all starts with helping people become better parents. Gabriella Jozwiak
reports.
Anne Gibb is a family support worker at Action for Children Newcastle Family Support Service. She supports vulnerable families with children aged five and under, delivering parenting courses and helping them access financial and other services.
'The job is very varied and no two days are the same. I usually do two home visits a day, but I could also be delivering a parenting course, or representing a parent in court. I work from 9am to 5pm, often out and about in my car.
'I'm based at Surestart Cowgate & Blakelaw Children's Centre as part of a group of three support workers. We receive referrals from social care and health services. Depending on whether it's from health or social care, we meet the family at their home or at their next care team meeting. We also hold weekly meetings to decide what sort of response a referral needs. Longer-term family support cases tend to be dealt with by social care. Often we can work with the family by delivering parenting classes or a one-off piece of work.
'We deliver parenting classes in the children's centre to groups, or do one-to-one sessions there or in the home. We tailor these to the parents' needs, but they're usually an hour long. We cover routines and boundaries, and the way you speak to children, because many parents parent the way they've been parented and it isn't always the best. Some parents have learning difficulties, so we adapt courses to make them more visual.
'Once we get to know the family, and win their trust, we tend to find out they are having problems other than those for which they were referred. We can help with a range of issues, such as financial or housing problems. We can intervene and help access benefits, or if a family needs to move house, we can speak to housing services on their behalf.
'We also issue food bank vouchers. Sometimes I collect and deliver food packages for mothers with babies if they can't travel.
'The families tend to engage with us because we're not social care. I try to help them with the little things that make a big difference. For example, I was on a walk with a mother and her child recently, and told her to hold the child's hand. She said no-one had told her that before.
'Paperwork is a huge part of the job, and it's difficult to balance with the contact time. As well as paperwork for Action for Children, we also have paperwork for the children's centre.
'We do monitoring every month so our home visits have to be recorded in detail. That is sent to the children's centre. We work closely with staff there, and they also report back to us anything about a family we're working with, for example, if they haven't attended a session they were meant to.
'We are strict about our own safety. I mostly do home visits alone, and we have to write down where we're going and what time we're back. When we've finished, we have to ring the office. If we don't, the office calls us. We have a set of questions, which are yes or no answers in case we can't speak in front of a family. But I've never had a bad experience.
'It's a very emotional job. I love it with a passion, but sometimes when you've had a bad day, you need a debrief with either a line-manager or work-colleague. Sometimes you just want to bring those children home.'
CV
Employment history
1978-1980: worked at Chowdene Day Nursery, Gateshead, while attending New College Durham
1980-2006: nursery nurse/higher level teaching, Kepier Chare Primary School
2006-present: family support worker, Action for Children Newcastle Family Support Service based at Surestart Cowgate & Blakelaw Children's Centre.
Qualifications
1976-1978: certificate in Home Management and Family Care, Gateshead College
1978-1980: National Nursery Examination Board diploma, New College Durham
1982: certificate in Special Educational Needs (while working at primary school)
Workplace training:
Parenting classes for parents with children of different ages
Drug awareness
Parental mental health
Freedom programme (domestic violence)
Group work skills
Welfare rights
First aid
Communicating with children with disabilities
Multi-agency risk assessment conferencing (Marac)
TRAINING
There is no set qualification for becoming a family support worker. Most employers will normally require a Level 3 qualification in subjects related to childcare, social work, social care, counselling, youth work or education. Experience of children and families is also required, such as volunteering or working at a nursery, family refuge centre or on youth projects. You also have to pass a DBS check.
Useful websites
