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HOME-START |
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Co-ordinator Libby Cook Community Education Office Ackergill Street Wick Caithness Tel 01955 60222 |
| News Did You know that Homestart runs a Twins Group in Wick. Another organisation runs a Twins Group in Thurso. |
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HOME-START? Many parents feel overwhelmed or exhausted by the stresses and difficulties of everyday life. Too often they have no close family members or friends who can give them the encouragement or breathing space when they most need them. Lack of support at a crucial stage may increase the risk of family breakdown. What help is both readily available as well as accessible?.....HOME-START |
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| WHAT
IS HOME-START? HOME-START is a voluntary organisation in which volunteers offer regular support, friendship and practical help to young families under stress in their own homes, helping to prevent family crisis and breakdown, and emphasising the pleasures of family life. HOME-START provides a breathing space for parents and elbowroom for many professional workers who refer any family with at least one child under school age to the scheme. |
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| THE
DEVELOPMENT OF HOME-START HOME-START was initiated in Leicester 1973. Now similar schemes exist or are being developed throughout the United Kingdom, as well as abroad. It would seem that parents everywhere experience similar problems. There may be some differences between individual HOME-START schemes to meet local needs, but all share the same constitution and common features - - they all focus on families with at least one child under five - they have a multi-disciplinary management committee, thus ensuring close links with other voluntary and statutory caring agencies working with young families in the community - each has at least one paid organiser to run the scheme, who is equally acceptable to the families, the volunteers and the referrers, and who has the necessary competence, commitment and warm personality - meticulous attention is paid to the careful recruitment, preparation, matching and support of the HOME-START volunteers - all schemes require to secure on-going funding before starting - all HOME-START schemes receive training, information and guidance from HOME-START UK in order to retain a common ethos and to ensure high standards of practice are maintained. WHAT IS THE HOME-START APPROACH? Home-base visiting is essential to the HOME-START approach, than on a clearly-defined method of working. The families visited, like the HOME-START volunteers, come from a wide range of educational, cultural and financial backgrounds. By sharing their time and friendship, volunteers offer families an opportunity to develop new relationships, ideas and skills. this usually leads to renewed interest in the children, an improved response to their needs and greater confidence to avail themselves of other resources within their community. After attending an initial course of preparation, volunteers are matched with one, two or three families and visit for as long as is necessary, sometimes for a few months, but often for a year or more. Visits occur usually once or twice a week, but may be more often if there is a crisis. The approach varies according to the needs of each family and draws on the flexibility, good humour and imaginative skills of the volunteer. Talking with parents, playing with the children, helping in the home or accompanying the family on outings or appointments, may all be offered. Volunteers are asked to keep brief records of their contacts with the families, for discussion with the support organiser, if necessary. Great emphasis is placed on confidentiality. WHO ARE THE VOLUNTEERS? Volunteers of all ages and backgrounds are welcomed. The only stipulation is that they have had parenting experience themselves. They need no specific qualifications, but they do need the ability to listen with understanding, to maintain confidentiality and bring with them the commitment both to the scheme and to the families they visit. Parents who have been visited often become volunteers themselves. IS ANY TRAINING PROVIDED? All HOME-START volunteers attend a course of preparation before being linked with families. Most courses are held one day per week for 10 weeks, but some are arranged during the evenings or occasionally at weekends. This preparation offers new volunteers the opportunity to gain greater knowledge to increase their confidence and to recognise the reciprocal nature of volunteering. The course covers both practical and theoretical aspects including: - the HOME-START approach – some basic child development theories - the ethics of visiting people in their own home – an understanding of relationships - a knowledge of other resources in the community. After this initial preparation, volunteers are encouraged to attend for further informal training, to help them with specific problems as these arise. HOME-START organisers and management committee members receive training from HOME-START UK and are encouraged to avail themselves of other training. IS OTHER SUPPORT AVAILABLE? A vital element of a HOME-START scheme is the planned support offered to all volunteers. This is usually on a one-to-one basis between the volunteer and the organiser, but will involve the referrer when appropriate. Volunteers may also support each other. All are offered formal and informal group meetings and social events. WHO REFERS FAMILIES? Families accepting offer of a HOME-START volunteer are usually referred by HEALTH VISITORS and SOCIAL WORKERS. ?Other referrals come from various workers in the field of health care (for example, midwives, paediatricians, child and family therapists), and from other voluntary organisations, such as Relate, Stepfamily, Gingerbread or playgroups. referrals are also made by counselling services, and churches. Increasingly, families themselves are asking HOME-START for a volunteer. WHAT ELSE DOES HOMESTART DO? as an extension of home-visiting, and because many parents and small children need experiences outside the home, most HOME-START schemes hold weekly family groups for parents and their children. Some also hold meetings for parents, partly educative, with talks, films and discussions, but also as part of a programme of outings, visits and parties organised regularly throughout the year. these often provide families with their main opportunity for meeting others socially. HOW ARE HOME-START SCHEMES ORGANISED? Each HOME-START scheme is firmly rooted in its own community, but retains vital links with HOME-START UK and with other HOME-START schemes, for policy, training, information, guidance and personal support. All HOME-START schemes are registered charities, which have the HOME-START Constitution and Standards & Methods of Practice to provide a common structure. Each HOME-START is managed by a committee made up of local representatives from relevant statutory agencies (such as Social Services, Health and Education Departments), voluntary organisations, individuals with specialist skills, and usually two or three HOME-START volunteers. This multi-disciplinary committee ensures close liaison with others involved in work with young families in the community. The management committee is responsible for funding, insurance, premises, and the employment of staff. The HOME-START approach depends on the organisation’s independence from statutory services while working in close partnership with them fro the benefit of the family. WHAT ABOUT FUNDING? HOME-START support is very cost effective. Each scheme works through volunteers visiting families in their own homes, rather than professional staff working in or from an expensive centre. Nevertheless, it is essential that adequate funding is available to establish and maintain a scheme, to provide continuity both for the families and for the volunteers. Most schemes receive a grant, sometimes through a service agreement from their Local Authority Social Services Department. Others have joint funding between Social services and Health or funding may come from triple sources, such as Social Services, Health and Education. Most schemes fund-raise for special social events for HOME-START families and volunteers. Core funding is needed to cover: - the organiser’s salary, national insurance and superannuation. - secretarial assistance. - Rent, telephone, insurance, postage and stationery. - Courses of preparation. - Volunteers’ out of pocket expenses. - Project equipment and publicity. HOME-START UK HOME-START UK (formerly HOME-START Consultancy) was established in 1981 as a charitable Trust. It is committed to promoting the welfare of children and parents by providing effective training, information, guidance and personal support to each existing and potential local HOME-START scheme. It is funded by grants from private Trusts, businesses and the Department of health. HOME-START schemes contribute 1% of their own grant to HOME-START UK for these services. The aims of HOME-START UK ARE: - to retain close contacts with all existing HOME-START schemes. The shared experience enables the development of HOME-START to be as effective as possible, to the ultimate benefit of the families; - to pursue an Equal Opportunities Policy, being sensitive to race, class, gender, sexual orientation, religion and disability; - to offer on-going training for all HOME-START STAFF and management committee members; - to arrange conferences and seminars for the benefit of all those involved in setting up or running HOME-START schemes; - to initiate, develop and distribute guidelines on every aspect of the HOME-START approach and on establishing and maintaining a scheme; - to respond to all enquiries about HOME-START, both from within Britain and abroad; - to respond to requests to speak at conferences related to child care and other welfare - matters, and to participate in the training of people involved in the helping professions; - to respond to external social changes and new legislation; - through all these and other means, to provide Quality Assurance by maintaining the Standards & Methods of Practice of HOME-START, which in turn provides individual and appropriate support for the needs of families in their particular area. Thus HOME-START schemes retain a common ethos and approach, while meeting the needs of individual families with flexibility and care. CONCLUSION HOME-START schemes attempt to prevent families breaking down, and to enrich the life of all family members. Where problems are deep rooted, the role of the HOME-START volunteer is complementary to that of the professional worker. The time which volunteers can spend with a family, their informal role, their friendship, spontaneity and commonsense approach can all be focused on the family members rather than on their problems. Through the privilege of getting to know a family really well, HOME-START volunteers can encourage the family’s strengths while also developing their own, to the mutual benefit of both, and certainly to the long-term advantage of children. If you require further details on any aspect of HOME-START please contact – Alasdair MacRae Consultant Home-Start UK 49 Scott street Perth PH1 8JN Tel 01738 444020 In Caithness contact Libby Cook Co-ordinator Community Education Office Ackergill street Wick Caithness KW1 4DT Tel 01955 606222 |
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