Think Family Approach
In April 2023, Lewisham Safeguarding Children Partnership (LSCP) and the Lewisham Safeguarding Adults Board (LSAB) and jointly agreed to focus on Think Family as a strategic priority.
Learning from Local Child Safeguarding Practice Reviews and Safeguarding Adults Reviews have highlighted the importance of adult and children’s services working collaboratively and taking a joined up, whole family approach.
Families are dynamic, evolving and not linear. When we describe family, we mean:
Anyone who is identified by the service user as their family or who is part of their family network.
In Lewisham we have identified that a Think Family approach highlights:
- The importance of practitioners thinking about children and adults’ the wider context.
- The need to focus on family networks which safeguard and provide nurture and care for children and adults.
- The importance of looking beyond the household, to consider their extended family, friends, and the community.
- The importance of recognising children and adults’ connectedness to wider contexts than your immediate family, this could include faith leaders, mentors, and community support.
Familiarise
Familiarise yourself with the family, their unique culture, character, strengths and vulnerabilities. Who are the significant people in their lives (including any new partners/adults in the home)?
Ask
Be professionally curious about everything and ensure that when you encounter a family that you physically check that everyone in the household is safe and well.
Make a Plan and Review
Decide what actions you need to safeguard ‘adults at risk’ or children. Give special consideration to people who are pregnant and unpaid carers, and particularly young carers.
Information sharing
Information gathering and sharing is key to building a Think Family approach. Do not assume someone else knows an important piece of information.
Liaise
To demonstrate collaborative working, practitioners must communicate effectively to share concerns and work holistically together.
Your Responsibility
We must take responsibility for ensuring that we work effectively with our partners to help support families, and in doing so prevent abuse and harm.
Engaging Families
How we engage with families, children and young people is a critical skill to support positive engagement, participation and collaboration with families. Learning from reviews in Lewisham has highlighted a need for professionals to consider their approach to engaging families to ensure families receive intervention and support from the right service at the right time.
Engaging families can present challenges resulting in some families not receiving the necessary services to ensure the safety of their child/ren and themselves. There can be many factors contributing to why families may struggle to access support services, and professionals need to approach this with curiosity, compassion, and a trauma-informed perspective while prioritising the well-being of the children in decision-making.
This guidance aims to help staff, whatever their role, to understand the barriers to engagement and provide strategies to creatively engage children, young people, and their families.
Working with Fathers and Carers Toolkit
The toolkit provides practical strategies for engaging fathers and male carers in early help and social work, recognizing their significant impact on children's development and family outcomes.
Research Insights:
Engaging fathers in early help and social work has been shown to positively impact children in several areas:
- Improved Educational Attainment: Better school performance.
- Enhanced Cognitive Development: Improved thinking and problem-solving skills.
- Better Emotion Regulation: More effective emotional management.
- Positive Behavioural Effects: Overall behavioural improvements.
- Improved Social Competence: Better interactions with peers and adults.
- Higher Self-Esteem: Increased confidence and self-worth.
Tools for Supporting Dads and Male Carers:
- Element 1 - Think About Dads and Male Carers: Consider dads and male carers in inclusive and positive work with families.
- Element 2 - Promote to Dads: Actively promote services and support to fathers.
- Element 3 - Engage with Dads: Develop strategies to effectively engage fathers.
- Element 4 - Work with Dads: Collaborate with fathers in providing support and services.
- Element 5 - Motivate Dads: Encourage and motivate fathers to participate actively.
- Element 6 - Learn More About Working with Dads: Continuously improve understanding and skills for working with fathers.