Area Assessment and Family Support

The Area Assessment and Family Support Service (AA & FSS) is managed on a North and South Basis.

 

The Service comprises of:

 

There are 5 Teams based at Darnall that provide services to the South of the city and are part of the Children and Young Peoples Directorate. The 2 Area Assessment Teams South East and South West, and the 2 Family Support Teams, South East and South West.

 

The Home Visiting Team is based in Darnall but provides services on a city wide basis and is managed by the North Service Manager

 

A parallel arrangement is in place in the North of the City, with the Area Assessment Teams, the Family Support Teams and the Multiple Heritage Service being based at Meade House on Middlewood Road.

 

All new requests for services should be via First Point in Howden House. Service users visiting either Meade House or Darnall will be those whose allocated worker is based at either site

 

The office is open 8.45 – 17.15 Monday to Thursday and from 8.45 – 16.45 on Fridays.

 

The Darnall office can be contacted on - 0114 2037463

The Meade House can be contacted on - 0114 203 9591

 

These teams receive referrals direct from First Point at Howden House. The referrals will have been screened in and assessed as requiring a Social Work Service.  The Team will carry out an assessment under the Department of Health Assessment Framework and services will be provided based on that Assessment.

 

Depending on the needs of the family, work could be completed within the team or the family can be referred onto Family Support. If further work is required on a statutory basis the family is referred to the South Children’s Teams based at Redvers House.

 

The best place for children to grow and develop is with their families. The Family Support Teams work with families, carers, children and young people on a short-term basis, to help them to deal with their difficulties and to support parents in the care of their children. As well as doing individual pieces of work, they will also put families in touch with other Specialist Services and locally based universal services so that they can continue to receive support when the service is no longer directly involved with them.

 

The Home Visiting Service receives referrals direct from First Point and also from other Specialist Services Teams. The Home Visitors work directly with parents, carers and young people in their homes to provide emotional and practical support. This can be either on a one to one basis or the family as a whole. Families needs will be reviewed every 6 weeks.

 

This Service has three main areas of activity:

 

The Service has a Young People’s Management Committee that has been involved in the recruitment of Staff and has produced two DVD’s – the most recent of which entitled ‘Remix’ won the UNICEF Award in 2007.