Family Support
Camphill has a history of over 70 years of supporting families and the comments from our pupils’ parents and siblings over the years is testament to Camphill’s commitment to working with the families of the children and young people placed with us. In addition to the ongoing support for the families of residential or non-residential pupils attending Camphill, Camphill now offers support and guidance to other families through various other services.
A family in crisis because of the complex learning needs or challenging behaviour of a child can now receive support and guidance in a short-term residential placement in St Andrew’s House. Here the needs of the whole family can be assessed and addressed. Camphill’s experienced staff can help family members develop a better understanding for each other’s needs and also develop strategies to manage the challenges they face.
Staff from Camphill’s St Andrew’s Project can also go to the family home to offer support and guidance. Camphill is registered to provide outreach support for families wherever it is needed, and this can take the form of daily or weekly visits to the home to assess the family’s needs and to offer support and guidance on the management of challenging behaviours, parenting issues and complex additional support needs.
The frequency and duration of both services are tailor-made to the needs of the family, and an intervention package is designed and agreed upon between Camphill and the commissioning body after the initial assessment.
Both of these services help families develop the strategies they need to manage effective and long-term change for themselves. These services can help put the management of family crisis and difficulty back in the hands of the family themselves, empowering individual family members and helping them achieve the levels of mutual support and understanding the family needs to be resilient.
Another family support package Camphill can offer is training and support for new foster carers working with children with complex needs. Camphill can offer residential short-term placements to children awaiting the identification of foster carers. Once the carers have been identified, Camphill can offer them training and support whilst the child and family go through a transition process from Camphill to foster placement. The transition process is tailored to the needs of the child and foster carers to ensure the pace and level of handover from Camphill is right for individual circumstance. Camphill’s involvement can continue beyond the residential period and families can receive ongoing support, guidance, training and respite from Camphill. This service can help ensure the success and sustainability of new foster placements for children and young people with the most complex needs.
Camphill’s Nature Nurture® Project also offers an element of family support.
