Our Values

As an organisation, we hold the following values:

• For every individual to be treated with dignity and respect
• To provide child centred, high quality services to all families
• To work in partnership, to protect children from harm and prevent family breakdown
• To enable families to access support and opportunities to achieve their full potential
• To promote positive parenting and independent living skills through role modelling and guidance

Our Aim

Kaleidoscope exists to:

• Support parents/caregivers of any gender to develop their attachment with their children, and their parenting skills in a safe and supportive environment;
• Undertake comprehensive, needs-led assessments of parents, and their parenting capacity;
• Provide a tailored support package to guide parents and their children through to independent living within the community; and
• Enable parents and their children to access opportunities and achieve their full potential

The main purpose of the centre is to provide families with accommodation together with other services and facilities, in an environment where children can be safeguarded, whilst their parents’ capacity to respond to and meet children’s needs and safeguard their welfare are developed and assessed. Each parent’s capabilities and capacities are monitored and assessed throughout their placement, and form the basis of the comprehensive evidence-based assessments which are completed throughout the placement.

With a focus on Child Protection and the needs of children, our aim is to provide evidence-based assessments of parents and caregivers, through direct observations, and direct work and monitoring, whilst also supporting the family.

Kaleidoscope provides support for parents and their children 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. The support afforded to the family is with the aim of empowering parents to recognise areas for development, and improve their parenting skills in order that they can care for their children safely and without detriment to their child’s welfare.

Families are referred to Kaleidoscope through Local Authority Children’s Services, Legal Services, CAFCASS and the Courts when the professionals involved:

• Are unsure of the parent's abilities to meet their child’s needs
• Believe there is a significant risk of harm to the child, and / or
• When there are serious concerns but little evidence to reach a definite decision about the long-term future care plans for the child.

The aim of our parenting assessments is to monitor, support and assess the parent’s parenting skills and caring capacity, whilst also protecting the child(ren) in their care. The structured model and assessments we complete, provides families and professionals involved with evidenced based accounts of each family’s functioning, thus allowing timely and appropriate decisions to be made to safeguard the child’s welfare and inform future care planning for the family.

We are able to provide flexible assessment packages, which also incorporate other family members who are deemed appropriate potential caregivers, such as grandparents, but this will be completed through session work, as opposed to a residential assessment.

Our residential parenting assessments are structured to take place for a period of thirteen weeks; however, these can be tailored to meet different timescales, based on the requests made by the referring agency. Deviations from the thirteen week timescale would be agreed through discussions with the referring agency and relevant professionals either before or during the assessment process. An extended placement may be required in circumstances where a parent’s progress provides optimism regarding their ability to provide good quality, long term care, and a further period of monitoring and support is required to ensure parents can achieve this long-term aim. Alternatively, this could be required in instances where insufficient information has been obtained to fully assess a parent’s progress or lack thereof, due to other external, mitigating circumstances. Should a request for an extension be required after an assessment has commenced, the referring agency will be required to issue this request with 2 weeks’ notice, to ensure this can be accommodated. This would be reviewed on an individual bases, based on availability within the centre.

Assessments completed by Kaleidoscope incorporate the Department of Health’s ‘Framework for Assessment of Children in Need and their families,’ alongside Parent Assess, a strength based framework based on the DOH’s Assessment of Children in Need, which also uses tools that assist parents to engage in and understand the assessment process, risks posed to themselves and their children, and the outcomes of their assessments. The assessment package for each family will be tailored to meet their specific needs, and will utilise the most appropriate assessment format for the family.

Equality of Opportunity

We believe that every person has the right to be treated with respect and expect everyone at Kaleidoscope to behave in a way that does not discriminate against others. Kaleidoscope’s policy is that all families and staff are provided with equality of opportunity regardless of race, age, sex, sexuality, ethnicity, religious belief, disability, or health status.

We aim to meet the needs of parents of all races, cultures, disabilities, sexualities, and religious beliefs, and endeavour to employ a diverse staff team to reflect the needs and diverse backgrounds of the families we support. We celebrate all major religious festivals and help parents gain knowledge about their own and other’s cultures and religions. We request information about a family’s cultural and religious needs at the point of referral, and ensure that these are taken into account when planning their assessment.

Unfortunately, due to the layout of the building which is accessible via stairs which lead up to the building, and as there are 2 flats which are only accessible via a staircase, Chester Road is unable to accept referrals for families with physical disabilities that impact their mobility and / or their ability to manoeuvre stairs, as we are unable to accommodate a lift facility, due to the limited space within the building.

Visitors with a physical or mobility disability who are able to climb a maximum of one step with little assistance will be able to access the building, and have use of a room on the ground floor.

Use of CCTV

Kaleidoscope utilises Close Circuit Televisions (CCTV) and audio to monitor parenting capabilities, and the safety of children and families within the home. CCTV can also be used as a learning tool, to reinforce strengths and help families identify further areas for development. The level of monitoring undertaken for each family is in line with their Placement Plan.

Kaleidoscope has a policy for the use of CCTV to ensure that it complies with the Data Protection Act and the General Data Protection Regulations, and does not violate the rights to privacy of residents, staff and visitors. The policy for the use of the CCTV states that within residents’ room, the CCTV will be on at all times, inclusive of when a family is visited by professionals or family members, we do however have a private meeting room if required. The audio for the rooms can be switched off for a private meeting should this be required, but this will need to be requested prior to the meeting commencing. The use of CCTV is part of the parenting assessment programme to safeguard the welfare of the child, and to observe, monitor and assess a parent’s capabilities. The level of monitoring required would be determined and discussed prior to the assessment commencing and will be detailed within individual placement plans. All residents are made fully aware of the use of CCTV prior to their admission, and the resident and all parties concerned will have to sign a written agreement to confirm they are in agreement with the use of electronic monitoring.

Levels of Monitoring we offer:

• Full CCTV monitoring (this comes at an additional cost)
  • This occurs when CCTV footage within the family’s room is monitored 24 hours a day and can be offered for up to 7 days. This is to ensure that parents and their children can be fully supported by the staff team following their arrival. This can also be requested by the management team or Kaleidoscope’s social worker at any time during the assessment, if it is felt that a family may require immediate support / regular observation from the team.
• Intermittent CCTV monitoring of 30 minutes / 60-minute intervals.
  • This occurs when CCTV footage is observed intermittently throughout the day. Playback of cameras can be rewound to look back and review any time within a day.
• Random / Ad hoc CCTV monitoring.
• Physical welfare checks.
• Full childcare observations and random childcare observations.

Admission Criteria to the Residential Family Centre

Kaleidoscope does not accommodate emergency placements. All family admissions into Chester Road will be conducted in a planned manner, in partnership with the placing authority and / or referring agency.

Kaleidoscope accepts referrals for parenting assessments from professionals involved in the care of children and families, including solicitors, Local Authority Children and Families departments, and Cafcass advisors. Any professionals who make a referral to Kaleidoscope will be required to complete a referral form and preadmission risk assessment, which will provide Kaleidoscope with basic information on the requirements of the placement. This enables the centre to assess whether we would be able to meet the family’s needs.

Whilst all referrals to Kaleidoscope will be considered, we are unable to offer placements to parents currently using drugs or alcohol, unless they are actively participating in a rehabilitation programme or have been abstinent for a minimum of 3 months. This is, however, at the discretion of the manager and all information will be considered during the preplacement viability stage.

Due to the safety of all residents and staff, Kaleidoscope is unable to offer placements to parents who pose a current risk of violence that would place other families, staff, and visitors in danger. All families will be risk assessed prior to admission, and families will not be offered a placement if it is deemed a parent could pose a risk to the safety of other children, families, staff, and visitors. Parents who have a conviction due to committing an offence, and / or due to being known as a person who poses a risk to children will not be offered a placement. Similarly, parents who have had a previous police investigation or accusation for any offences relating to children or sexually violent offences / behaviour will be assessed on a case-by-case basis, to ensure we can safeguard other families placed in the centre.

Should a referral meet Kaleidoscope’s criteria, we will conduct an initial assessment around risk and viability and an impact risk assessment, which considers the impact the new placement could have on the centre, and the potential impact it could have on the current families, prior to and after a placement commences. These assessments are completed by a member of the management team.

Upon completion of the initial assessment, the management team will be responsible for establishing whether Kaleidoscope is able to undertake the parenting assessment, and risk assess the prospective families’ needs and the services offered and consider this alongside the needs of other families placed. This is to ensure that Kaleidoscope is able to offer the most suitable placement to all families and agencies involved.

The process from referral to completion of the initial assessment is not a time-consuming process and can be conducted with flexibility. The process is not designed to cause delays, but to prepare and plan the most suitable assessment and package of support for the family, and if the family are in agreement, to allow the family time to meet the staff and visit Chester Road, prior to their placement commencing.

A placement will not be able to commence with Kaleidoscope, until a full risk and viability assessment has been completed. The following information must also be provided by the placing local authority prior to a placement commencing:

• Preadmission risk assessment
• Referral information
• Care plans
• Local authority’s placement plan
• Letter of instruction
• Care plan for ICO
• Child protection plan for section 20 or other
• Any recent drug or alcohol testing results
• Essential medical information
• Kaleidoscope’s completed referral form - external agencies (all Core group members)
• Cognitive assessments (if completed)
• Psychological assessment (if completed)
•  

Fees and Charges of the Residential Family Centre

Fees and charges can be requested from Kaleidoscope, and these will be provided on a case by case basis. Fees are calculated based on the requirements of the placement, risks posed, support required, and the needs of the family.

All placements will include a residential stay for a family, with onsite support, and will include:

• An individualised support package, tailored to the needs of residents, in line with support requested by the Local Authority in the letter of instruction, pre-admissions meeting, and placement agreement.
• Different levels of CCTV supervision / observation are offered, based on the needs of the family and / or risks.
• Robust, evidence based assessments completed by qualified Social Workers, using Parent Assess (see below)
• Daily Assessment Records, which provide detailed records of daily observations
• Individualised programmes of direct work provided by Support Workers, Social Workers and Key Workers to support parent(s) to: develop their parenting skills, raise their aspirations and expectations, and educate them in areas of personal safety / contraception / healthy lifestyle / child development / Webster Stratton Parenting / childhood illnesses / child protection & healthy and safe relationships, substance misuse, and so forth.
• Individual sessions with parent(s) and child to identify strengths and weaknesses, with plans formulated to increase strengths and develop / address areas of concern.
• Guidance and support utilising a key worker/mentor system throughout the residency provided by experienced and qualified staff.
• Support groups, facilitated by a psychotherapist
• Regular updates, assessments and reports provided to Local Authorities, outlining resident’s progress and / or any areas of concern.
• Activities (both one to one and group) designed to enhance resident’s social skills and self esteem, and provide opportunities for parents to bond and play with their child(ren).
• Off site activity and supervision for parent(s) and child, to encourage social skills, and build parent’s confidence whilst in the community.
• Waking night support.
• Facilitation of in house meetings with professionals.
• Residents are able to access their own personal records through a password protected records system on a computer (where appropriate).
• Individual flats, which can be personalised by the family for the duration of their stay
• Complete IT package (including access to the internet / phone, where usage is monitored and limited)
• Digital television package.

Specialist Services and Additional Fees

Any support or services which will incur an additional fee would be agreed in advance with the Local Authorities on an individual basis. This could include supporting a family to attend court (plus mileage), supervised contact, transportation arrangements. The transport of the family to the Centre and the family’s discharge home is to be arranged by the Local Authority, including transportation of family members and their personal belongings.

If 24/7 CCTV observation is required, this can be provided at an additional cost to the Local Authority, and would need to be discussed and agreed prior to securing the placement.

Therapeutic assessments, interventions and support, provided by Kaleidoscope’s psychotherapist would incur an additional fee from the Local Authority. This would be agreed on an individual basis, based on the frequency, duration, and nature of the intervention / assessment that is required.

Advice, Guidance and Counselling Services Provided

Support and Intervention

Prior to admission, Kaleidoscope performs a full Risk and Viability Assessment and impact risk assessment which investigates and explores all aspects of each family’s ability to undertake the assessment and the level of risk involved, which is at no cost to the placing authority. A programme of direct work and intervention is created, which aims to provide support and guide parents towards independence, and equip them with the relevant skills they will require to safely care for their child, when they return home. This includes renewing parental confidence and self-esteem as many parents can suffer from a lack of belief in their own abilities, which adversely affects their move towards independence.

Staff use a holistic approach to meet the needs of each family, and utilise relevant legislation including The Children Act 1989 & 2004, (amended Female Genital mutilation 2019) Helping Children to Achieve More, the United Nations’ Convention on the Rights of the Child and ‘Quality Protects’ ethos, which aims to deliver better life chances for the most vulnerable and disadvantaged children.

Parents are supported in understanding any and all child protection concerns and provided with information and strategies on how they could further their children’s overall physical, emotional, intellectual and cognitive development. This is provided through play and practical demonstrations and direct workshops with support workers and play workers, as well as the use of questionnaires and scales assessment tools, and sessions with the assessing social worker. We also encourage parents to take up or continue a hobby as a means of developing a sense of self-worth and identity. 

We believe that the assessment is crucial in identifying the support required for each family and that all support will need to constantly adapt to meet the changing needs of the family. The assessment process is led by a qualified, trained and experienced social worker who is responsible for conducting the assessment, preparing reports, planning the placement and assessment package and directing the family support workers regarding the support and direct work to be delivered and undertaken with each family.

Family support workers are responsible for the delivery of support services to each family through advocacy, guidance and a supportive role. This can take many forms from role modelling care, giving guidance on basic care, ensuring safety, emotional warmth, stimulation, guidance and boundaries, child development and stability. This is inclusive of work completed by our play worker. Also, support workers provide families with support to access external services and / or by undertaking targeted, direct work, to support parents to reflect on any areas of concern, and consider different parenting approaches and strategies. A family support worker will be allocated to each parent on commencement of their placement. All key workers are ‘matched’ to parent’s, based on experience, skills, needs.  

Direct Work

Direct work includes sessions around a number of topics, including: health and well-being, budgeting and finance, independence skills such as cooking, managing routines, washing and ironing, nutrition and diet, fire safety, hygiene and building positive relationships.

We have also developed direct work sessions on healthy relationships, safeguarding and child protection, which are targeted at parents who have experienced domestic violence. This also includes how to choose a safe childcare environment and internet safety, monitoring, childhood illnesses and tailored sessions that a family may require.

Assessment and Monitoring Models used by Kaleidoscope

Monitoring

Kaleidoscope employs a ‘stand back’ approach.

When a parent’s placement commences,  all parenting tasks, such as the feeding and changing of their child, will be observed by staff being physically present in the room, and also via CCTV footage.  The purpose of this is to ensure the safety of the child, and that the tasks have been carried out safely and appropriately, and in a manner which meets the needs of the child, and enables staff intervention and support as and when needed. As staff observe parents completing tasks appropriately, the assessor will amend the assessment plan and staff will withdraw / reduce observations over time. The length of time for observations by staff will be dependent upon the task, the needs of the child and the parent’s ability. All observations will be discussed with the parent, so they are aware of the purpose of them.

Monitoring of families consists of direct observations, reviewing CCTV footage, and daily case recordings. Observations include body language and verbal language, including tone of voice to assess interaction between parent and child. The child’s appearance and manner are recorded, along with the parent’s ability to recognise and respond to the child’s needs.

All staff are provided with training and support to ensure the monitoring of residents is relevant, appropriate, in line with their placement plan, and to ensure they are aware of how to record an accurate account of their observations within the daily assessment recordings. This ensures that the  records which are completed based on their observations are accurate. Regular discussions and feedback is provided, to ensure that a good quality of observation and record keeping are maintained.

Daily handovers between staff take place at the end of each shift, both verbally, and written, to ensure consistency in care and support.

Parent Assess

Kaleidoscope’s Social Workers use Parent Assess to undertake the assessments of the families we are supporting. Parent Assess is a strengths-based framework, based on the well-established DoH’s Assessment of Children in Need and their Families (2000), and also uses a range of tools and tables to help parents with additional needs to engage in their assessment and understand the process. Recommendations from relevant case law and Good Practice Guidance are embedded in Parent Assess, including careful consideration of a family’s proposed support network.

​Our assessors are Social Workers who have been trained to use Parent Assess, and are able to carefully identify each parent's specific needs and understand and identify what support and / or input may be required to help the parent, and  potential risks, with a focus on each child's experience. Assessors are also trained to help parents to understand risks posed to themselves and their children, by using creative approaches. The observations and interactions with families are used as evidence within the assessment that is completed by the assessing social workers. A separate abridged Parent Report is provided at the conclusion of the assessment, which explains the outcome of the assessment in a way the a parent can understand. 

Assessments completed using Parent Assess explores 5 key areas:

• The child's experience of being parented (how the parent meets the physical and emotional needs of the child, and the parent’s ability to be attuned to their child)
• Parental functioning (the parent's history and the impact this has on their parenting; the parent's ability to change, decision making, multi-tasking and how they manage risk and social media).
• Specific issues (i.e., domestic abuse, alcohol, drug use, offending, gambling, and other risk factors which may have a cultural context)
• The parent's daily living skills (how the parent is able to organise and manage daily life. Considers the parent's ability to cook, provide a clean safe home and manage money)
• Support (any gaps are identified in the areas above, and in the parent's support network and their ability to access support).

By using this tool to break down these elements of parenting into testable components, Assessing Social Workers are able to produce and write a good quality, evidence based assessment, which have used a variety of mediums to test each skill. After completing the assessment, the assessor will have a clear visual family profile of functioning that targets the parent’s support needs, as well as outlines any child protection issues.

Throughout their placements at Kaleidoscope, parents will receive a tailor-made teaching package to address and develop any skills and / or areas of concern that have been identified during the assessment process. The assessment is re-administered at week 10 of their placement, to assess the uptake and maintenance of newly acquired skills and knowledge. This will need to be requested via the letter of instruction if required by the local authority.

Additional Tools

When conducting assessments, Kaleidoscope also uses the signs of safety model, and the assessment framework.

Signs of Safety

The Signs of Safety approach is a relationship based, safety organised approach to child protection practice that was created through researching what works for professionals and families in building meaningful safety for vulnerable and at risk children. This is both child centred and family focused. It enables us to collect and process information relating to a number of topics (which include but are not limited to): risk, chronology, employment, perception of self, self-esteem, thinking and behaviour patterns, substance use, previous and current relationships, parenting knowledge and style, parenting skills and abilities and living arrangements.

Through observations, we monitor the extent to which a child appears psychologically safe and secure in their parent’s care. We will also note the parent’s capacity to ensure the child’s emotional and physical needs are met, and observe how parents are able to manage and respond to stressful situations, such as bedtime, waking for feeds in the night and children being unsettled. Using the information gathered from these observations, an assessment is made as to any additional support that may be required by the family, after they have moved on from the family assessment centre.

The Framework for Assessment of Children in Need and their Families

The Department of Health’s Framework for the Assessment of Children in Need and their families defines assessment as a process which establishes the central and most important aspects of the needs of the child, and the ability and capacity of his or her parents or caregivers to respond appropriately to these needs. Kaleidoscope uses the guidelines set out within this framework to explore the three domains of:

• The child’s development needs
•  Parental capacity – the parent’s ability, commitment and motivation to respond appropriately in meeting the child’s needs
•  The family and wider environmental factors

These three domains are covered with all assessment reports and Final Assessment reports. The conclusion of the assessment report is based on the criteria outlined by the Welfare Checklist.

Protecting Children and Parents accommodated in Kaleidoscope

Safeguarding Procedure

Kaleidoscope has a robust and comprehensive safeguarding policy, which outlines the systems that are in place to ensure children and their parents are protected. Staff must familiarise themselves with this policy during their induction period, and training is provided to ensure that all staff understand the principles and practice involved in the protection of children and their parents, and are able to take appropriate action if they have concerns, and / or receive information which indicates actual or possible evidence of abuse.