Why place parents in a Residential Family Centre?
Family Courts and Local Authorities use Residential Family Centres (RFCs) for families close to permanent separation from their children. The risks of returning a child to live independently with their parents may be too high, and professionals whose job it is to safeguard children may decide to place the parents and their child in a residential setting to undertake a parenting assessment.
In an RFC, families are encouraged to live together as they receive support in areas such as parenting skills, child development, and daily routines. Placements are usually around 12 – 13 weeks. During this time, families live alongside a team of experienced professionals who compile daily logs and record the progress of parents while undergoing their assessment. At the end of the placement, a parenting assessment report is compiled by a qualified Social Worker and provided to all parties to inform future care planning.
For Residential Family Centres using Impact Assessments, daily logs are recorded directly on the software. Parents’ progress is mapped against 18 assessment areas and recorded in an easy-to-understand red, amber, and green heat map. Local Authorities are kept informed of progress through weekly summary report meetings, and parents have the opportunity to record their views on feedback. Midpoint reports and Final Assessment reports are also automatically generated and filled out by the software, with free text boxes for family history, analysis, and comments on individual assessment areas.
The 18 assessment areas are
Assessing families is a complex process that must consider a range of childcare, self-care, and environmental issues. Using a straightforward, consistent method to collate a parent’s assessment journey allows for a robust evidence-based assessment to be produced. An Impact Assessment is a tool that is easy to use, transparent and follows a consistent process that takes a forensic approach to understanding parenting capacity.
Impact Assessments strives to change the image of parenting assessments, making them accessible to all, providing parents with relevant feedback and giving parents opportunities to learn. When a Social Worker creates the final report, they have the evidence categorised, allowing their professional judgement and analysis to be added along with their final recommendations.
