 88: Circumstances leading to referral a
Page 89 and 90: AddressRoleOrganisationWhole family
Page 91 and 92: 2. Child profilesEvidence-based not
Page 93 and 94: Self-care skills and independenceBe
Page 95 and 96: Family’s commentsThis section sho
Page 97 and 98: BOLTON COUNCIL FAMILY PLAN AND GUID
Page 99 and 100: (Parent/carer(s))____________Identi
Page 101: BOLTON: GUIDANCE ON FORMULATING A F
Page 105: Ref: DFE-RR045ISBN: 978-1-84775-807
show all

The use of whole family assessment to identify the needs of families ...

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?