Many families living under great stress manage to bring up their children in a warm, loving and supportive home environment in which the children’s needs are met and they are safe from harm. In some cases however, multiple and complex problems within families may have a negative impact on a child’s health, development and well-being resulting in compromised care because the sources of stress affect the parent’s capacity to respond to the child’s needs. This is particularly the case where there is no other significant or protective adult who is able to respond to the child’s needs.
The Families at Risk Review undertaken by the Cabinet Office’s Social Exclusion Taskforce tells us that sources of stress and risk factors may include:
- poverty, debt, worklessness and low aspirations;
- poor housing and homelessness;
- early parenthood, a previous difficult home life or an enforced partnership resulting from pregnancy;
- difficulties related to the pregnancy, delivery and other circumstances surrounding the birth of the child e.g. unwanted pregnancy; prematurity; disappointment about child’s gender;
- poor preparation for parenthood and poor or non-existent ante-natal care;
- one parent is not the birth parent;
- the parent or carer was abused and/or neglected themselves in childhood;
- a parent with a learning disability who may be poorly prepared for parenthood and lack the understanding, resources, skills and experience to meet the needs of a child;
- low parental education and skills;
- child’s poor school attendance and attainment;
- domestic violence;
- relationship difficulties and poor family functioning;
- abuse of drugs or alcohol;
- parental/carer’s mental illness;
- poor physical health and disabilities;
- involvement in crime and anti social behaviour;
- social Isolation;
- parental needs come before children’s needs;
- child is seen as a problem and cries a lot;
- number of children in quick succession, with a history of general concern about their care.
Families experiencing multiple and complex problems will require co-ordinated support from agencies to address these problems in order to prevent children experiencing poor outcomes later in life. Services for adults in particular have a crucial role to play in minimising the risk of parental problems such as domestic violence, learning disability, mental illness, substance/alcohol misuse or worklessness affecting children’s outcomes.
Services for children and for adults will need to work closely together, sharing assessments and decisions on the most appropriate forms of intervention in families with compromised care so that the impact of any problems that adult carers have are seen in the context of the welfare of the children for whom they are responsible. Such close working needs to be fundamental to practice so that co-ordinated interventions in families are routine rather than being only at times of crisis.
Targeted parenting and family support may be provided through Family Intervention Projects, agencies working together through a Family Support Plan following completion of a CAF assessment and adoption of ‘Think Family’ practices by all agencies.
Ref:
Working Together 2010 Chapter 9 Para 9.13 – 9.66
