supporting families since 1869 Young Carers’ Conference 25 March 2009 Working with families: finding a way to positive outcomes Rose de Paeztron Jacqui Greenfield

supporting families since 1869 Young Carers’ Conference 25 March 2009 Overview Building Bridges what we do re evaluation and outcomes Working with outcomes what do you do? BB findings from independent evaluation

supporting families since 1869 Young Carers’ Conference 25 March 2009 Impact of parental ill health Children Developmental Educational e.g. interaction, young carer role Emotional e.g. impact of insecure attachment Social e.g. isolation, bullying Cognitive e.g. motor skills, concentration Parents Stigma Uncertainty & complexity Feeling “on trial about parenting abilities” Fear of losing children, reality of it happening of mental illness Access & reuniting with children Recovery impeded by anxiety

supporting families since 1869 Young Carers’ Conference 25 March 2009 What does ‘working with families’ mean? Build relationships Monitor & manage risk Contain – and prevent crisis Information & advocacy Value and increase self-esteem Opportunities to develop Provide models of behaviour

supporting families since 1869 Young Carers’ Conference 25 March 2009 Case study: M’s family Mother Brother (University) 19 Sister (GCSE) 16 M 14 Mother’s cousin

supporting families since 1869 Young Carers’ Conference 25 March 2009 Focus of work M: health; school attendance Mother: social isolation; parental role Brother: carers’ group; grants, health Sister: isolation; education Whole family Housing Communication Roles & responsibilities

supporting families since 1869 Young Carers’ Conference 25 March 2009 Evaluation and outcomes

supporting families since 1869 Young Carers’ Conference 25 March 2009 Evaluation: different levels Organisation as a whole Local - project Individual worker/service user

supporting families since 1869 Young Carers’ Conference 25 March 2009 Building Bridges: Most common issues worked with Parenting Emotional Child Self-esteem Social Mental Stress Behaviour Isolation Health /

supporting families since 1869 Young Carers’ Conference 25 March 2009 Key outcomes Building Bridges Increasing parental confidence Reducing emotional stress Improving child behaviour Young Carers Reduce caring role Reduce social isolation Improve life chances

supporting families since 1869 Young Carers’ Conference 25 March 2009 Key stages I What do we want to do? Qualitative and quantitative Identifying appropriate tools Consultation/ownership Training development Pilot phase

supporting families since 1869 Young Carers’ Conference 25 March 2009 Adult mental health 11% CAMHS 3% Education 9% GP/Health Visitor 8% Not known 4% Self 16% Social Services adult 1% Social Services children/family 29% Voluntary organisation 10% Other 9% Who refers to Building Bridges?

supporting families since 1869 Young Carers’ Conference 25 March 2009 Evaluation tools Monitoring Form Profile Goal setting Questionnaire Parents Children

supporting families since 1869 Young Carers’ Conference 25 March 2009 Key stages II Get going! Building database All on board Review Learn and adjust Analysis Report back

supporting families since 1869 Young Carers’ Conference 25 March 2009 Outcomes Framework Individual/ outreach support Increase parenting confidence Information parenting/ mental health Individual work with children Improve life chances for parents with mh problems and their children Parenting groups Reduce emotional stress Improve child behaviour Overall Aim Specific Aims Objectives Outcomes Outputs

supporting families since 1869 Young Carers’ Conference 25 March 2009 Small group exercise Developing an outcomes focus In 2/3s, choose one project/work stream from the group, and use triangle model to identify a key aim and specific aims (what do you want to achieve) Move on to think about objectives of the work (how will you achieve the aims)

supporting families since 1869 Young Carers’ Conference 25 March 2009 CES Outcomes Triangle Overall Aim Specific Aims Objectives Outcomes Outputs

supporting families since 1869 Young Carers’ Conference 25 March 2009 My mum’s heart

supporting families since 1869 Young Carers’ Conference 25 March 2009 Outcomes I: independent evaluation Characteristics critical to successful interventions: close attention to getting, keeping and engaging parents a strong theory base synthesis of practical and emotional support working with both parents and children a practical, flexible and partnership approach which is valued by parents and other stakeholders (Building Bridges, Morris J. July 2007)

supporting families since 1869 Young Carers’ Conference 25 March 2009 Sample evaluation tool: Kansas Parental Satisfaction Scale These questions use a different sort of scale and help measure your satisfaction in being a parent Extremely dissatisfied Very Dissatisfied Somewhat dissatisfied MixedSomewhat satisfied Very satisfied Extremely satisfied 1How satisfied are you with the behaviour of your children? How satisfied are you with yourself as a parent? How satisfied are you with your relationship with your children? Scoring Add the scores as an amount over 21, 21 being extremely satisfied with all aspects of parenting Mean is 17.4.

supporting families since 1869 Young Carers’ Conference 25 March 2009 Outcomes II: statutory services A reduction in the number of children looked after A statistically significant reduction in the number of children on child protection plans A statistically significant reduction in the number of adults on CPA

supporting families since 1869 Young Carers’ Conference 25 March 2009 Shane (aged 8): “What I think is best for me is that since we’ve been seeing Maggie, my mum doesn’t shout at me when she sees me coming out of school. Maggie explained that it made me embarrassed and all the big boys bullied me about my mum.”

supporting families since 1869 Young Carers’ Conference 25 March 2009 For more information: Family Action services: Rose de Paeztron, Strategic Development Building Bridges evaluation: download at Join (free) Parental Mental Health & Child Welfare Network: