Family Assessments

We provide residential assessments for up to three families at any one time at our residential centre located in Northamptonshire. Our assessments, which provide intensive care and support to safeguard at-risk children, on average run for a period of 12 weeks although programs can be tailored to be shorter or longer depending on specific needs.

Each family staying at our centre has a unique and specific program to care for their child or children. We value the integrity and individuality of our families and understand that one size does not fit all. Tailored support is available with daily tasks such as cleaning, cooking, shopping, attending meetings and other necessary parenting requirements. Our highly experienced social work team is available to support families 24-hours a day.

Our social work assessment team are experts in working with families that have complex and entrenched difficulties. Parents typically involved in assessments include those:

• with learning disabilities
• with mental ill-health
• who have a history of substance or alcohol mis-use
• who have been victims of abuse, neglect or violence
• who are very young and struggling

Although social workers or solicitors often refer parents with babies or young children under one, The Woodbridge Family Centre will carry out assessments of parents with older children too.

After an assessment, whether residential or non-residential, our social workers provide an expert opinion which includes recommendations on what parents need to do going forward to meet the needs of their children. At the end of an assessment, we produce a formal report for the courts that concludes the output and recommendations.

We provide a full range of supporting services for our family assessments which includes:

• 1:1 support and monitoring
• Additional waking night staff
• Supervised contact in unit with report
• Contact Supervisor off unit with report
• Supervised contact without report (monitoring only)
• Child care (while parents attend external activities, meetings, court etc)
• Escorting duties
• Attendance at court
• Integrative Psychotherapist/Psychodynamic Counsellors
• Drug testing

Professional assessments, completed by highly dedicated social workers with years of experience, combined with honest and clear feedback on the actions necessary to change unacceptable, aggressive, abusive or neglectful behaviour is at the centre of an approach that has obtained the respect and trust of attending parents.

Our dedication and professionalism, combined with highly competitive pricing and local high-quality accommodation is what makes The Woodbridge Family Centre the preferred residential centre for many placing social workers and solicitors