Family Work

Mission Statement:

We view all families as unique; we aim to help families build upon their strengths as well as supporting them with their difficulties. We believe in considering all of the family in promoting resilience and planning change.

Kibble's Family Support and Intervention Service works in partnership with young people and their families to address familial risk and individual need. We have identified key factors in achieving this by offering families a five-tier system that will enhance the inherent strengths of children and their carers/parents and promote crucial protective factors.

We endeavour to:

• Reduce the risk of a young person being accommodated
• Reintegrate young people back into their own families and communities

Families who would like to access support can be referred through their local authority social worker or Kibble key worker. An assessment and consultation will be undertaken using Family Assessment Framework: Family Competence, Strengths and Difficulties (Department of Health, 2000), which will establish the risks and needs of the family and direct them to the appropriate intervention within the service.

Five-tier System

(Level 1) Part of the care package offered to young people who have placements in Residential and Day Services. Families will be given regular updates by care staff. Support, advice and guidance will be given to families with regard to specific behaviours, with additional support given during a crisis period.

(Level 2) Family support and specific advice offered by staff within Day and Residential Services on how to manage common development issues and minor behaviour problems. This will be in consultation with the Specialist Interventions Service (comprising Psychology, Programmes, Family Work, and Research and Evaluation). This may involve a problem-solving or solution-focused approach and includes face-to-face contact or telephone contact with the service.

(Level 3) Structured group work: Handling Teenage Behaviour Parenting Programme (8 sessions) delivered in a supportive environment. This could also be delivered on an individual basis to carers. Carers will be offered follow-up individualised support and can access a parents' support group run by parents.

(Level 4) A structured intervention and intensive support package for carers/parents who require an intensive intervention in parenting skills and competencies on a one-to-one basis. Typically, this will target caregivers experiencing more severe behaviour problems.

(Level 5) A tailored behavioural family intervention for families with concurrent teenage behaviour problems and family dysfunction, such as relationship conflict, family violence, peer relationship problems, or young people who have displayed sexually harmful behaviour. This intervention aims to support a young person in making a transition back to their family. This will aim to build families' resilience through use of a strength-based model. This will include both individual and joint structured interventions with the young person and their family.