Introducing Safe Families for Children (Hosting)
Letter to be given to parent/carer

Dear Parent/Carer,

Safe Families for Children (SFFC) aims to help you through this difficult time. SFFC is a network of people who give their time and skills to support you and your child.

Host families are people who are willing, and without pay, to open their homes to a child (or children) of a parent who is having some problems. They have all had an enhanced DBS, which means a police check that tells us if there is any known behaviour of risk to children. In addition, for each person 3 references have been received, a home assessment visit has been done and they have had some training before they were approved for this role. Their home and family has been approved as a good and safe place for a child to stay.

There are host families able to have children for any age of child 0-10 years and children can stay with them for as short a time as 1-2 days or up to a few weeks. The help they offer is short-term but enables you to take the time you need before the children return to you.

It is important to know that this is not Foster Care and, if your children stay with a SFFC host family, you are not placing them with the Local Authority. The host family will be similar to having an aunt, uncle, grandparent or godparent (informal support) and they will provide natural care for your child within their home as if you had asked them as a relative or neighbour to do so.

Arrangements will be made regarding on-going contact for you with your child and how to keep you in touch with how your child is doing.

Getting Started

In order to get started for your child to stay with a host family, we need you to fill out these forms:

  • Your agreement to the stay, which includes your consent to medical decisions in an emergency (“Parent/Carer Consent Form”)
  • Information about your child and your situation in order to help the host family (“Child Information Form”)

Depending on the age of your child, we may also involve them in understanding Safe Families for Children and in saying how the stay can best work for them.

Once a stay has been arranged, we will give you

  • A profile of the host family
  • Contact details for your SFFC support

A member of the Safe Families for Children team will meet with you to confirm that you understand the support and to answer any questions you may have. If possible, we will arrange for you to meet the host family before the stay begins. A Family Coach will also be allocated to support you and your child. Their role is to ensure that all the arrangements work smoothly and that our support helps you achieve your goals and meets your needs.

Other things you should know about your child’s stay:

  • You can change your mind at any time and have your children returned to you. [If Children’s Social Care is already involved with your family, they should discuss with you how they will respond to such a decision.]
  • If your child is old enough, we encourage phone calls. These can occur daily, if you like, as long as it can be arranged in a positive way within the host family.
  • You can contact the Safe Families for Children team with any questions or information. Our office number is 0191 374 4777. For calls outside office hours, refer to the contact details provided to you.
  • Most Safe Families for Children volunteers, including the host families, are Christians from churches in the area. Please discuss with them or with your Family Coach any questions you have about this. The host family’s profile that you receive will tell you something about how this is expressed in their family life.

Other things you should know about Safe Families for Children

  • If there are other professionals or agencies working to support you or your child, we do ask that you agree to information sharing between SFFC and them in order that we can all provide the best, safe support for you.
  • We do keep some records about our involvement with you. The initial paper information you provide is kept and stored securely. Recording during our involvement is done on a secure online database. Most of the records are kept for 12 months, some for 3 years.
  • You can ask to see the records that Safe Families for Children has about you and your child at any time.

Other Safe Families for Children help:

In addition to host families, Safe Families for Children has ‘Family Friends’ who get alongside parents or carers, to support you directly. Therefore, if you would value some friendly support for yourself, please do let us know and we will try to introduce you to a family friend.

We do hope that you will consider Safe Families for Children for you and your child, if you are in difficulty and need support in order that you can continue to care for your children in a safe and healthy way. We are committed to do what we can to help you get back on your feet.

Kind regards,

The Safe Families for Children Team

NE Regional Office

Venture House

Aykley Heads

Durham

DH1 5TS

Tel: 0191 374 4777

Email:

Safe Families for Children is a Registered Charity No 1150405 and Company Limited by Guarantee Registered in England and Wales No 8134971. The Registered Office is Venture House, Aykley Heads, Durham, DH1 5TS

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Version: 3rd October 2014© Safe Families for Children 2013