Our Services

Residential Assessment

Amber Family provides a homely setting with close monitoring and support, where safeguarding remains paramount. This allows parents to develop their parenting style while being guided and supported by staff over a 13-week placement and 12-week assessment period.

At the start of a placement with Amber Family, the parent/s will be fully involved in developing a Placement Plan alongside their Key Worker and their allocated Assessing Social Worker.

This Placement Plan will act as the blueprint for the care package that will be provided to them while they are residing at Amber Family. 

The plan will focus on:

  • What is required of the placement
  • Who can visit the family whilst in placement
  • The medication that the parents and their child are taking
  • What supervision will be put in place for the family
  • How Amber Family will ensure the child’s health, social and physical development needs are me
  • How Amber Family ensure the parents' emotional health and social needs are met
  • What are the parents worried about
  • What do the parents think is going well
  • What the parents are requesting

The Registered Manager and the Key Worker will confirm the date of the publication of the Midpoint Report and the final parenting Assessment and allocate weekly meetings to monitor progress. Relevant training will be provided to assist with any gaps in ability and help the parent develop their skills.

Parents are involved in and responsible for their progress as the authors of their own stories at all times during the process. Amber Family staff will provide them with support and guidance throughout.

Community Assessment

Amber Family carries out most parenting assessments while families are residing in one of our four settings. However, we also offer community-based parenting assessments for parents who are not in placement.

It provides the opportunity for the child to have good-quality contact with the non-resident parent and for an assessor to observe the parent with their child, resulting in an assessment in a similar format to that of the resident parent. 

Over a 12-week period, involving five hours of fully supervised contact per week, the assessor observes the parent’s emotional warmth, stimulation, attachment, handling, supervision, and their ability to undertake basic care tasks.  

The Amber Family community-based assessment includes: 

  • A bespoke assessment plan produced by the assessor in consultation with the allocated social worker and parent; 
  • A midpoint report and final assessment in the same format as the resident parent’s report;
  • Weekly Summary Report Meetings, which will be sent to the placing social worker; 
  • Opportunity for the non-resident parent to contribute to the production of life-story work for the child. 
  • Teaching through life skills courses gives the parent the opportunity to develop knowledge and skills and attend further courses, such as the Gateway Programme and the Bridgeway Programme. 
  • Psychological and/or cognitive assessments are available if required.

About The Assessment Platform We Use

IMPACT Assessments has created a web-based parenting assessment application that works for the modern family, allowing their parenting skills and knowledge to be fairly assessed. IMPACT recognises the importance of an assessment in determining a family’s life outcome and the gravitas it has in informing care proceedings, developing individual support packages, and ultimately keeping children safe. IMPACT assessments have been used at Amber Family since 2021 and are recognised by Family Courts in England and Wales.

IMPACT strives to change the image of parenting assessments using a person-centred approach, making them understandable for all and providing parents with regular feedback.

Progress is reflected in a red (safeguarding), amber (ongoing), and green (achieved) heat map, and all of the assessment areas are scored weekly after a discussion between the Family Key Worker and parents.

When the assessing Social Worker creates the final report, they have a wealth of recorded information, daily logs, the heatmap, weekly summary report meetings, and direct work, allowing their professional judgement and analysis to be added along with their final recommendations.

Since opening in 2014, Amber Family has published over 400 residential parenting assessments. During this time, it has undertaken significant research and consultations with families, health professionals, and Local Authorities to create a dynamic parenting assessment.