Home to the Lime Tree Project Outreach and Access Service

1. The Bessborough Centre Home to the Lime Tree Project Outreach and Access Service

2. The Bessborough Service

3. Lime Tree Project Target Group • Families at risk in the community • Children and adolescents in the community who risk coming into care • Children who are in the care of the HSE but who might require a focused piece of work i.e. Life Story Work, Feelings Discovery Work etc. • Referrals • At present - South Lee Child Protection Department

4. Aims and Objectives • To engage early where possible and prevent later statutory involvement. • To promote positive relationships among children and parents and families and communities. • To prevent where possible children coming into care • To support children where necessary in managing their journey through care. • To support children having access with their parents in a structured yet therapeutic manner. • To encourage isolated families to engage in their communities and where possible establish links with professionals in these communities. • Promoting inter agency working, planning and appropriate information sharing – working towards a safe way to practice and engage with children. • To work creatively with families and young people using different mediums in an attempt to evoke responses which lend themselves to positive changes and outcomes in family life. • To work honestly and openly with the referring agency keeping the ‘whole family’ at the centre of the work, while remembering child welfare and protection.

5. Team Make Up 5 member team Two full time posts – Project Coordinator and Access Coordinator Three part times posts – family workers This team have a range of skills including – social work training & experience, youth & community work experience & training.

6. Work Process Social Work Referral 1. Assessment/Observation + Intervention 2. Assessment of need 3. Focused piece of work Initial Engagement with family Supported by Social Worker to seek Families agreement and shared understanding on work plan or assessment/observation period. Assessment/Observation Period of between 6-8 weeks depending on family size and dynamic. This assessment period Is based on a rolling schedule agreed with the family and social work department. The team call morning, evening, nights and weekends. Purpose – gain greater understanding Of the dynamic within the family. Recommendations + Recommendations + specific no further involvement intervention

7. Types of Intervention • Relationship Building and modelling – one of the most significant pieces of work the Lime Tree team engage in is appropriate relationship modelling and building. Many of the families the team engage with have experienced relationships often in an abusive or dysfunctional way. Families struggle with trust, honesty, receiving feedback and praise. Often the parents we engage with have experienced relationship difficulties in childhood which they pass on in their interactions with their children leading to much frustration and in some cases family breakdown. • Structured Parenting Work –The observation/assessment period may highlight a need for low/medium or intensive parenting with a mother and/or father. The Lime Tree team are training in the Positive Parenting Programme (One Family), and Parents Aware Programme. • Unstructured Parenting Work – In addition or alternatively to the above, the assessment/observation period may highlight challenges for a family in terms of parenting which may include – communication difficulties among parents – siblings, siblings – siblings, parent – parent. The team will through the intervention work consistently on areas such as these with the family using role modelling methods, feedback and through play.

8. Types of Intervention • Feelings Discover Programme – during the period of intervention and relationship building with the family, it often comes to light that parents, children and adolescents struggle to identify feelings and in particular struggle to identify and manage the feeling of anger. In partnership with parents and children and where appropriate the team will engage in the Lime Tree Projects Feelings Discovery Programme. This creative programme involves the use of art, storytelling, role play and communication to encourage children to identify and communicate their feelings. This intensive programme is two hours per week for ten weeks. Feedback from families and children has been positive. Equally the team have seen improvements in communication around feelings in those families where the programme has been implemented. • Play – At present the team are training in therapeutic play skills with the Children's Therapy Centre. The objective being that all members of the team will be certified to engage in therapeutic play skills not play therapy. Through the assessment/observation period it is often highlighted that parents and children struggle to play together. Play often improves the relationship between mother and child or father and child. In play children can be allowed to take the lead and can be given control in a safe way.

9. Types of Intervention • Life Story Work – children who live with their birth families have the opportunity to know about their past, and have a means of being able to understand it through discussions with their parents and others to clarify past events in terms of the present. Children separated from their birth families are often denied this opportunity, they may have changed families, social workers, homes, neighbourhoods and schools. Their past may be lost, much of it even forgotten. The lime tree team engage with children who are in the care system doing life story work. This work is done in partnership with the child’s birth family, foster placement/residential placement and the child's social worker. • Self Esteem through social skills – The lime tree team engage where appropriate and the need arises offer a self esteem through social skills programme to children, particularly adolescents. This involves building relationships, modelling good relationships with the young person. Looking at communication, being assertive, engaging with ones immediate community and the wider community. Part of the programme also looks creatively at managing money, managing new situations for example moving schools, finding new friends, negotiating in new environments.

10. Types of Intervention • Stay Safe Programme – Stay Safe is a personal safety skills programme which aims to  give children the skills necessary to enable them to recognise and resist abuse/victimization. To teach children that they should always tell an adult about any situation which they find unsafe, upsetting, threatening, dangerous or abusive. To develop children's self-esteem, assertiveness and self-protective skills. In Ireland the stay safe programme is rolled out in the majority of schools. However the team have found through observation and engagement with families that often the valuable messages communicated through the stay safe programme do not reach the child who struggles in his home environment. Equally it is the case that a parent in a family might benefit greatly from engaging in this work as he/she as a child might not have experienced or learned what it is to be safe or to keep oneself safe. Therefore in the majority of cases the team will engage in stay safe work with the parent and child in separately or together depending on the family dynamic and the relationship between the parent and child. • Networking/integration – Many families the Lime Tree project engage with are isolated from their community. Much time is spent reflecting on this where possible through daily interaction with parents and children. In addition the Lime tree project are committed to engaging with services, developing relationships and working towards a shared approach in supporting families. In addition the Lime Tree project is always focused on promoting sustainable support for families which is often found within the families extended families and communities.

11. Challenges • The complex nature of the families referred to the service • The limited resources within which the service operates e.g. Staffing • The often perpetuating cycle of abuse within families • The emphasis on crisis management in favour of long term commitment to children, families and communities.

12. Rewards • Knowing the strength and resilience of some of society's most vulnerable children and being part of facilitating change for the better in their lives. • Observing how an appropriate relationship can effect positive change in a persons life • Working with other dedicated professionals to offer a more holistic service to families. • Learning something new EVERY DAY 

13. OUR JOB THEIR LIVES