SPRING 2008
If you would like to discuss a parenting assessment referral, please contact Derek Taylor, Co-Ordinator of the Family Day Unit.
A place will only be reserved for a family once the Letter of Instruction has been received and considered by our team, the service agreement has been signed and returned, and a Network Meeting has been held. We can only give our estimate for the cost of the assessment once we have received the Letter of Instruction.
We currently have availability for starting work in mid-March 2008. In order to make a referral please send a Letter of Instruction to Derek, although, if this is not ready we will initially accept a completed referral form in order to start the process. However Referrals will only be accepted on to the waiting list once the Letter of Instruction has been sent to us, and the Service agreement signed and returned. Final confirmation that the Marlborough Family Service will undertake the work requested, will only be confirmed after an initial Network Meeting.
For further information, please telephone the Marlborough Family Service and speak to Derek Taylor on 020 7624 8605.
This service is available to families and professionals where professionals have serious child protection concerns. These may be related to intra-familial violence or other serious relationship difficulties, a history and/or suspicion of emotional, physical, sexual child abuse and/or neglect and parents experiencing their children as 'out of control' or with other major emotional and behavioural difficulties.
In a large number of these cases, independent reports are provided for the Family Courts as well as for various Social Services Departments in London and the home counties. Staff also appear as expert witnesses in Court.
Assessments address various issues including possibilities for change in the following and other areas of family functioning and parenting. Attention is also given to families' cultural backgrounds and cultural expectations in all these areas.
§ Practical parenting
§ Attachment
§ Partner relationship
§ Child’s emotional and cognitive state of mind
§ Child’s emotional needs
§ Adult’s ability to change
§ Parent’s ability to provide emotional stimulation
§ Parent’s ability to adapt to child’s changing developmental needs
§ Adults' experience of being parented and its impact on their own parenting
§ Adult’s insight into own mental health / addiction issues and its impact on parenting
§ Adults’ ability to work with professionals
§ Family’s social support network
§ Extended family influences and resources
§ Parents’ ability to protect children
§ Parents’ ability to parent in the long term and other permanency issues
§ Coping mechanisms and stress and anger management
§ Contact issues
§ Therapeutic measures and other interventions
§ Gender issues
Assessments may be conducted on an Outpatient basis or may involve the use of a multi-family program in the Family Day Unit.