For Parents

What To Expect at Amber Family

If placed with us, you can expect a friendly, professional, and helpful service that takes into account your needs and those of your child at all times. At the request of the referring authority, Amber Family will assess your parenting skills. We use a nationally recognised assessment application called IMPACT to produce reports which are evidence-based and reflect your family’s individual needs. These reports contribute to decisions made by the courts and referring authority at the end of your placement.

What happens when I arrive at Amber Family?

On arrival, you will be shown around the house and given information about the setting. You will need to sign some forms, including consent forms; these will all be explained to you as part of your induction.

A welcome pack will also be available for you to read at your leisure. It contains information about the staff you will be working with, FAQs, and what help is available from external services while you are in placement with your child.

Amber staff will complete a well-being assessment with you. This assessment will examine what you need from us as a service, look at areas from your past, and identify any areas of support that we can add to your plan. You need to be open and honest with us so we can ensure your assessment is fair and robust.

We will observe you complete basic care tasks for your child, such as nappy changes, bathing, sterilising, and making up a bottle, to ensure you can do them safely. We can offer help and guidance if you are unsure, and there is no rush to learn these tasks if you are not very confident to begin with.

You will be able to go out into the local community with a member of staff over the first few weeks. You will also be offered two hours of babysitting each week. This can be used to go shopping, relax or catch up on chores. At the midpoint of the assessment, based on the staff’s observations, we may be able to recommend that you go out on your own with your baby.

Self-care and looking after your well-being are also important. This includes bathing frequently, brushing your teeth, wearing clean clothes and maintaining a clean and tidy bedroom.

What is it like at Amber Family?

There is no “typical” day in our residential family centre! In between feeding, bathing, and changing, there are appointments, midwife visits, family contact, and Life Skills courses. After all that, the staff will talk to you to find out what you would like to do with any “spare” time.

Our settings are a 15-minute walk from the town centre, seafront, and promenade, and several beautiful parks are within a 10-minute bus ride. If the weather isn’t fit for walking out, then we have a large selection of things to do in the house: bake, cook new recipes, create and decorate memory boxes that will represent your baby’s first few months, watch films, or just relax and enjoy your child.

Other activities include but are not limited to:

Mum’s and Dads drop-in groups
Family Groups
Baby Massage
Baby Yoga
Trips out (Farm, Zoo, Aquarium)
Life story workshops
Craft workshops
Seasonal activities

Over the 12-week assessment period, you are encouraged to establish and demonstrate your independence, ability and commitment to effect a long-term positive change for your family.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I visit Amber Family before I stay there?

Of course! We would be happy to show you round so that you can see your room, meet the staff, have a look round the area and talk to some parents who are staying with us.

What are the visiting arrangements for families and partners?

Amber Family has a Visitor’s Policy that will be explained when you first arrive. Between your Social Worker, our Registered Manager and you, a Placement Plan will be written and as part of this plan, it will be agreed who is allowed to visit you during your assessment. You need to notify your Key Worker of any visitors at least 48 hours before they want to visit. This will give us the opportunity to ensure there are enough staff on duty to accommodate.

How many parents are resident at any one time?

Depending on the setting, there may be up to six families at any one time. This could be single parents, or both parents, with one or more children under the age of 4. Whilst this may sound like a lot, everyone is always at different points in their assessment so will not be in the setting all the time, or for the whole duration of your stay.

What are the facilities at Amber Family?

You will have your own family bedroom. Some of the bedrooms are en-suite, others have access to the shared bathroom. Your room will have a bed, bedding, towels, TV, cot (and/or Moses basket), a noticeboard and drawers, and in some rooms, there is a sofa and a small living area. We encourage you to make the room your own with pictures, photographs, and other personal items. You will also have access to Wi-Fi. If we can add anything to your room to make your stay better, we are happy to help. The houses have shared washing and drying facilities as well as a shared kitchen, living room, dining room and garden.

What facilities can parents access whilst at Amber Family?

There are lots of nice walks a short distance from Amber and two parks within a 10 minute bus ride. Southport town centre is a 15 minute walk away and there is an Asda, Tesco, Lidl and Aldi all within walking distance. The GP surgery is a 5 minute walk away and you’ll be supported to contact the Doctor, Dentist (if required), Health Visitor and other Universal Services.

What about the CCTV in my room?

Each bedroom at Amber Family has CCTV installed to monitor you and your child whilst in your room. Before you arrive at Amber Family, you will be asked to sign a pre-placement agreement which explains what we use CCTV for. Also, when you arrive at Amber Family, you will be asked to sign a form to confirm that you understand how the CCTV will be used, and that it has been explained to you. Your Key Worker will take you up to the office to show you what can be seen on the CCTV in your room. It is a small, discreet camera and microphone, and you will soon forget it is there! There is no CCTV in bathrooms or in the communal areas where you will sit with other families.

Will I have access to Wi-Fi?

Yes, parents have their own dedicated Wi-Fi. You will be given a password on arrival. You may also use your own Wi-Fi device in your bedroom as the Guest signal may not always be strong.

Will there always be staff with me?

Whilst in the communal areas of any Amber Family setting, you will be loosely supervised by staff on duty. If you want to go out into the community, you will be fully supervised by a member of staff for the first six weeks of your placement; this is so we can ensure that you are able to safeguard your child whilst away from Amber Family. This arrangement is always reviewed at the mid-point in your placement at six weeks and recommendations will be made about you accessing the community on your own if the first six weeks have gone well. Whilst in your room, there is an option for us to supervise you via CCTV, but this is not monitored all the time. If we have concerns about your ability to safeguard your child whilst in your room, we will use CCTV to evidence how you are doing.

What free-time is available for parents?

All parents are given two hours babysitting time each week for the first few weeks of placement. Any babysitting time must be “booked in” with your Key Worker at least 24 hours in advance to ensure there are enough staff available to look after your child. Once you are unsupervised within the community you will not be offered babysitting time. This is to provide you with a more realistic reflection of what life will be like for you and your child once you leave placement.

Can we contact our Social Worker?

Of course! We encourage you to stay connected with any professionals you may be working with. If you need any support contacting your Social Worker or any other professionals, then the staff at Amber Family will be happy to help you.

Is it a “formal” atmosphere? Are staff watching you all the time?

There is a very relaxed atmosphere at Amber Family and staff do not “watch” you all the time. Staff will only intervene if they feel your child is not receiving the care they need. Our staff are trained to assist, and support and encourage parents using a person-centred approach.