The Supporting Change Service is part of Merthyr Tydfil’s Children’s Services early help and prevention services. Its aim is to work with children and families, where it’s safe to do so, to stay together, but helping them with looking at changes they want to make for themselves and their families. Where this has not been possible, by offering a Family Time service, we can support children and their families to have quality family time together. There are three arms of the Supporting Change Service which are :-
Supporting Change Assessment and Intervention Team (SCAI)
To provide the best possible support for children and their families, there are several interventive supports available from the SCAI team. For those families that need a more intensive intervention that support parents to make and sustain changes in their lives, SCAI will work with families where alcohol, substances use, mental health or domestic abuse might be affecting their lives and their ability to safely parent their children.
SCAI supports parents to be who are accessing Children’s Services support, as part of the Camau Babi pre-birth pathway and Camau Nesaf support for those parents who cannot care for their baby.
We recognise the support of wider family members and friend is invaluable, but sometimes there is conflict or misunderstanding in relationships to support with this SCAI can offer Family Group Meeting support, where families and identified friends can come together to develop a plan of support that works best for them.
For children aged 8-11 years of age (aged 7 turning 8 in the school year), the Emotional Wellbeing team can offer therapeutic Intervention support directly to the children and families to help them work through their emotional distress. will be offered to families. The Therapeutic Interventions will either be a specific approach to meet the identified needs of the child taking a Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), Dialectical Behavioural Therapy (DBT) or Eye Movement Desensitisation Reprocessing (EMDR) approach to intervention, or a blended approach taking elements from one or more therapeutic intervention.
Outreach Team
The Outreach team wear many hats to meet the needs of the families they work with. They carry out direct work with children and parents/carers to keep families together where it is safe to do so, or out of hours visits to provide tailored support. Outreach will support young people with transport to attend vital appointments and respite to prevent family breakdown, as well as providing support for other teams across the service.
Merthyr Tydfil family Centre
The family centre is a safe and neutral space where families and children who do not live together can spend quality time.
The aim of the family centre is to support children in maintaining positive and safe relationships with their family members.
Staff at the family centre have created a warm family friendly atmosphere, with several child friendly rooms. We can offer an array of activities for your family can engage in whilst spending your time together.
Family time is supervised by experienced staff who are on hand to provide advice and guidance throughout your time at the family centre. Where we help families rebuild trust and communication, often after conflict or trauma.
