How intervention is keeping children out of care

intensive family intervention programs are to help parents and children to enjoy life at home with

For professionals determined to prevent teenagers consider "the edge of care" to be removed from families often initially uncooperative, stubborn persistence is the key. "I told them to fuck off" said a young Ofsted inspectors see the work of a successful intervention, "but they would not."

directly with parents about what will happen if things do not improve, while working with them, instead of doing things "for them" or for them, it is also essential a report of the monitoring agency concludes. "They give you a kick in the ass, but not to judge," as one father put it.

Support

practices to improve the living conditions is often a big difference. A teenager has expressed his joy at being able to get in a back garden with the help of a worker who was once "a jungle"

The report, far from the attention to good practice in 11 local authorities to keep young people at risk of entering the life of home care, with methods that include programs family intervention (FIP), family conference or MST. Many young people were, or were the subject of protection plans for children.

in North Yorkshire, one of the councils visited by Ofsted, six officials of the intervention of the family has worked with 79 families between January 2010 and May of this year, at a cost of £ 200 000 per year, 80% covered by the local authorities and the rest by other local organizations. All 445 children who were "absolutely on the edge of care," said County Council Director of Residential Services, Martin Kelly. However, only five - from two families - ended warning

Vicky Smith (fictitious name), 35, has received assistance from the worker's family intervention Wendy Atkinson, after the depression has led to social services are alerted and their children, 14, 12 and five years, was child labor protection plans.

"I was very depressed," says Smith. "I slept a lot and could not get up in the morning, so that the children began to have time to go to school.

• "The house was a disaster, children were not clean. Everything went from bad to worse. I was not looking after everyone, especially me. I was in a state . "
• Participation
• Atkinson, next set of two or three times a week to provide practical and emotional support, and always available on the phone, turned the situation, Smith said. "She began to pack the house with me, motivated me started. If you do not pass the school who had come up around me. We talk about things, she helped me with appointment Do you care, reminded me of things I had to do. "
• Atkinson
• arrangements for the family to go on an activity weekend together and allowing them to meet new people, and the week Prince trust fund in a caravan in Blackpool. Smith said he has learned to use the boundaries with their children, the imposition of consequences such as confiscation of computer equipment, when one of his son refused to go to school.

The fact that the FIP worker is independent of social workers means that parents are less suspicious of them - and perhaps in his hands. In North Yorkshire, where the savings in back office and management positions are used to increase the number of employees of FIP to 22 workers are only four to six families at one time. "Obviously, you have the social worker as well - and mine was very good - but I got to know Wendy as someone I could call and say," Everything goes wrong and he had come round, or give me a little advice "Mr. Smith. "It was great that it was not just sitting at home on my own there was someone there." After 12 months in the program, children are outside the protection schemes and the family is much happier.

Ofsted found that in all the areas visited, the potential profitability of the intervention were significant. Although the areas visited still failed to demonstrate that service provider had reduced the overall number of care for "complex" reasons, at least three were the first signs of a reduction in the number entering the system

But while the families were very positive about the impact of the work, says the report, which was often accompanied by feelings of sadness that aid was not provided effective at an early stage.
North Yorkshire

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