Why the home is a preferred environment for assessments
Our programmes enable children and families to be assessed in a familiar home environment. With families who have children of nursery or school age, it enables them to maintain their current nursery and school, and for the parents to maintain community links with support such as substance misuse and therapeutic services.
The focus is on the lived experience of the child within their home environment, community and extended family network. When a negative recommendation is made, this also allows for a smoother transition into a family placement where appropriate, or minimises the number of placements required while permanent carers are identified. As an alternative to a Residential Assessment, our experience is that assessing a family in their own home environment, with safeguarding in place in terms of 24 hour support and monitoring, negates the need for further community assessments following a family leaving a residential unit. Coral charges a standard rate per family regardless of the number of children.
The assessment programme involves
- Family Support Workers are in the home and present 24 hours a day, including waking nights and they carry out checks throughout the night. They accompany the child at all times and this includes when the family go into the community.
- Our Family Support Workers also can provide childcare to enable parents to attend appointments.
- The assessment team is overseen and monitored by an experienced and qualified Social Worker (Practice Manager) who also undertakes individual sessions with the parents, family observations, and oversees interventions undertaken by the Family Support Workers.
- Our Family Support Workers are trained in Safeguarding (Level 1 to Level 3), and Child Protection, Domestic Abuse, and working with children and parents who have complex needs including ADHD, ASD, self-harm, mental health and substance misuse.
- We have extensive experience in undertaking Residential and Community Assessments where there has been concerns about NAI (Non Accidental Injury), which can include the use of cameras and monitors, and can involve staff being present at all times with children including when they are sleeping.
- We have extensive experience in undertaking Residential and Community Assessments where there have been concerns about Domestic Abuse where the perpetrator remains present in the home. Safeguards are put in place such as the use of cameras and monitors, and staff being present with the child through the night when they are sleeping.
- We have extensive experience in undertaking Residential and Community Assessments with mothers who have experienced post-natal depression and are able to implement safety plans to provide strategies to manage the risks to the child, and where appropriate through the use of cameras and monitors, and with staff being present with the child through the night when they are sleeping. This enables the mother to work closely with Community Mental Health Services and her support network, and this offers an alternative to a placement within a Psychiatric Residential Units.
- Coral has worked with a large number of Care Leavers and vulnerable young parents who have particularly benefits from the input and nurture provided as part of the assessment process, when they have not previously had an opportunity to experience a safe and consistent parenting role model. This has enabled a number of young parents with whom we have worked to significantly improve their parenting skills and their understanding of their child’s needs, and our feedback is that they have gone on to successfully parent their children without any ongoing service from the Local Authority.
- Within all assessment programmes, we consider the support network, including family, friends and professionals, as part of the broader assessment process.
Please Contact
Amanda Owen, Head of Service, on 07956 203745 for urgent referrals
amanda.owen@coral-assess.co.uk