Family Support
A 12-week home visiting service for families of children and young adults with disabilities or autism.
Kids Together Belfast have a Family Support Team made up of 5 dedicated members of staff. The service provided is a 12-week Home Visiting service for families that have children/young adults with Sensory, Learning or physical disabilities and/or Autism or awaiting an ASD Diagnosis.
The team met the numbers for the Family Support Hubs almost 6 months early. In previous years the Hubs would be provided with additional funding from the Early Intervention Team to provide more home-visiting packages however for the past 2 years this has not been the case. There has been no additional funding to provide this much required additional support to families living with disabilities. Funding restrictions has resulted in Kids Together being unable to receive additional referrals from the Hubs.
The Community Foundation funded the Family Support Team alongside 12-week programmes for children and young people for 2 years and we partnered with the Belfast Trust by receiving the referrals for all the programmes and family support. This was a big stress releaser for the Family Support Hubs. At the beginning of the 12 weeks the family, along with their Support Worker, will carry out a Family star. Throughout the 12 weeks the family and worker will review the Family Star to monitor the progress being made. Together the Family and Support worker will agree on areas of need to work on over the 12 weeks.
Our team have a wealth of knowledge when it comes to supporting children and families with Disabilities with a range of experience in day care settings with children with disabilities, personal lived experiences, managing Day Care settings and working with Young Adults with Disabilities to name a few. Using a person-centred approach our team strive to make the families we support feel welcomed, supported, heard and empowering parents with the knowledge to meet their children’s needs.
Enquire about this programme
The team met the numbers for the Family Support Hubs almost 6 months early. In previous years the Hubs would be provided with additional funding from the Early Intervention Team to provide more home-visiting packages however for the past 2 years this has not been the case. There has been no additional funding to provide this much required additional support to families living with disabilities. Funding restrictions has resulted in Kids Together being unable to receive additional referrals from the Hubs.
The Community Foundation funded the Family Support Team alongside 12-week programmes for children and young people for 2 years and we partnered with the Belfast Trust by receiving the referrals for all the programmes and family support. This was a big stress releaser for the Family Support Hubs. At the beginning of the 12 weeks the family, along with their Support Worker, will carry out a Family star. Throughout the 12 weeks the family and worker will review the Family Star to monitor the progress being made. Together the Family and Support worker will agree on areas of need to work on over the 12 weeks.
Our team have a wealth of knowledge when it comes to supporting children and families with Disabilities with a range of experience in day care settings with children with disabilities, personal lived experiences, managing Day Care settings and working with Young Adults with Disabilities to name a few. Using a person-centred approach our team strive to make the families we support feel welcomed, supported, heard and empowering parents with the knowledge to meet their children’s needs.
Programme details
Age range: For families, parents and carers
Schedule: 12-week home visiting support blocks
