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Did you know?

Dorset Families Matter

is the local name for

the national

Supporting Families Programme – previously called Troubled Families

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Pre-Paid Cash Card

Employment Advisors SFEAs

Family

Support

Packages

Family

Link Workers

Grant to Safe Families (Befriending Service)

Housing & homelessness prevention advice

Relationship support for parents

Dorset Families Matter

Signposting

Current Offer

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We support practitioners working with families to achieve ten family outcomes

Ten Family outcomes

Getting a good Education

Improved mental and physical health

Better managed substance misuse

Good early years development

Financial Stability

Secure Housing

Improved Family Relationships

Children safe from exploitation

Safe from domestic abuse

Families diverted from crime

3+

= Eligible Family

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At the Programme’s core is the idea of Whole Family Working

Family

One identified worker to support

One whole family assessment

One whole family, co-produced action plan

Tapping into additional sources of support as needed

Strengths and relational based practice

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?

Who can be a Lead Professional?

Social Worker

Family Worker

Health Visitor

Head Teacher

SENDCO

DSL

Pre school Teacher

CMHT Nurse

IDVA

Reach

Housing

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What is involved in being a Lead Professional?

Being the central contact for a family

Commitment to working Whole Family and working with other practitioners as appropriate

Co-ordinating/liaising with other practitioners to ensure that support is in place to support the whole family including Team Around the Family (TAF) meetings

Creating, maintaining and updating a whole family plan (like an IEP for the whole family)

Submitting requests to DFM (if appropriate) via a online form ( we will send the link)

What is involved in being a Lead Practitioner?

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Family Support Packages

We have a number of Providers offering a variety of packages to support

Individuals and families

Our Family Support Package Directory is on each of the Dorset Council Locality

partnership sites under the Whole Family tab. This lists all packages currently on offer.

A range of therapy including: Farm, Play, Drama, Equine and Art

Positive Activities

Relationship Counselling

Practical Support in the home

1:1 and Family Counselling

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Family Link Workers

Family Link Workers provide concentrated, independent information,

hands on practical help and direction to families identified as

requiring short term intensive support

Morning/bedtime routines

Cooking and Healthy Eating

Organising/ Budgeting Advice

Transitions

Parenting Skills

Confidence Building

For further information, please contact us at dorsetfamiliesmatter@dorsetcouncil.gov.uk

Examples of the types of support available (this is not an exhaustive list):

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SFEAs

Supporting Families Employment Advisors

Employment Advice

Help with up front childcare costs when starting Employment

Budgeting Advice

Training, Qualifications

and volunteering

Benefits Check

In-work Support

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A new addition to DFM: Reducing Parental Conflict

Evolution of the Happy Families Happy Futures Programme
Aim is to provide education and resources for managing Parental Conflict consistently across Dorset.

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Impact of Parental Conflict

Impact of parental conflict
Increased risk of mental health disorder
Increase in challenging behaviour
Challenges with interpersonal relationships
Impaired education attainment and life opportunities
School absences
Increased risk of substance usage
Increased vulnerability to exploitation

How can I concentrate at school when my home life is falling apart

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RPC Offer

We can support schools through:

Offering training in identifying and managing Parental Conflict

Training

Developing our intervention offer and making this accessible to Schools

Interventions

Providing the opportunity for one-to-one support for educators with practitioners

Guidance

Contact: michael.taylor@dorsetcouncil.gov.uk

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Our DFM Professionals page has moved

The Dorset Families Matter Whole Family Working page has moved.

All information, resources and request e-form can now be found on each Locality page under the Whole Family Working tab.

If you are an external colleague and do not have access to your relevant Locality page, please email:

dorsetfamiliesmatter @dorsetcouncil.gov.uk

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Find out about our Family Support Packages

Availability
Lead in times
Content Details
Course Content

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Paperwork

1

2

3

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1

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3

Let us know:

About the family
Anticipated outcomes
Your details

Send us additional TAF notes/minutes etc

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What is involved in being a Lead Professional?

Evidence of:

What else has been tried ? (e.g. ELSA, IY, School provided interventions and programmes)
Needs of all family members considered (e.g. TAF minutes)
A plan that includes actions and goals for all family members (e.g. TAF action plan or DFM family plan template)

What gets considered when a request for DFM input / resource is made?

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A ‘getting to know you’ cuppa

Clothing

DFM Myth Busters

Internal Dorset Council colleagues do NOT need to provide a separate whole family care plan we can find your plan on mosaic ☺
We are not an emergency ‘service’ that you refer to – we are a resource to support your work
Families need to remain open and have a lead practitioner (LP) whilst a resource is being used by the family. The LP can change during an intervention but we must be informed.
Family Link Workers are a short term (6-8 weeks) focused intervention
We would expect support from Universal Services to be explored prior to request submission.

We are here to help you, support your families. We have streamlined our processes to give you more resource and time to support your families.

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We See You

How did we do? Please let us know so we can keep improving ☺ Link