Strengthening Families
Strengthening Families
The most useful children and family support is that which helps families to stabilise and improve their own situation through primary prevention approaches at the earliest time. Strengthening Families provide local services for families with children aged 0-19 through children and family centres, in a planned approach to ensure resources are targeted where they are most effective.
Children’s centres are an important statutory service focusing on targeted younger children (0-5) and their families as part of Telford & Wrekin’s Strengthening Families.
The core purpose of children’s centres is to improve outcomes for young children and their families and reduce inequalities between families in greatest need and their peers in:
- child development and school readiness
- parenting aspirations and parenting skills and
- child and family health and life chances. Children’s Centres Statutory Guidance (2013:7)
Children Centres target particular groups to attend, (e.g. additional needs, speech and language delay, challenging behaviour) - parents (e.g. Emotional wellbeing, healthy lifestyles, parenting in general)
- families (e.g. worklessness, social isolation, Citizens Advice)
- groups (e.g. teen parents, lone parents, BME groups, dads).
The benefits for families with young children to get involved in children centres are huge. These included improved parenting skills, greater knowledge of child development, and increased confidence in parenting and parent-child relationship. The environment and activities provides an opportunity for children to interact with others improved personal, social, and emotional development, as well as improved physical development.
There are a raft of activities and support networks that are linked to children centres such as Citizens Advice support, employment support, targeted activities for parents and children, volunteering, healthy lifestyle programmes, parenting groups and nursery provision, (2, 3 and 4 year nursery funding advice and support to access)
Strengthening Families also offer family support (0-19) at the family home on a one to one basis for targeted vulnerable families. Our Early Intervention Practitioners offer early help parenting strategies and whole family support by bringing together the right services around the family.
Strengthening Families are separated into 3 areas:
- Hadley Castle
- Lakeside South
- The Wrekin