The Service
Holding Families is a multi-disciplinary service that aims to help children, parents and families with problems associated with significant parental substance misuse, where children and adults needs are dealt with and responded to at the same time.
Early Break is a unique service, offering a client centred approach to young people and their families who wish to address their substance related needs. Since 1994, we have gained a great deal of experience of working with vulnerable clients, being a consistently reflective service, believing this is the only way to develop and move forward so that we are always delivering the best service to our clients. We work with clients to empower them to make changes in their lives, helping them to make positive decisions and to become responsible for the decisions they make.
History
A group of managers from Early Break, Bury Drug and Alcohol Service and Children’s Services created the Holding Families model in 2005. They piloted the model and after evaluation by Murphy et al, 2007 (Salford University) Children’s Services funded a Coordinator post at Early Break in Bury. The service has grown from strength to strength and due to achieving excellent outcomes for children and their families and being seen to be a cost effective service, Holding Families is now funded in Rochdale and East Lancashire.
Aims of the Service
- To support and encourage the family to talk about substance use and associated problems
- To highlight any significant harm caused by parental drug or alcohol use
- To empower parents to make necessary changes
- To encourage parents to remain in treatment for alcohol or drugs
- To allow children’s voices to be heard by parents and workers
- To help families move down the safeguarding threshold
- To build on things families are already doing well
Core offer to Families
- Referral to a Substance Misuse Worker
- One to one sessions for children
- Parents attend the Holding Families group work programme
- One to one sessions for parents
- Family Meetings
- Social Worker/Lead Professional maintains regular contact
- Support for concerned significant others
Additional elements of the programme
- Operational Group
- Steering Group
- Service User Group
- Peer Mentoring scheme
- Children and Young People’s group work programme
- Families database under construction
Outcomes and support for services
- Holding Families provides evidence from weekly contact with families for social workers & lead persons
- Advocate for family members and services
- Weekly contact with children provides the child’s perspective of home life for professionals
- Feedback to services and teams on family progress
- A supportive yet challenging and non- collusive approach to working with families
Outcomes for families
- Parents achieving total abstinence
- Reduction in nearly all cases of substance misuse or stable on substitute prescribing
- Parents and young people engaging in a range of education training and employment
- Parents trained in Peer Mentoring
- 45% reduction in domestic violence and police call outs for families in the five month period of the programme
- Families moving down the Safeguarding thresholds of concern
- Children placed back with parents from Local Authority Foster Care
- Family wheel scores reduced in nearly all cases
- Film produced by children and young people “Two Bottles of Wine and a Bag of Chips”
- Children and young people have set up their own Holding Families service user group
Family feedback
Taken from external and internal evaluations
- “A lot better for taking the first step in getting my family life back on track”
- “I think the Holding Families project is a really good idea and hopefully we will learn a lot more and come out the other end better people and parents”
- “It’s better meeting and talking in groups at least you know you are not alone”
- “Hearing other people’s problems makes me feel more positive about getting clean”
- “ It has been interesting and emotional”
- “It is eye opening having to realise what effect we have had, but a good positive experience”
- “Holding Families has saved me and my son from myself”
Holding Families in Your Area
If you, your service, team or local authority is interested in developing Holding Families, we can provide training, manuals and consultancy in order that you will be able to deliver Holding Families in your area.
Please contact:
Victoria Stewart
Early Break, 7-11 Bury Road, Radcliffe, Manchester. M26 2UG
vstewart@earlybreak.co.uk
0161 7233880/ 07595 056156
www.earlybreak.co.uk Early-Break EarlyBreakUK