Integrated Family Support Service

SocialServices-IFSS

The Integrated Family Support Service (IFSS) is delivered jointly by Newport City Council children’s services and Barnardo’s.

The aim of the IFSS is to provide multi-agency, evidence based interventions that integrate seamlessly for children, young people and their families.

The IFSS comprises the Integrated Family Support Team (IFST), Family Assessment and Support Services (FASS), Family Support Team (FST), Family Contact Service (FCS) and the Prevention (team around the family) Team. 

The partnership, which was the first of its kind in the UK, has won praise for its approach and outcomes. In 2016 the Institute of Public Care (IPC) carried out an independent review and described the partnership as “one of the most impressive overall models” it had seen. Read the press release.

“Working in social work will always be a challenge but feeling valued listened to and supported will always make things feel a little easier” 

Team Manager 

Family Assessment and Support Services

The FASS delivers family focused intervention to enable parents to improve their parenting capacity and recognise their strengths and build resilience.

Interventions are based upon evidence-based practice relevant to the family’s needs and will include elements of Motivational Interviewing, Brief Solution Focused Therapy and Cognitive Behavioural Therapy.

Family Support Team

The FST undertake specific pieces of direct work with children, young people and/or their families according to needs identified in a social work assessment.

The plan of work is flexible, designed to meet the needs of the family with regular visits and specific identified resources used according to the need.

The aim is to work with children, young people and families to help them deal with their situation, so they can cope with challenges on their own in the future.

Family Contact Service

The Family Contact Service (FCS) facilitates supervised contact for families known to Newport City Council, whose children are in voluntary care or who are subject of an interim care order.

The FCS does not provide therapeutic interventions to families but creates a family friendly and caring environment for supervised contact for children whose parents or carers present a direct risk to them.

Prevention (TAF) Team

The prevention team is the single point of entry to Families First provisions, and provides an early prevention and intervention service to children, young people and families who have additional needs but do not meet the criteria for receiving more specialist/statutory support i.e. from social services.

The prevention team will not work with cases which are open to Social Services.

We will work with children and families to prevent them needing statutory services (social services or Youth Offending Services) or when either have completed their interventions and there remains a low level of need.