Social Services Child and Family Centres promote the welfare of children by providing a range of responsive and creative family support services, facilitated by highly skilled staff.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a Child and Family Centre?
Who do the Child and Family Centres work with?
What services do the Centres provide?
What are the aims and objectives?
How do I access services provided by the Child and Family Centre?
What support is available for children with disability or special needs?
What about Equal Opportunities?
What is a Child and Family Centre?
The London Borough of Hounslow Child and Family Centres are multi-skilled and multi-functional in the services we offer. The centres have the following:
Family Support through assessment work, individual support, family work, community outreach and group work.
To provide space and facilities for the life long learning department to offer nursery provision for children with special needs/disability who cannot access mainstream pre-school provision.
Who do the Child and Family Centres work with?
The Family Centres will provide services for children who meet one of more of the following criteria:
The centres will work with children and their families who have been identified as being “in need” by Social Workers in the Access and Assessment, Locality and Children with Disability Services.
The centres provide services to children and their families between the ages of conception and 13 years on time limited basis (3 to 6 months)
What services do the Child and Family Centres provide?
The centres will carry out the following:
Parenting assessments.
Intensive family support packages to a maximum of 24 weeks. Centre workers may work alongside allocated Social Workers on specific issues/tasks.
Family support work where the family would benefit from ongoing support but the level of concern does not necessitate allocation within the area social work team. The Social Worker will end their involvement and communication back to the area team by the Family Centre will only occur if concerns arise.
The Family Centre will undertake assessments and provide packages of support tailor made to meet the specific needs of each individual family. The Family Centre will work with children and their families by:
Individual direct work with the child and/or parent, at the centre or in an outreach basis dependent on the needs of the parent, child and/or family.
Family work to improve communication within the family and facilitate family members understanding of each others needs.
Group work and workshops, using established models of parenting and education to share skills, raise confidence and self esteem and improve communication within the family
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What are the aims and objectives?
The Family Centres aim to provide a service that will empower the family to make changes that enable children to safe and their potential realised. The centres aim to offer an environment where families will be valued and are treated with respect as individuals. We operate within an equal opportunities policy and all staff in the centres are committed to delivery of this policy.
The centres have the following specific objectives
To provide a targeted family support service to families whose needs have been defined as tier 3 / 4 within the Local Preventative Strategy.
To provide a range of responsive and creative family support services facilitated by skilled staff that have completed appropriate training.
To provide a good quality assessments using skilled staff, and in partnership with parents/carers and other agencies.
To provide a safe, nurturing empowering environment to children and adults who access the family centres services.
To identify, to meet and enhance individuals needs with regards to their ethnicity, culture, gender, disability, religion, age and sexual orientation.
To seek feedback from users, with the aim of using this feedback to improve services.
To link families to community based resources
How do I access services provided by the Child & Family Centres
Referrals for services at the Family Centre must be via a Social Worker within the Access and Assessment, Locality or Children with Disability services.
Social workers will refer children and their families using the Family Centre referral form, attaching either the Initial or Core Assessment. The assessment document must outline the needs and issues to be addressed by way of a detailed family support plan.
What support is available for children with disability or special needs?
All the work Social Services undertakes with children and their families is within a legal framework provided by the Children Act 1989. We will provide information regarding services and support for children and families that are defined as ‘in need’. Social Services produce a Children’s Service Plan, which looks at the needs of all the children in the area and describes ways in which services will developed in order to support these needs. Registers are kept by Social Services of local children with disabilities. These act as useful tools in the planning of such services. Services aim to minimise the effect of the child’s disability, giving them the opportunity to lead as active a life as possible, taking into account gender, religion, first language, culture and ethnicity of the child and his/her family.
At the centres we aim to provide an environment in which children feel safe, happy and where they can confidently explore their surroundings. We aim to provide an environment that promotes equal opportunities. Families come to us from a wide variety of backgrounds with different languages, lifestyles and beliefs, a variety we believe adds to our lives and in which we encourage you and your child to share.
The Family Centre will undertake assessments and provide packages of support tailor made to meet the specific needs of each individual family.
The Family Centres run a parent and toddler group and welcome children with disability or special needs and their parent/carers. We have knowledge of local services and facilities for children with disability or special needs and can inform and introduce parents/carers to these.
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Who can attend the nursery?
Feltham Child & Family Centre provides the space and facilities for the life long learning department to offer a nursery class that caters for a small group of children with special needs/disability, who cannot access mainstream pre-school provision. To be eligible for a place, children need to be age 3 plus and not able to access a mainstream nursery class. Children are referred via the Pre-School Panel. Children attend either morning or afternoon sessions for two and a half hours. There is a maximum number of eight children per session. The nursery class runs in term-time only.
The nursery class in run by a teacher and a qualified nursery nurse, with support from a classroom assistant, following the curriculum guidance for the foundation stage (Early Learning goals), encouraging the children’s all-round development. The teacher and nursery nurse will be actively involved with other professionals who support and work with children and their parents, e.g. speech therapists, physiotherapists and educational psychologists. Setting up and following individual programmes to help encourage the child in specific areas of development. The staff may also work with the specialist team of social workers who understand the needs of a family with a child with a disability. This team can help parents/carers with claiming benefits, relief care and offer additional support. The teacher and nursery nurse will contribute to the child’s ‘Statutory Assessment’ as appropriate.
What groups are on offer?
The Family Centres run a variety of workshops and groups (both formal and informal) for parents/carers, which focus on various aspects of parenting, identity, disability and cultural diversity. The workshops and groups are facilitated by workers within the Centres. A wide rang of themes are covered in the workshops and informal groups and families are encouraged to participate in identifying themes for workshops and informal groups. The formal groups follow an established programme. We provide a limited crèche for children aged 6 months to 4 years to enable parents/carers to attend all workshops and groups. The crèche is run by fully trained and competent staff.
Disability Group
A group aimed at helping parents manage siblings alongside disability
Dual Heritage Group
A group aimed at white mothers with dual heritage children
Webster Stratton
A parenting skills group which aims to promote positive parenting by improving communication, developing behaviour management techniques, improving parents’ own problem solving skills, and developing and maintaining boundaries.
Confident Parent, Confident Children
A group aimed at developing confident parenting.
Parent and Toddler Group
This is a weekly group run for parents/carers and their children to spend time in a child-centred multi-cultural setting.
This group:
provides a safe, stimulating environment where children and parents/carers have the opportunity to explore, play together and socialise with their respective peer groups.
provides the opportunity for parents/carers to network and to meet parents/carers from other ethnic backgrounds, promoting a greater level of understanding about different cultures and diversity.
provides the opportunity for parents/carers to heighten their awareness with regards to the needs of children with disabilities.
promotes a greater level of understanding amongst parents and carers about different developmental stages and this in turn will help them to understand their child’s development.
provides a social context in which families can be assessed with regards to Core Assessment work.
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What about Child Protection?
All the work Social Services undertakes with children and their families is within a legal framework provided by the Children Act 1989. The Act imposes duties and responsibilities on Social Services, both to take action to protect children who are thought to have suffered harm and to provide support services to families wherever possible to prevent harm occurring and to promote the health and development of children.
The Family Centres work directly with parents, social workers and other professionals in order that children’s welfare can be protected and promoted. When necessary, we will liase directly with appropriate agencies regarding Child Protection issues.
At the Centres, staff will work directly with children and will, where necessary, contribute to Child Protection Conferences. The Centres may have direct involvement in carrying forward Child Protection Plans with families and other professionals.
What about Equal Opportunities?
Hounslow is a multi-racial and multi-ethnic borough. All members of the public and staff are entitled to equal treatment and service. We do not discriminate on the grounds of age, race, gender, disability, sexual orientation, marital status, ethnicity or religious belief. We will not accept any behaviour, including racist remarks, by staff or the public that is contrary to Hounslow’s Equal Opportunities Policy. We are committed to and actively promote the policy so that everyone who uses the Centres should be able to do so without discrimination or fear of harassment on grounds of their colour, race, gender, religious views, sexual orientation, physical disability, learning difficulties or mental distress. We actively encourage the cultural and religious differences of everyone involved with the Centres. We work together to make the Centres places where everybody feels welcome and equally valued. Displays will be anti-sexist, representing gender equally and positively. They will be non-stereotypical and will represent people with special needs equally and positively. At the Centres, all members of staff are responsible for confronting any person in the Centres whose views differ from our policies.
How do I make a complaint?
Hounslow Social Services have a complaints procedure which enables service users to make a complaint to any member of Social Services staff. The member of staff will write down the complaint and will pass it on to the manager responsible for the service or to the Customer Relations Manager so that it can be investigated. Alternatively a complaints form can be obtained from either of the Family Centres or the local Social Services Offices. There is a leaflet available called ‘Comments and Complaints about Social Services’ which can be obtained from the Centres, local Social Services offices, or by calling (020) 8583 3333. Select here to download a PDF file.
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How to contact us
For more information, contact the Unit Managers at Brentford or Feltham Child & Family Centre. The Centres are open Monday to Friday 9am to 6pm.
Brentford Child & Family Centre
1 The Butts, Brentford, TW8 8BJ
Tel (020) 8583 6580
Fax (020) 560 8041
Feltham Child & Family Centre
Danesbury Road, Feltham, TW13 5AL
Tel (020) 890 3816
Fax (020) 893 7147
You can also contact a Customer Service Officers at your local Social Services office. All offices are open Monday to Thursday 9am to 5pm, Friday 9am to 4.45pm.
Bedfont, Cranford, Feltham, Hanworth & Hounslow West
13 Hanworth Road, Feltham TW13 5AF
Tel (020) 8583 3200
Fax (020) 8583 3303
Minicom (020) 8583 3304
E-mail: childrenssocialcare@hounslow.gov.uk
Chiswick, Brentford, Isleworth, Heston & Central Hounslow
Ashburnham House, Horticultural Place, off Heathfield Terrace, Chiswick W4 4BY
Tel (020) 8583 3400
Fax (020) 8583 3245
Minicom (020) 8583 3246
E-mail: childrenssocialcare@hounslow.gov.uk
All our offices have blue badge holder parking, induction loops and are wheelchair accessible. We may be able to arrange a home visit if you are unable to travel. We will provide support appropriate to your ethnic, cultural and communication needs. Contact any Social Services office. BSL Signers can be provided on request, call 8583 3132 or Minicom on 8583 3122. Interpreters can be provided in almost any language, if asked for in advance. For Punjabi, Hindi, Urdu and Gujarati, this can be arranged most easily by phoning the council’s Language Line in the language of your choice on 8583 2299.
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