What We Do
The Child & Family Service
Building positive relationships, both within families and between ourselves and families, is at the core of our work. We work with families according to the key values of our organization: Trust, Empathy, Inclusion and Trust.
We work in partnership with families to help them identify what is working well for the family and areas where they would like to make changes. We support them to build healthier relationships and to manage and overcome many of the challenges that occur in family life. These issues may include breakdown in family communication, relationship issues, education issues, poverty, inadequate housing, acrimonious separations, domestic violence, addiction or other trauma related issues. We understand that families are often trying their best to support their children, but poverty, inequality and lack of access to essential services can make a challenging job extremely difficult.
Our work is done through home visits and centre-based work and through groups.
We also facilitate a number of groups and parenting programmes. These programmes are important for supporting parents to build skills and knowledge in the areas of parenting, but they also provide important opportunities for parents and carers to meet each other, share their experiences and build social support networks.
We lead on the Meitheal Process, which builds on partnerships with parents and other agencies to best meet the needs of families and supports integrated working to best meet the needs of families.
Below is an outline of the individual programmes within the Child and Family Service. Across the team, we work closely together and with other services within LSSC such as the Counselling and Psychotherapy Service and Early Years Services to provide integrated services.
The Community Social Work and Family Support Service
The Community Social Work and Family Support Service consists of professionally qualified social workers and family support workers who work to support families to build stronger relationships, develop their parenting and communication skills and address a range of challenges that the family may be facing. The team work with families with children up to the age of 18.
The Young Parents Support Programme (YPSP)
The Teen Parent Support Programme (TPSP) is a support service for young mothers, fathers and their families from pregnancy and right through the first 1000 days of the child’s life. We offer support, information and advocacy in all areas of a young parent’s life including health, relationships, parenting, child care, social welfare entitlements, education, training and anything else about which the mother or father is concerned. We also offer group and programmes for young parents.
YPSP Limerick is one of seven projects nationally. This project is co-funded by the Government of Ireland and the European Union.
The Community Families Programme (formerly Community Mothers)
The Community Families Programme (formerly Community Mothers) is a home visiting service for families with new babies and young children. Community Families home visitors visit parents in their home during the early years (generally up to the age of three) to offer support in the areas of positive parent/child relationships, child development and infant and parental mental health.
The home visitors also facilitate Baby/Toddler/ Parent Groups, weaning workshops, baby massage and baby reflexology programmes, Incredible Years Programmes and the Peeps Pre and Ante-Natal Programmes.
The Community Families Programme is part of the national Community Families Programme.
The Southside CFC Child and Family Service
The Southside CFC Child and Family Service provides one to one and groups supports to parents of children attending the early years’ service in the CFC and to parents in the wider community. It works according to a similar model of the other services, with one to one, home visiting and group supports, but it is unique in that it takes an area-based approach and has a significant element of drop-in work. Many parents avail of support and advice as they are dropping off and collecting children.
The Traveller Health Advocacy Programme
The Traveller Health Advocacy Programme aims to improve the health status of Travellers in Limerick City.
The Family Advocacy Service
The Family Advocacy Service is a confidential and independent service for parents in Limerick who have children who are either in care or in the process of being taken in to the care of Tusla. The Service offers support to parents to continue positive involvement with their children while they are in care and assists them to fully participate in Child in Care reviews and child protection case conferences.
Specific Groupwork: A range of groupwork are facilitated through the above services including The Incredible Years Programme; The Start Right Programme; Parent & Toddler Groups; The Parent Summer Support Group; Ante Natal Classes at Clinics; Baby Massage Programmes; Baby Weaning Programmes; Sexual Health & Education Programmes; The City Slickers Programme; The Family Advocacy Support Group.