Southwark Mental Health Family Strategy

1. Southwark Mental Health Family Strategy Think child, think parent, think family: a guide to parental mental health and child welfare Chris McCree

2. Introduction Why ‘think family’? Introduction to the SCIE guide Impact of Children and Young People Our experience

3. Why Think Family?

4. Proportion of adults with mental health problems 1 in 4

5. Proportion of those who are parents at the time 25% - 50%

6. Proportion of children of mentally unwell parents who develop their own mental health problems 1/3 – 2/3

7. Proportion of young carers supporting a parent with mental health problems 29%

8. Proportion of serious case reviews with parental mental ill-health as key factor 1/3

9. Why think family? 4. Risks, stressors and vulnerability factors 1. Child mental health and development 3. Parenting and the parent – child relationship 2. Adult mental health 4. Protective factors and resources The Family Model (Falkov, 1998)

10. Resilience • Family resilience derives from • Personality of members • Inter-relationships • Environment • Information • Good quality support

11. The barriers where you are • Structural • Resources • Personal • Knowledge • Skills • Confidence

12. Barriers to thinking family • Challenge of interagency working • Confidence and willingness to work outside professional boundaries • Statutory thresholds • Knowledge of services • Workload • Information sharing • Regulations • Practicalities • Fear and stigma

13. Family Strategy • Based on robust evidence • Includes messages from parents and children • Key recommendations set out for • Organisations • Managers • Front-line staff • Characteristics of a successful service • Lots of good practice examples

14. Key messages from the guidance • Develop services that: • Take a ‘no wrong door’ approach • Look at the whole family throughout the care pathway • Co-ordinate and tailor support effectively • Build on family strengths • In addition: • Improving access via communications strategy • Workforce development • Strategic approach – ‘Think Family Strategy’

15. A successful service • Listens to parents and children • Manages crises, and stays on afterwards • Is creative, knowledgeable and flexible • Shares information • Promotes the whole family’s strengths and resilience

16. Staff Training

17. Training and Development of Staff • Building Staff Confidence and skills in talking to parents about the needs of children • Implementation of the Adapted Family Partnership Model • Crossing Bridges Joint training • Staffs ability to comment on parenting capacity

18. User Focused Monitoring

19. Continuing User Involvement

20. Being a parent • Being a parent is real challenge for everyone and is one of the most important jobs we will do. • As the strategy recognizes all of us will need support from strategic services while bring up our children slide. • One of the greatest strengths of this Family Strategy is it promotes working with users in a non-judgmental and compassionated way.

21. Parental Mental Health in Children centres team • Provides Individual and group work • Home assessment and interventions • Full mental and social needs assessment • Assessment of parent infant attachment and relationship • Works closely with CAMHS,CSC and Children's centres, AMH • Works to link vulnerable families into the local network and services

22. Service Development • A Young Carers Story • Troubled Families • Keeping the Family In Mind DVD

29. Think Family in a time of cuts • Asking the right questions • Sharing information • Thinking differently • Talk to the Children • Talk to the Parents • Share resources

30. Overcoming the local barriers • What your service would need to change • What your staff would need to change • What you need to change

31. Useful Resources • www.scie.org.uk • www.barnados.org.uk/youngcarers • www.c4eo.org.uk • www.ncb.org.uk • www.family-action.org.uk • www.rethink.org.uk • www.mind.org.uk • Chris.mccree@slam.nhs.uk