A Reflective View from the Practitioner’s Perspective Kay Cartmell (Health Visitor / Outreach Team Leader) Ashley Lloyd (Play Therapist) Howgill Family Centre

Howgill Family Centre 35 years of service delivery to children and families From Distington to Muncaster, from Whitehaven to Wasdale 75 staff and 30 volunteers Group and individual work, & Early Years Provision www.howgill-centre.co.uk Last year around 3500 families received some form of service or support 9 community locations and Sure Start Children’s Centres Family Centre providing Services for Children and Families Lead organisation for Sure Start Children’s Centres - Whitehaven (North and South), NE Copeland and Egremont

Mission Statement Creating Opportunities for Children and Families….. …..Working to build healthier, safer communities where children, young people and families are valued, respected and encouraged to achieve their potential Focus very much on the child and outcomes for the child… but of course as the paediatrician and psychoanalyst Donald Winnicott famously said: “there is no such thing as a baby”, meaning that infants exist only as part of a unit with their primary caregivers. So it’s important to take into account the whole context of the child by helping parents and the family unit.

ethos One that ensures that all parents should feel able to ask for support at any time How parents perceive services will influence the likelihood that they will ask for help This applies particularly to those families who although they may be the most vulnerable to poor outcomes, find it hardest to access the services they need for whatever reason They may consider that asking for help is a sign of failure and that they will be judges as unable to cope … and that doesn’t matter whether you’re a teenage mum living in a squat or a highly qualiified professional mother struggling with postnatal depression.

Reducing barriers to accessing services Stigma Fear of being judged Lack of confidence Social exclusion Poverty Accessible Non-judgemental Family friendly Needs driven Children’s Centres should be easy places for parents to access and approach- a place where they feel comfortable getting the help and support they need The fundamental principle of any service is that it must reach out and become sensitively responsive to that family

Core purposes Child Development, Learning and School Readiness Child and Family Health and Wellbeing Parenting/ Family Support These of course tie in with the Every Child Matters Change for Children 5 objectives: Be healthy Stay Safe Enjoy and Achieve Make a positive Contribution Achieve economic wellbeing

Principles Prevention Early Intervention Relationships are key Barnes and Freude-Lagavardi (2002) Shonkoff and Phillips (2000) Shore (2001) New Report:- Burlington S and Hosking G (March 2013) Conception to Age 2- The Age of Opportunity A compelling body of evidence leads to an overwhelming level of support for the principles of prevention and early intervention and a growing evidence base of cost-benefit analysis confirms that this produces an economic return for society. Early intervention and prevention programmes are most effective if they address at least to generations by including services for the infant/child and services for the parents The earlier in a child's life the prevention commences the more likely it is to be effective Working with families antenatally and in that crucial first year of a babies life- the earliest intervention of them: helping parents to shape their babies brain. Early experiences can dramatically alter a babies brain and parents are the primary environment to which the young brain adapts Relationships are key: that crucial first relationship between a parent or primary caregiver and their child- where the a lot of that child’s crucial outcomes are determined by that child’s attachment And our relationship as practitioners, with our families- is key No matter what the intervention is- the key is building up trust/ rapport with the family- that the cornerstone, the founding principle, if you like of all our work. It permeates all of our work. Studies on early intervention by Jacqueline Barnes and her colleagues have shown that the specific theoretical approach is less important than establishing a shared rapport or therapeutic relationship with the parent. Practitioners need to be better attuned to the needs of the parent and caregiver unit. And of course there is a danger that if too much focus is placed on just helping disadvantaged parents to enter the labour market, to the detriment of championing the fundamental relationship between parent and child. Worthy as the aspiration to lift children out of child poverty is ……. It will arguably not help a child’s future outcomes, particularly their resilience and psychological outcomes if that fundamental security of attachment is not achieved first

7 Themes Coping and emotional wellbeing Family health and wellbeing Friends and family relationships Family finances Children’s learning and development Fun and leisure Personal growth Our objectives as an organisation are to provide evidence based services and intervention around those 7 themes

Coping and Emotional Wellbeing Bereavement Group A-Part From Group Learn to relax group/ individual therapy Teen parents/ new Mum's Groups Parenting Plus programme/ Triple P Group/ Solihull Approach Screening/ Support for perinatal depression Early Support/Portage Adult Art / Art Therapy Boy's / Girl's Group Breast Feeding Support Play Therapy These are some of our services / interventions based around this theme. One of our key pieces of work is to support children and their families who have suffered the trauma of bereavement- And again it’s about meeting the needs of our community- for as you know Cumbria has had more than it’s fair share of trauma and loss over the past few years hand over to Ashley Lloyd –our play threrapist who has founded our children’s bereavement group

Family Health and Wellbeing Breast Feeding Support Infant massage Baby Picasso Let's get healthy with HENRY Parenting Plus programme Health Visitor Drop in Sessions Sporty Tot's/ Sporty Families/ Ground Hog's Allotment Safety Equipment Healthy Eating/Cooking Groups Aqua-natal

Friends and Family Relationships Music and Movement Group Promoting Positive Interaction (Video Interaction Guidance) Come and Play /Carer and Toddler Groups Holiday Playscheme's Triple P parenting Groups Families Inc. Speakeasy Grandparent's Group Adult Art / Art Therapy Boy's / Girl's Group Infant Massage Play Therapy

Family Finances Home Support Family Finance Advisor Grant's panel Houseproud Accredited Training for parents Healthy Eating Course Grant's panel

Children's Learning and Development Pre-school/Nursery provision Storysacks Book Start Corner/ Book Club Boy's / Girl's Group Baby Picasso/ Baby Signing Music and Movement Groups Early Language Intervention/Every Child a Talker Parenting Plus Programme Health Visitor Drop-in's Families Inc. Art and Crafts Carer and Toddler Groups

Fun and Leisure Play Schemes Storysacks/Storytelling sessions Sporty Tot's/ Family Swim Boy's / Girl's Group Baby Picasso Music and Movement Groups Family Support Summer Trips Aqua natal Art's Group Families Inc. Carer and Toddler Groups

Personal Growth Accredited Training for parent's Learn to Relax Group Storysacks Book Club Boy's / Girl's Group Houseproud Family Passport Healthy Eating Courses Triple P parenting Groups Art's Group Families Inc. Learn to Relax Group