Family Solutions is a partnership b

Family Solutions is a partnership between the London Borough of Hounslow social services department
and NCH Action for Children. It offers a range of services to young people aged 10–16 years and their
families aimed at preventing family breakdown and the need for local authority accommodation.
These include:
 Rapid Response, which guarantees a 24-hour response time to referrals from social services.
Families are offered up to three months help to enable them to find a solution to their current
difficulties or to assist a young person in returning home from local authority accommodation;
 Family Group Conferencing, which promotes the use of networks of family and friends to identify
problems and solutions for those young people at risk of being accommodated by the local authority;
 Young people and substance misuse, a service to address the social and health implications
of drug and alcohol use among young people and families in contact with Hounslow’s Children
and Families Social Services Department; and
 Parents Group, which offers a structured group work programme to enable parents to explore
issues around parenting and to learn to cope and act in ways that will improve their home situation.
Family Solutions has been shown to have a positive impact on reducing family conflict and
breakdown. Out of 99 closed Rapid Response cases, 70 young people remained at home, 6 returned
home after being accommodated and 15 remained in care. Overall more than seven out of ten
clients found the Rapid Response service either helpful or very helpful.
“I couldn’t have stayed with my mum any longer. If I’d had help at home, I might have stayed.
I might have changed my mind a bit but I didn’t have any help. I would have liked help from
someone who knows what I’d been through.”
(Elizabeth talking to Children’s Express)
Chapter 4: Support for young people, their families and carers before they run
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