Family Assessments

Residential Family Assessment Centres

family-assessment-mainCare 2 Share opened its first Residential Family Assessment Centre in Waltham Forest in 2006 and a second Residential Family Assessment Centre in 2012 which is also based in Waltham Forest. Across both family centres, Care 2 Share is able to offer 11 family placements to the local authorities and professionals.

Care 2 Share employs a multi disciplinary staff team who are trained and experienced in conducting independent and comprehensive parenting assessments for families with complex needs. In determining the best interests of the child, Care 2 Share provide decisive, evidence based, expert assessments of parenting capacity to the family courts, to enable decisions regarding a child’s long term care arrangements to be made within the 26 week timetable.

For Care 2 Share our parenting assessment process is to provide a conclusive judgment that evidences whether a parent is able to provide a ‘good enough’ standard of parenting and demonstrate if a parent can or cannot meet their own individual self care needs.

All placements are subject to a risk assessment prior to a placement commencing and Care 2 Share work closely with allocated professionals and commissioners to ensure that a family receives the right level of support to ensure that children are not at risk of significant harm.

Through a process of support, guidance, education and advice, Care 2 Share provides a flexible, positive and facilitative environment to enable parents to make necessary changes in order to improve areas of difficulties and to build on their strengths. Throughout this process Care 2 Share ensures that the welfare of the child remains paramount. Parenting assessments are usually for 12 weeks however many assessments are bespoke and tailor-made.

Each parenting assessment is individually planned and regular progress reports are provided. Care 2 Share facilitates review meetings which ensure that all professionals involved in the case are aware of progress being made in the assessment and any highlighted areas of concern.

Our staff team provide 24/7 supervision, monitoring and support. Care 2 Share has CCTV cameras throughout the residential centres to enable a closer level of supervision and monitoring if it is felt that this is needed as part of the risk assessment.

 

Our assessments include:

Residential Parenting Assessments

Care 2 Share offers a level of staff supervision and input appropriate to each case including higher levels of continuous monitoring or 1:1 support when required.  This provides the opportunity for parents and children to work closely with dedicated staff whose aim during a period of observation, assessment and support, is to encourage the parents to develop and progress their own skills and to evaluate the degree of risk which would be present if children returned to live with their parents within the community.

We place great emphasis on promoting an environment that preserves and respects the dignity of our service users and is both non-judgmental and caring in which parent/child relationships can be nurtured and developed thereby encouraging self-worth and self-esteem. However the welfare of the child always remains our primary focus.

Community Based Assessments

Community-Based Assessments can be undertaken either at Care 2 Share or in the wider community

PAMS Assessments

  • The PAMS assessment covers child care and development, behaviour management, independent living skills, safety and hygiene, parents’ health, relationships and support and the impact of the environment and the community on parenting.
  • Each parenting skill is assessed for parental knowledge, quality of parenting skills and the frequency of parenting practice. By breaking these elements of parenting down into testable components, PAMS begins to make an assessment of quality that is evidence based.
  • After the PAMS assessment has been completed it will provide a clear, visual family profile of functioning that targets both parenting support needs as well as child protection issues. An easy to understand visual Child Profile and Parent Profile gives clear identification of the family strengths, needs and risks associated with their parenting.

Supervised and Assessed Contacts

  • Care 2 Share staff are experienced in supervising and assessing contact sessions between parents and their children and are able to use contact sessions as part of joint parenting assessments. Detailed contact reports are promptly provided.

Viability Assessments

Care 2 Share are able to offer short periods of viability assessment to enable it to be determined if a residential parenting assessment would best suit the needs of a parent. Care 2 Share believe that it is important to consider that residential parenting assessments may not always be the best form of assessment for a family and will make recommendations of any other assessments that may be more beneficial for the family.

Care 2 Share is able to offer paper viability assessments of a parent and review court papers to determine if a family could be considered for a residential family assessment centre.

 

If you require more information on Care 2 Share’s Residential Family Assessment Centres, please contact the Registered Manager for our Walthamstow Home on 0208 520 7772 or the Registered Manager for our Leytonstone Home on 0208 257 0068 or complete the contact form for more information