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Mother & Baby

Phoenix Childcare Ltd has long recognised the need to work positively with young people who have emotional and behavioural difficulties and who become pregnant.

The reality is they do not stop having their emotional and behavioural difficulties just because they are pregnant. Our staff have developed a systematic way to work with young girls who are struggling with the enormity of their circumstances.

The home’s statement and purpose will also work inline with the objectives of the homes requirement to the individual and will work with Child protection guidelines at all times to help safeguard the infant.

All girls have access to our psychotherapist who can help them deal with changing circumstances and the emotional turmoil that is an integral part of motherhood.

The Mother and Baby homes would like the placements to be an experience to help the young parent care for their child to an agreeable standard set out by all agencies involved, which will help form the basics of parenthood and safeguard all children from risk.

Supporting Education

Education can also be achieved by using local resources such as Sure Start, Prince’s Trust, work experience in nursery or playgroups with “in house” training towards NVQ qualifications. there is a local college which has a creche facility which can be tailored for individuals to work towards their GCSE’s or vocational skills.

Resources

Emphasis is on the future, which can often be seen as ‘bleak’ but does not have to be. Resources exist to promote young mothers to become productive adults.

All our Mother & Baby Units are established as small children’s homes with only one resident, the mother. The baby is cared for by the mother with the help and support of the staff; however staff do not provide a baby sitting service. The unit’s statement of purpose reflects this specialised service

The staff

The staff will work within the Common Assessment framework as required by all agencies to help towards future planning and being able to use the skills required to become quality parent.

Staffing levels reflect their individual needs but the over-riding concept is to encourage and promote the girls to become good mothers who are independent in nature, with the potential to grow into positive adults.
Often education is overlooked in these circumstances, but it is considered a priority by Phoenix Childcare Ltd who supports the girls to continue their education and to achieve.

When & how to secure a placement

Placements are ideally begun in the second or in the early part of the third trimester and should continue for a minimum of twelve months after the child is born.

Placements are ideally begun in the second or in the early part of the third trimester and should continue for a minimum of twelve months after the child is born.

However it is clear that ideal circumstances rarely exist and Phoenix Childcare Ltd are pragmatic in their approach to circumstances that are not ideal. For example, where a referral is made and no vacancy exists, a unit can often be established within a short timescale, occasionally young people can hide the fact they are pregnant until very late and things have to be sorted out quickly or their circumstances unexpectedly change once the child is born. These are seen not as problems but as challenges to be over come by our senior staff team.