Assessment Centre Service

Barking and Dagenham

Assessment Centre Locations|

Aims and objectives

To provide an opportunity for children and parents to develop to their full potential
To develop positive parenting skills
To coordinate and liaise, with other professional groups, in supporting families
To provide a high standard of sessional care, working within Ofsted and inspection guidelines

Divisional objectives

Support the cultural diversity among service users and the workforce
Develop the range of family support services
Enable looked after children to achieve better outcomes in respect of their health, educational achievement and in reducing offending behaviour
Ensure that children and families are involved in the assessment and care planning process at the point of service delivery. They will also be consulted about the quality of services through monitoring and evaluation
Ensure all service users experience consistency of service
Ensure that we work effectively across internal and external boundaries

Services provided

Intervention work, with the family, in the centre, at home and within the community
National Children's Home - Managing Children's Behaviour Course
Assessment work
Drop-in facilities
Speech and language groups
Support groups
Individual parenting support
Outreach
Sessional day care
After school / holiday clubs for 4 - 11 year-olds
Toy libraries, for use by centre families and the local community
Some contact facilities

Staffing

Family Centre Manager
Assessment and Outreach Deputy Manager
Day Care Deputy Manager
7 Family Workers
1 Special Needs Coordinator (for the 3 Centres)
All are qualified, with varying experiences and training (NNEB / DipSW / NVQ3)
In addition, we have Clerical and Domestic Support Staff

Referrals

Referrals from social workers:

Will be accepted on the NAF Assessment Form, which when completed should be sent to the relevant Centre.

Referrals from all other agencies:

A Family Centre Referral Form needs to be filled out with the family, and then sent to the relevant Centre.

Self-referrals:

Parents/carers can collect a Referral Form from their preferred Centre. Help will be available, if required, to complete this form.

Every referral is looked at individually and fully assessed before any work is undertaken.

Process of referral

The referral form should be sent to the appropriate family centre
A joint meeting will be arranged, with the referrer, centre staff and parent/carer
A home visit will be arranged
Appropriate service, if required, will commence

Quality assurance

From time to time, parents/other agencies are invited to complete questionnaires to test their satisfaction, in respect of the services offered and overall performance of staff.

Everyone is made aware at the point of referral of their rights, including the complaints procedure.

Individual work

We believe each family is a unique unit and as such requires and deserves individual work. Practitioners believe in partnership, and work is undertaken closely with parents/carers.

Families are allocated a key worker who works on a regular basis, either in the family home or the Centre.

Key workers may also undertake some elements of assessment work, focusing on specific areas of work.

Placement reviews

Each family will have its place reviewed regularly, as an ongoing procedure. At these reviews, parents/carers, key workers and other relevant professionals will be invited to attend. Parents will be invited to contribute to the reviews as fully as possible and also to comment on the service they are receiving.

Regular reviews are held to ensure family members' views are heard and that decisions made are acted on as part of the service delivery.

Cases that are held within the Child Protection Procedures are reviewed within this remit via Core Group Meetings and Case Conferences.

Our aim, for the residents of Barking and Dagenham, is to prevent family breakdown and safeguard children within their own families and communities.

We hope to achieve this by working in partnership with parents, carers and other agencies to enhance parenting abilities and skills in a friendly and supportive environment, and by meeting each individual families need.

Across the 3 establishments, our aim is to provide a range of family support services for families and children aged 0-11 years, working in partnership with parents and professional colleagues to allow children to develop to their full potential.

There will be a range of services available, involving sessional day care for under 5s, work around parenting skills and management of children's behaviour and a range of focused groups for both children and parents.

Most importantly, our aim is to be flexible in responding to the needs of the local community, so let us know how we can develop further and improve our services.

Our hope is for the centres to develop into a hub of services for families with input from a range of professionals and we look forward to working with you in meeting the needs of our community.

We are a community-based and needs-led service. We aim to offer a high quality and flexible service to meet the diverse needs of our surrounding community.

If you would like more information about our service, please contact the relevant Centre.

Gascoigne Children's Centre

Contact

Ford Road Family Centre

Ford Road

Dagenham

RM10 9JS

Tel: 020 8270 6731

Fax: 020 8270 6731

Gascoigne Family Centre

140 St Ann's

Barking

IG11 7AD

Tel: 020 8270 6577

Fax: 020 8270 6577

Children's self assessment form|