Help available for families

A programme to help families focus on positive changes to behaviour so they can provide a safer environment for their children is now covering the whole of the Dorset Council area following the initial pilot from November 2022.

Safeguarding Families Together, which will improve the health and education outcomes for children, has now been launched across the whole of the local authority area, including Purbeck.

The concept of Safeguarding Families Together is to embed specialist adult service workers alongside children’s social workers, with an approach to keeping children safe in the family home. It is based on ‘whole family working’ that enables holistic interventions to meet both the child and adult needs by working together and sharing information between professionals to provide the right support when they require it.

There is compelling evidence to suggest that this approach to whole family working supports better outcomes for families.

Paul Dempsey, Director of Children’s Services for Dorset Council, explained: “Multi-disciplinary teams made up of children’s social workers and adult specialists in mental health, substance misuse and domestic abuse will work alongside families.

“Adults within the household are assessed and provided with specialist help without the need for wait times and appointments.

“Adults who have displayed harmful behaviour within intimate relationships will also be supported and educated. Victims of domestic abuse will be offered help and support.

“Substance misuse workers will undertake screening, testing, prescribing medication and lead individual and group work programmes for alcohol and drug reduction. Mental Health workers will be able to assess and arrange medication and direct support.

“Everyone working with families will be trained in motivational interviewing, a counselling approach which provides empathy and promotes self-belief to bring about positive change with an emphasis on helping the family to use their own strengths.”

The approach is helping to keep families together where the risk might otherwise have been too high which reduces the number of children coming into care.

Councillor Clare Sutton, Cabinet Member for Children's Services, Education and Skills for Dorset Council, said: “The work under Safeguarding Families Together is part of our priority to support our families in the communities where they live.

“We want Dorset to be the best place to be a child and we make sure we do our very best to help keep families together, even when they are going through tough times.

“The Safeguarding Families Together team wraps around the whole family and supports them to find the motivation to make a positive behaviour change. 

“I am incredibly pleased that it has shown positive impact already on our families and that we have been able to extend it to cover the whole of the Dorset Council area.”   

The programme has been received well by those who have taken part with parents suggesting that it should be promoted widely as a different way of working in partnership with parents.

One parent stated that Dorset Council should “Promote the SFT service amongst local communities, communicating the benefits of working together with the SFT team so people realise that they’re not just there to take your kids away...it’s not like it used to be... ‘we can actually help you’”.

Another described how their increased understanding of the impact of substance use had reduced their alcohol and drug use, resulting in improved physical energy levels and emotional wellbeing: “[We] just had a chat and went through everything as to why [drugs and the alcohol use was problematic], and then she spoke to me from the safety point of view. She just went through all the effects that it can have on yourself, children, your genuine life, and then it can lead you to knowing the wrong people, all of that.... Then we set up a plan for me to stop. Went through the symptoms of when you’re giving something up. I cut down to cut out.... She only gave me the information on what I needed to know for what I was using at the time, and I found her so supportive and helpful. She went above and beyond as well, and I really found her really helpful and encouraging”.