New programs to help parents look after their children in Barnet UK News

A center will be set up to help Barnet’s parents affected by poor mental health, relationship difficulties and addictions.

The service, which will be based at Hyde Children’s Center and Primary School in Hendon, will help parents develop safe and healthy relationships with their children, according to a council report.

Due to its launch in June, it will work with children at risk of placement and provide more support to families accessing early support services.

The plans were unveiled at a meeting of the Children, Education and Safeguarding Committee on Wednesday.

Tina McElligot, the council’s director of family services, told counselors: “The idea of ​​the center is to provide highly specialized interventions for families who are not making the changes that we would like them to make through the center. through our regular range of parenting interventions.

“It builds on the model that the Anna Freud Center put in place in the early childhood parent unit, and it is closely aligned with the evidence base of the Early Intervention Foundation, which is the one that comes early in. the life of the child, especially the critical stages of attachment between the ages of zero and two, is essential for the healthy development of the child. ”

Another program, funded by the Mayor’s Office for Police and Crime (Mopac), involved creating ‘parenting champions’ who support parents in their area, offering advice and guidance and discussing services. local.

The initiative was carried out in partnership with the Khulisa charity.

Ms McElligot said the charity has engaged with 100 parents in Grahame Park, in the western part of the borough, who represent marginalized communities, whose children may be at risk of crime or exploitation.

Sixteen of those parents would become champion parents, she added.

“They will join us in doing advocacy work, recruiting other parents and training them, so this is a really successful project, albeit in the short term, and we have submitted our report to Mopac now,” continued Ms. McElligot.

“We hope that we can find ways to incorporate the recommendations and findings of this report into our 0-19 work, our parenting center, and all of the other parenting activities we have done this year.”