N.B. Family Engagement Services funding has now ended (as of 31st March 2011) and the services are no longer taking referrals for funded provision. Please contact the services directly to enquire if they are funded from other sources or can provide the cost for a particular service.

Trafford Think Family programme, Children's Centres and NHS Trafford (previously Trafford Primary Care Trust) have come together to look at new ways of engaging with families through a range of newly commissioned services. Some key gaps in provision were identified and as a result a number of organisations have been commissioned to deliver services around the following areas:

• Tackling the increasing problem of young people suffering eating disorders and negative body image
• Low level support and practical help for those who need support but are not in a state of crisis because they have suffered bereavement, loss or a significant change in their family circumstances
• Family Group Meetings
• Managing stress through complimentary and holistic therapies
• Translation services
• Building the confidence and self esteem of parents
• Counselling

A total of 12 organisations have been commissioned to deliver these services over the next 10 months. There are a limited number of free places available, allowing services to reach out and engage with families who have additional and unmet needs and who traditionally have not been able to engage with services. Please note that as most of these services are to prevent these families' needs escalating. Families who are receiving support from specialist and/or statutory services would not be eligible for the free places provided by the Family Engagement Services, unless they are known to the Family Intervention Project.

Referral into the majority of these services will be via the attached 'Family Engagement Project Referral Form'. This form is based on the Single Agency Referral Form (SARF) but in addition, the new form details consent for the information to be shared with the Joint Commissioning Unit so we can evaluate the impact of the services and identify gaps in service provision.

Practitioners are urged to think about the reason for referring a child, young person or adult to any of these services. Is the need identified the only need within the family which is currently unmet, or should a Common Assessment Framework be considered to address the wider needs of the child, young person and family? If you are unsure if a CAF is appropriate you can call Marie Castle in the Service Development Team on 0161 912 5028 to discuss.

There are a limited number of places available from each organisation and practitioners need to contact the organisations direct and quote 'family engagement' to enquire about booking places/activities.

Some of the offers made by the family engagement services require planning time and partnership working and if you wish to discuss joint working with any of the organisations, please do not hesitate to contact them to explore ways of working together.

As different services use definitions of tiered services please consider the following definition when thinking about making a referral:

• Tier 1 - Universal - The needs that all children and families have
• Tier 2 - Targeted - Some additional needs requiring Targeted support. Any identified problems are at an early stage.
• Tier 3 - Specialist - Serious and complex needs, which will impact on safety/ welfare/development of child if not addressed.
• Tier 4 - Highly specialist - Children/Young people with highest level of need, requiring intensive specialist support, sometimes away from home.

Where a family member is involved with services above the Tier 2, Targeted level but there is another family member (a sibling, parent etc) who is not known to these higher level services, a family engagement service may be available to support this sibling/parent and prevent them from escalating to the higher levels. These referrals will need to be discussed on a case by case basis. If you would like to discuss these tiers and the targeted audience for these services, please contact Angela Gibbons on 0161 912 3446 or Angela.Gibbons@trafford.gov.uk.

List of activities and services - including description, referral criteria and contact details

Family engagement project referral form

Referral form guidance notes

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