Our Services
We offer a range of tailored services to both Private clients and Local authorities, please complete a referral form for services here.
Contact Supervision
Supervised Contact is about providing a safe, neutral space for children and their parent / extended family members they don’t live with to meet. Often referred to as Supervised Contact or Family Time, which is a safeguarding measure used in situations where a risk to the child has been identified.
Supported Contact
Supported Contact provides a safe environment for children to meet their non-resident parent. Usually ordered by a Family Court Judge, Supported Contact is suitable for families where no significant risk to the child has been identified or a step down from Contact Supervision. Supported Contact sessions tend to take place in Children’s Contact Centres or in the Community and parents won’t have to meet at all handovers can be arranged. we provide a neutral ground for positive contact to exist between children and their non-resident parent.
Virtual Contact
Our Virtual Contact Service, which involves the use of a video chat apps like Microsoft Teams, Facetime and/or WhatsApp. Distance doesn’t have to stop children and parents from having safe contact with their no resident parent. Our Supervised Virtual Contact is used in high-risk situations where a risk to the child has been identified. Whereas our Supported Virtual Contact service can be used when there has been no significant risk identified to the child. Depending on any risk identified, our Virtual Contact sessions can be supervised or supported.
Handover Service
Handovers can often be used as a way to progress from supported or Supervised Contact to unsupervised Contact. Depending on your circumstances, it’s possible that a professional could help with this. Handovers helps a child or young person move from one parent to another in a safe and secure manner with a Supervisor present. Handovers can be done at a Children’s Contact Centre or other delegated places in the community. Parents won’t have to meet.
Family Support
At Families Contact, we understand that every family is unique. Our professional Family Support Services for parents and children work to understand the challenges and concerns faced by all involved, providing necessary support and guidance. As part of this Family Intervention Service, the practitioner will meet with the family, usually at their home, and offer Parenting Support and guidance to help the household manage their day-to-day challenges and support routines or any other aspect of their lives that they might be struggling with. A report will be provided to the allocated referring professional.
Welfare Checks
Welfare Checks are used to inspect the wellbeing of a vulnerable child/ren at a specific address. At Families Contact, our experienced and fully trained team of Family Support Workers carry out Welfare Checks after receiving a referral from a local authority and there is an agreement in place with the referring professional.
Section 7 Assessment
A Section 7 Assessment is a report prepared by an Independent Social Worker (ISW) which aims to represent the child’s best interests to the court. If two parents are in dispute over arrangements for their child. It will consider the impact of dispute and conflict on the child. This perspective can only be obtained by meeting and speaking with the child, usually without the parents present. The parents will also be interviewed, and further information may be obtained from third parties such as the child’s school.
Special Guardianship Assessment
Special guardianship is a court order which allows parental control over a child by individuals other than the parent, they are usually made to members of the extended birth family or other significant people, such as a child’s long term foster carer. Seen as an alternative to adoption or fostering, a Special Guardianship Order (SGO) is a court order that provides a child with a legally secure and long-term placement when they can’t be cared for by their parents.
Form F
The fostering assessment – also known as a Form F assessment – is a crucial piece of work to ensure the safety and wellbeing of children in our care. And every foster parent in the UK must complete an assessment to become approved. Do you plan on fostering in the UK? Then you’ll need to complete a Fostering Assessment, which is also known as a Form F.
Connected Person Assessment
If you’re not already approved as a foster carer but intend to look after a child who’s unable to be cared for by their parents — either as a short term or long-term solution — you’ll need to undertake a Connected Person Assessment. Taking around 16 weeks to complete, this type of assessment is completed by an Independent Social Worker and works to safeguard a child before they are placed in the care of a Connected Person’.
