Welcome to the latest edition of the Early Help Newsletter. In this edition you will find out about free early help training, a new workshop for parents about relationships, the YSS Familial Imprisonment Support Service for families involved in the criminal justice system, and much more.
If you have information on your service area you would like to share in the next early help newsletter, please email Kate.Bentham@shropshire.gov.uk or if you know of a colleague who would also like to receive this newsletter they can also email to be added to the distribution list.
‘By treating our children and young people with respect, love and trust and with the right amount of encouragement we can inspire them to dream big, build relationships and connections that matter and together with kindness and a sense of belonging we can do great things.’
Children and Young People’s vision statement
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Whether you think a parent or family needs some support, or you are worried a child might be at risk of abuse or neglect, there is only one number you need – 0345 678 9021. From this number you will receive the support you need to get the right help at the right time to strengthen families and safeguard children.
Families First provides support and guidance in a safe space, to enable the whole family to cope with the demands of having a family member going through the criminal justice system. Our aim is that families across the West Mercia region feel supported and informed when dealing with the imprisonment of a family member.
The families we support come in all shapes and sizes
- Revolving door in and out of prison
- Mum in prison - kinship carers
- The shock and stigma of sexual offences
- The prison sentence is a relief – now the family is safe
Variety of support for parents
- Debt management
- Funding sourcing
- Liaising with other organisations
- Advocating on their behalf
- Anxiety management
- Providing a listening ear
What Families First can offer professionals working with families:
- Initial telephone call or Teams Meeting to discuss the family and their needs.
- Creation of a support plan for the family which the professional can use alongside their support plan.
- Ongoing professional advice and signposting to other charities and services if applicable.
- Resources to use with children affected by familial imprisonment
- Access to our Families First handbook
To find out more about what our service can do get in touch with us on familiesfirst@yss.org.uk
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Relationships can be difficult, complicated, fun, satisfying, exciting, annoying, bring out the best in us, bring out the worst in us. We are often in one, but we don’t often spend much time on them. So here’s the chance
Do you feel your relationship needs some attention?
Do you feel you are drifting a bit lately or things have been difficult?
Would you like to meet with other parents and carers?
Are you looking for a way forward?
Why not join us for an exciting new 4 week workshop with one 2 hours session each week. This workshop looks at relationships, their dynamics, impacts and how we can improve them.
Starts Wednesday 8th March for 4 weeks, 12.30-2.30pm in Shrewsbury
To book a place on the workshop or for further information, including the venue please contact the Parenting Team by emailing parenting.team@shropshire.gov.uk or call 01743 250950
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Immediate Support Resources for those bereaved or affected by suicide and for professionals supporting them, can be found on a webpage designed by Suicide Bereavement UK. It brings together a range of resources in one central location which can be used by someone bereaved by suicide There is also information on local support services on the NHS Shropshire and Telford and Wrekin Suicide Bereavement page.
Your local SEND Local Offer is a single place for information on all things SEND in Shropshire. Alongside the website, a lot of useful information aimed at parent carers of children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities, is also shared through their social media channels, which up to now have included Facebook and Twitter.
They are excited to announce that they are now also on Instagram – but probably draw the line at TicTok!
Follow them for up-to-date information to support children, young people and families in Shropshire. You can also still follow them on Facebook and Twitter
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Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin NHS have issued a special edition of their partner newsletter – Collaborate.
This edition focuses on Children and Young People. We know that the health and wellbeing of children and young people is determined by far more than healthcare. There is a full range of other factors that can impact a young person’s health and life chances, including education, housing and family life, which is why partnership working is essential.
Shropshire NHS are working together to make sure children and young people living in Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin get the best possible start in life. One of their priorities is making sure there are high quality physical and mental health services in place and by working together, we can collectively make the biggest difference to the lives of children and young people living locally.
Have a read to find out what we are doing in Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin to improve the lives of our promising next generation.
Collaborate - Children and Young People's Edition
Since the raising of the participation (school) age, the Local Authority has a duty to ensure that all young people up to the age of 18 engage in education, training or employment. Employment should include an element of training.
Whilst they are in school, young people have access to impartial careers advice and guidance to support their progression to a post 16 opportunity. When a young person leaves school and becomes NEET, that role is carried out by our IAG NEETs team.
The IAG team consists of two professionally qualified Careers Guidance Practitioners, and three Transition Support Workers (TSW).
NEETs often have multiple barriers preventing them from moving into education or employment. It is the role of the Careers Guidance Practitioners to assess these barriers as well as discuss all local, post 16 options, and draw up a plan to support them into appropriate provision.
Sometimes the young person is able to move on with minimal support from the careers’ practitioners. Other times, the TSW will need to provide additional support. For young people who require longer term mentoring and support, we may refer onto other services or providers.
Appointments can be over the phone, online, face-to-face in a community venue, or in a young person’s home, depending on which is most appropriate. If you are aware of a NEET young person who:
- needs to boost their confidence,
- is interested in applying for an apprenticeship,
- is interested in exploring options for college/sixth form/training providers
- support with creating a CV and improving their interview skills
- needs a second chance to achieve their Maths and English
The Careers Guidance Practitioners will come up with a realistic plan to get things moving.
So, if you are supporting a young person who is not in education, training or employment, then please in the first instance, contact the IAG team on 01743 258850 to discuss a young person. Referrals can be made over the phone or via email to the Careers Guidance Practitioners (clare.danby@shropshire.gov.uk for Shrewsbury and the South of Shropshire; gemma.evans@shropshire.gov.uk for the North of Shropshire).
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This is an exciting opportunity to join a new team of Barnardo’s keyworkers supporting children and young people with a learning disability and/or autism, helping them to navigate services and support. The Keyworking function in Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin has been developed as part of the NHS long term plan for all children and young people with a learning disability, and/or autism to have a designated Keyworker by 2024.
Key workers will come from across a range of backgrounds within health, education, social care and the third sector, so specific experiences or qualifications are not required. The post covers Shropshire and Telford so a car driver/owner is essential.
Hours: 37 per week but job shares considered
Salary: £29,206 - £35,728 (Full Time Equivalent)
More information and apply on the website.
Healthy start is an NHS Scheme that supports families on low income to buy fruit, vegetables and milk and access free vitamins.
In Shropshire, uptake of the NHS Healthy Start Voucher Scheme has fallen below 30%.
Many Shropshire families are struggling with the cost-of-living crisis. It has never been more important for the most vulnerable families to access to financial support available to them.
At Shropshire Council we want to encourage eligible families to apply for Healthy Start. Public health have been working with partners including Shropshire Food Poverty Alliance and the Trussell Trust to improve awareness and uptake of the NHS Healthy Start Scheme.
All professionals working with pregnant people and young families can play a key role by talking about Healthy Start and promoting the offer. The scheme is now digital, making the application process easier. For further information please visit the Healthy Start website https://www.healthystart.nhs.uk/
When it comes to brain development the teenage years are a big deal.
Is your teen:
- More emotional?
- Sensitive to rejection?
- Taking more risks?
- Communicating differently?
- Sleeping longer?
It could be down to what is happening in their brain. This FREE short course, which can be done on a mobile, will bring you up to speed with what is going on, so you can understand and support your teen better. You can find the course here: https://inourplace.heiapply.com/online-learning/course/35
Use access code DARWIN18 to get the course for free.
There is also a version of the course for your teenager https://inourplace.heiapply.com/online-learning/course/43
The All Age carer strategy review is now out for consultation, and we are urging carers, of all ages, to take part and tell us what they think.
The strategy has been developed to provide an outline of a holistic approach to supporting unpaid and family carers in Shropshire and will support the achievement of outcomes in the Shropshire Plan 2022-25, particularly relating to the strategic objectives within the priority Healthy People.
The strategy contains seven priorities that we want to implement in Shropshire over the next 5 years to ensure unpaid and family carers, of all ages:
- Identify as a carer earlier and are offered appropriate information, advice and support and opportunities to share their views and help to shape local services.
- Remain emotionally and physically well.
- Are empowered to plan for their future and have access to support that allows them to fulfil their own educational and employment potential.
- Participate in family and community life that includes things that are of interest to them alongside their caring role.
The Shropshire All-Age Carer Strategy 2022-2027 has been produced by gathering the knowledge and views from organisations in health and social care, voluntary and community sector and, most importantly, from carers and former carers from across the County. It is vital that carers continue to be involved in informing the implementation of the strategy so that our priorities and actions reflect the lived experience of carers in Shropshire.
Whether you are working with adults supporting a friend or family member, a parent looking after a child who has additional needs, or a young person who spends a lot of time looking after members of their family - or you are a carer yourself - please encourage them to look at the draft strategy and tell us what they think.
Find out more and have your say
Consultation ends 6 March 2023.
FREE Early Help Training - Introduction to Early Help and Thresholds
Whether you are in a school, an early years setting, health, housing, social care or the voluntary sector, if your work involves children and their families, the introductory Early Help training will support you to see the benefits of partnership working and early help. All sessions are open to delegates from a wide range of settings, allowing for multi-agency discussion and learning to take place.
Early help covers a wide range of universal and targeted services, who are in a position to identify and support families and children who may be experiencing some low level challenges and who would benefit from some support. The purpose of early help is to improve the life chances of children and families and benefit the wider community, whilst being innovative and cost-effective.
In Shropshire, the focus is on conception to early adulthood, because early help is not just about the early years but also about preventing adolescents and young adults from developing problems. We want every family to develop a cycle of positive parenting, relationships and behaviour. Early help is about talking to families and acting as soon as possible to tackle problems for children and families before they become more difficult to reverse.
Early help also focuses on enhancing the capabilities of every parent to provide a supportive and enriching environment for their children.
16th March from 10am to 12.30pm at The Lantern, Shrewsbury OR 20th April from 9.30am to 11.30am at Market Drayton Fire Station
FREE Early Help Training - Using EHM to Manage an Early Help Episode in Shropshire
The Early Help Module (EHM) of Liquidlogic is the multi-agency case recording system for early help, targeted early help and the Strengthening Families outcomes. EHM will allow agencies to share information about families confidently, thus avoiding duplication and ensuring families get the right service at the right time. Additionally, EHM will link to both adults and children’s social care, with the aim of promoting a more sustainable and joined up way of working. Targeted Early Help will only accept a request for intervention through EHM.
To support use of EHM, we are offering 2-hour sessions delivered face to face to small groups of practitioners who have completed the Gateway to using the Early Help Module of Liquidlogic on Leap into Learning. This will give delegates an opportunity to familiarise themselves with the functionality of EHM and work through how to manage a case using the database to share relevant information with partners, including how to request a targeted level of support for the family.
Completion of this module will give you full access to EHM, the Early Help Module of Liquidlogic, where an Early Help episode can help multi-agency partners to record and share information securely.
PRE-REQUISITE Delegates must complete the Gateway to using the Early Help Module of Liquidlogic on Leap into Learning before booking onto this module and must attend this module within 3 months of completing the online Gateway training. The Gateway to using the Early Help Module of Liquidlogic is an introductory e-learning module for everyone who works with children, young people and their families.
6th March from 1.30pm to 3.30pm at The Lantern, Shrewsbury OR 19th April from 9.30am to 11.30am at Belle Vue Youth Club OR 26th April from 1pm to 3pm at Ludlow Fire Station
FREE Early Help Training - Using Assessments to support families in Shropshire
If you work with children and their families, it is very likely that you will be asked to complete an assessment of some sort. There is a plethora of assessment tools available to practitioners, some very specific and others with a more general focus, and it is important that practitioners feel confident to use the most appropriate assessment for the situation.
This course will help you to:
- understand why we complete assessments
- identify appropriate tools to use in a variety of circumstances, including genograms and eco-maps
- consider a range of assessment questions
- review and critique a completed assessment
- apply the Shropshire Threshold Matrix
28th February 2023 from 9.30am to 4pm at Barnabas Community Centre, Shrewsbury
FREE Early Help Training - Chronologies and Significant Events
If you work with families, understanding the importance of a good chronology is vital. This introductory session will enable practitioners from a range of agencies to:
- Understand what a chronology or record of significant events is (and isn’t) and the purpose of recording and sharing information
- Identify elements of good practice, including what is significant for that child or may constitute a key event
- Recognise how a chronology can help make links between the past and the present and how this may impact on the child
- Demonstrate the value of a chronology, especially where there may be no single ‘incident’ e.g. in families where there may be concerns around neglect
- Review a chronology template
2nd March 2023 from 11.30am to 1.30pm at The Lantern, Shrewsbury
FREE Early Help Training - Understanding Substances and their Effect on the Family
This one-day course will support practitioners to work effectively with parents who may be misusing substances, taking into account local, regional and national current trends.
9th March 2023 from 9.30am to 4pm at Shropshire Wildlife Trust, Shrewsbury
FREE Early Help Training - Introduction to Reducing Parental Conflict
If you are working with families, you are likely to interact with parents who share that they are discontented with their relationship or even display conflict or tension in their relationship, whether they are together or separated. Research shows that this has a detrimental impact on outcomes for children. This can be challenging – to help you with managing your response, this 2 hour interactive virtual session, delivered via Microsoft Teams, aims to support practitioners to build awareness and develop the confidence, knowledge and skills to work with parents to reduce conflict and improve outcomes for children.
All practitioners or agencies that have contact with parents either directly, or by working with their children, can play an important role in identifying and supporting the reduction of parental conflict. Underpinned by a solid evidence base, the session will raise awareness of how conflict may be damaging for children, why it can be hard to address and introduce some simple tools that can be used with parents to break the cycle.
22nd March 2023 from 1pm to 3pm via Microsoft Teams OR 21st April 2023 from 10am to 12 noon via Microsoft Teams
FREE Early Help Training - Reducing Parental Conflict: building confidence and using resources
It can be difficult to identify parental conflict as often the focus is on a child’s behaviour and the quality of parent-child relationships. However, research shows that parental conflict has a significant impact on children’s outcomes, regardless of their age or whether their parents are together or separated. This new one day face to face course, aimed at practitioners who work directly with families, has been designed to help practitioners develop the skills to:
- understand and apply the evidence-base on parental conflict
- understand and identify parental conflict and provide appropriate support
- understand the concept of co-parenting
- start a conversation about healthy relationships when working with parents
- feel confident to use a range of tools and resources to support their interaction with parents and children.
All delegates will have access to range of tools to use on the day to discuss with colleagues and take away to use in their own setting.
31st March 2023 from 9.30am to 4pm at Shirehall, Shrewsbury
How to Book
Either book here through Leap or email tracey.bowen@shropshire.gov.uk There are plenty of other dates in various locations around the county which are also available if you log into your Leap account above to view all our Early Help training courses.
If you don’t have a learner account on our booking system, Leap then please email tracey.bowen@shropshire.gov.uk with your name – agency – job title – email so that an account can be set up for you.
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Remember - No diagnosis is needed to access the AWM Shropshire service and there is no formal referral route – parents/carers can self-refer by booking an advice appointment or contacting us directly. Details for both below…
February Half Term events!
Teens Meet – Monday 20th February 10.30am-1.30pm Shrewsbury (All In Short Breaks opportunity, young people need to be registered with All In to attend) Further information on Teens Meet is here. Information on how to apply for All In is on the SEND Local Offer
Teams Together – Teens online meet up Wednesday 1st March 6pm-7pm. Further information is available here.
Training - Learn more about autism
Autism and anxiety – Friday 17th March – FREE webinar, watch live or on catch-up. To register follow this link.
WEEKLY Teams Advice slots – every Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday
For those would like some online advice we are offering this virtually via video appointments. Teams works well on mobile phones. To book a 45 min advice appointment with a specialist autism advisor please book via our shop. If the dates/timings of our online advice appointments are not convenient for you, please contact us to make alternative arrangements – scroll down for details
Virtual Support Group for Parents - Wednesday Mornings 10am-11am and Wednesday Evenings 8pm-9pm – 1st and 3rd Wednesday of each month (term time)
Our online support groups meet twice a month via Zoom. This is an opportunity to talk with other parents, share ideas, and offer support. We recommend that you have attended an online advice appointment with a member of the team before joining group sessions (link above). If you would like to join either of the support groups, please email the team here shropshire@autismwestmidlands.org.uk
Dad’s Group – Monthly on a Thursday 7pm-8pm
This is an opportunity for dads to meet online, share ideas, celebrate their children’s achievement’s and offer support to each other with a member of Autism West Midlands present. More information and booking details are here.
Advice and support
We also offer advice and support over the phone and via email. Parents/carers and professionals can contact our small team directly to arrange an appointment including face-to-face if preferable.
Shropshire office - 01952 454156
Weds, Thu, Fri - Emma Hegenbarth 07881109480
Tue, Wed, Thu - Dawn Lewis 07706309382
Thursday - Nicola King
Email shropshire@autismwestmidlands.org.uk
Helpline: 0121 450 7575
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