Southwark Mental Health Family Strategy Think child, think parent, think family: a guide to parental mental health and child welfare Chris McCree

Introduction Why ‘think family’? Introduction to the SCIE guide Impact of Children and Young People Our experience

Why Think Family?

Proportion of adults with mental health problems 1 in 4

Proportion of those who are parents at the time 25% - 50%

Proportion of children of mentally unwell parents who develop their own mental health problems 1/3 – 2/3

Proportion of young carers supporting a parent with mental health problems 29%

Proportion of serious case reviews with parental mental ill-health as key factor 1/3

Why think family? 3. Parenting and the parent – child relationship 4. Risks, stressors and vulnerability factors 4. Protective factors and resources 1. Child mental health and development 2. Adult mental health The Family Model (Falkov, 1998)

Resilience Family resilience derives from  Personality of members  Inter-relationships  Environment Information Good quality support

The barriers where you are Structural Resources Personal  Knowledge  Skills  Confidence

Barriers to thinking family  Challenge of interagency working  Confidence and willingness to work outside professional boundaries  Statutory thresholds  Knowledge of services  Workload  Information sharing  Regulations  Practicalities  Fear and stigma

Family Strategy Based on robust evidence Includes messages from parents and children Key recommendations set out for  Organisations  Managers  Front-line staff Characteristics of a successful service Lots of good practice examples

Key messages from the guidance Develop services that:  Take a ‘no wrong door’ approach  Look at the whole family throughout the care pathway  Co-ordinate and tailor support effectively  Build on family strengths In addition:  Improving access via communications strategy  Workforce development  Strategic approach – ‘Think Family Strategy’

A successful service Listens to parents and children Manages crises, and stays on afterwards Is creative, knowledgeable and flexible Shares information Promotes the whole family’s strengths and resilience

Staff Training

Training and Development of Staff Building Staff Confidence and skills in talking to parents about the needs of children Implementation of the Adapted Family Partnership Model Crossing Bridges Joint training Staffs ability to comment on parenting capacity

User Focused Monitoring

Continuing User Involvement

Being a parent Being a parent is real challenge for everyone and is one of the most important jobs we will do. As the strategy recognizes all of us will need support from strategic services while bring up our children slide. One of the greatest strengths of this Family Strategy is it promotes working with users in a non-judgmental and compassionated way.

Parental Mental Health in Children centres team Provides Individual and group work Home assessment and interventions Full mental and social needs assessment Assessment of parent infant attachment and relationship Works closely with CAMHS,CSC and Children's centres, AMH Works to link vulnerable families into the local network and services

Service Development A Young Carers Story Troubled Families Keeping the Family In Mind DVD

Think Family in a time of cuts  Asking the right questions  Sharing information  Thinking differently  Talk to the Children  Talk to the Parents  Share resources

Overcoming the local barriers What your service would need to change What your staff would need to change What you need to change

Useful Resources