NCH PACT Project Practice Profile
The PINS Team met with Cath Graham, Senior Practitioner at the PACT project, NCH Scotland, in Perth. Through discussion with Cath more was learnt about the PACT project and the work they do which is positively impacting on young people’s engagement with school.
Firstly a short project profile:
NCH PACT works with children of all ages and their families who are referred by Perth and Kinross Education and Children’s Services to the project. The project aims to support children and their families to have safe and positive relationships and remain in mainstream education and/or to help them manage changes in their lives. The project offers programmes (initially 6 weeks) which are agreed with children, their families, other agencies and the PACT project. The Project offers the opportunity to take part in individual, group and/or family sessions in PACT, school, home and/or community settings.
Contact:
PACT Project
149-151 Dunkeld Road
Perth
PH1 5AU
T: 01738 639265
E: pact@nch.org.uk
Key words: Assessment, solution orientated, family sessions
Could you tell me a little bit about the young people and families that you work with?
Cath Graham: A high percentage of the young people we work with have been formally excluded, have poor school attendance or are at high risk of exclusion. Around 25% of the children referred to us are involved with the Children’s Hearing System and/or have been on the Child Protection Register –indicating risks of vulnerability.
Family sessions are an increasingly regular part of the work that you do at the PACT project. What has influenced this model of practice?
Cath Graham: In the past we have worked primarily with children and young people but evidence and experience has shifted our thinking. We believe that much more positive results can be achieved through working with the family as a group. This is not to say we would not spend individual time with the referred child.
We make a point in offering our service to all children and family members and not just the child who is experiencing problems. This has advantages in terms of helping to resolve issues within the family and improving the way that the family as a unit functions. By their nature, schools tend to only work with the child who is in trouble or not attending. In my experience I would say that working with the family around issues and also spending quality individual time with the child is a much more effective way to reengage children and young people in terms of their education.
You mentioned Assessment is a key aspect of the work you do. Could you tell me what this involves and how you do it?
Cath GrahamWe work with children and families who already have a multi-agency professional network in place. Our first task is to find out who is involved with the family and why. A lot of work is put into building up this often complex picture; it feels like being a detective at times! Finding out about the family, who is involved, what has worked for them in the past and also what has not worked and why. Through doing this we can start to establish what our role can be with the family and what everyone hopes to achieve.
Through speaking to other agencies who have been involved with the family we can begin to understand the level of risk and difficulty, if problems are new or are more long term? Will parents engage? Will they take it seriously? Is there a willingness to change? Speaking to the family members also helps with this. It is good to find out directly from them what they hope to achieve and what issues they have.
NCH has developed an assessment tool – ASPIRE. Could you tell me a little bit about ASPIRE and how you use it?
Cath GrahamASPIRE is a standardised recording and assessment system within NCH that helps us to provide a consistent service which always puts the child first. It allows us to develop an evidence base to support our practice and ensure we are as effective as possible in promoting and contributing to positive outcomes for the children and young people we work with.
The process includes sections which reflect the different needs a young person, family member or the family together has and how NCH can provide support around these areas of need. The different areas include Health, Education, Emotional and Behavioural Development, Family and Social Relationships, Identity, Social Presentation and Self Care Skills.
ASPIRE helps us to consider measurable goals and targets, what progress we hope to see and what the family can work toward. It provides us with the base line information which helps us develop support specific to the individual family. We are open with the families about what we are doing. We will often invite them to look at their case notes and the ASPIRE details we have written up to make sure they reflect their views and our shared tasks.
Could you give an example of a recent young person who you have worked with and how you have helped to improve her engagement with school?
Cath Graham: Recently a 14 year old girl was referred who had particularly poor attendance at school and was in trouble when she did attend – during the summer term of this year her school attendance had fallen to virtually zero percent. She had developed a sexual relationship with an older boy, resulting in police involvement which caused distress for the whole family. Her relationship to the boy and other older peers were seen to be having negative consequences for the girl’s attendance at school and her relationship with family members.
The decision was taken to work towards family sessions to try and help resolve some of the difficult issues and disputes which they were having. Generally they worked well with us and relationships with the girl have been sustained and improved.
How did you work with the young person and the family to improve the family dynamics and the young person’s engagement with school?
Cath Graham: We introduced a 6 week programme with the family to then be reviewed to see if it would be worthwhile to continue. We started by meeting with members of the family individually to learn more about them, find out what their views and feelings were and to set some goals and targets in terms of what they wanted to take from the sessions.
Following meetings with family members I used the ASPIRE assessment tool and started to build up a picture of their needs and issues. ASPIRE is primarily for the referred chid but also helps to reflect the needs and strengths of parents and siblings. From our own professional opinions and taking into account the views of each family member we agreed on the needs which each family member had and set about a plan to provide support and make improvements. Aspects of their learning and communication style needed to be considered for example.
Could you tell us a bit more about the programme and how you worked with this family?
Cath Graham: In week one I asked each family member to draw a picture which represents for them ‘the place their family is in’ and then to report back on what they had drawn. Their drawings included negative and chaotic images – a broken heart and thunder clouds for instance.
This exercise gave me an indication of the potential for them to participate effectively in the programme. The whole premise of our approach rests on sharing, listening, understanding and being respectful of differences. I try to praise family members for managing to do this and ask them to reflect on how they can implement this within their own family environment.
I may use solution orientated questions and support all family members to have their say - giving everyone importance and the space to discuss issues. Ground rules are important as is humour. It is often about looking at the smallest interactions, helping the family to see ways in which they can communicate and interact which will improve the dynamics and atmosphere in their home. I might focus on one aspect for instance asking the young person to explain to the mother why she prefers it when she talks to her in a certain way. This family were able to challenge each other about their use of ‘baby language’ and how it felt for them.
Over six sessions they each contributed to discussions and shared goal-setting. With two statutory colleagues I supported them in acknowledging feelings, accepting responsibility for change and praising each other.
It must be difficult to keep family group sessions positive at times?
Cath Graham: Yes, they can be intense. It is helpful to have two workers present and also a breakout room for anyone who needs additional support. It might be the case that one of the parents is abrupt and aggressive in communicating with other family members and that this leads to confrontation and negative interactions within the family. In this circumstance we might try to help the parent reflect on the way s/he communicates and the effect this has on other family members. It helps if the family members can explain this to him/her and come up with more appropriate ways to speak.
Family members can benefit from being supported through this process. I hope they will be able to all go home and feel they got something from the session!
I think having the sessions in the Project can help the family to feel more at ease. They may appreciate that professionals are prepared to come and work with them in a neutral space and support them in a different way to their usual role at these times.
Why do you think family sessions are effective in helping young people in terms of their engagement with school?
Cath Graham: In a family focused setting the referred young person can begin to realise that they are not the problem and that other factors have contributed to the difficulty they are experiencing. They can also see that other family members are willing to help and attempt to change their own behaviour to improve the situation. I think this helps free the young person from a sometimes disproportionate sense of burden.
What have been the outcomes for the young person and family which you mentioned earlier?
Cath Graham: The outcomes have been very positive to date. She is now back in school, attending more regularly and coping well. She acknowledges that she got something from the sessions. She has shown she can make a different choice in terms of her peer group and she has been re-motivated in terms of her education. The Deputy Head has been very helpful in providing information and support through the whole process. The girl is now also taking a vocational option at college which she is really enjoying.
The family are getting on much better and are much more positive and clear in their messages to each other. Mum has almost stopped using baby language with her teenage son. By the last session Dad was much more at ease in terms of participating and also in his interactions with his children. The son had identified that he would like to have Sunday lunch when the family would eat together and this is something which the family have responded to and implemented.
They didn’t always find the process easy, but they did keep coming. It seems to have been really useful for them, how they help each other and for the future prospects of the young girl who was initially referred to us. At the review the referred child asked for a further period of work with us to help ensure achievements and changes are maintained and the family agreed.
