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Specialist Support Workers: how it all began
Six years ago this month, as the news was full of a virus spreading from China through Italy, I headed to a café for a precious two hours. I wanted to make notes about something that had changed our lives. I wanted to share this joy with other families like ours. Our Specialist Support Worker, Jade, was at home helping my children create 3D models of Minecraft characters.
I left the house, confident that Jade could handle anything that came up and that I wouldn’t have to spend a long time regulating and calming them when I got back. They were having fun and I could have a break. I knew if this could help us, it could help others and in June 2020 we launched the concept of Specialist Support Workers and The Belay Foundation.
What I could see around me in other permanent families parenting care-experienced children was isolation, distress, exhaustion and a lack of practical support such as childcare that didn’t make children and parents feel worse.
The idea was simple: to strengthen a family’s support network where there was a lack of people who could offer a safe and positive relationship to children and a chance for parents to have moments of rest or the chance to work; embedded short breaks. Many families not living with the same levels of complexity have grandparents, aunties, neighbours or friends who can offer babysitting or the occasional sleepover. Trauma, neurodevelopmental issues, problems with attending education and exhaustion from not sleeping create a greater need for support at home and yet fewer opportunities for it. Family members struggle to cope with behaviour, after school clubs say they don’t have enough staff to support 1:1 and friends drift away as they just don’t get it.
For us, Jade and our other Specialist Support Workers would come regularly to spend time at home, building up a relationship slowly in a way that felt safe for us all. They worked in a way that was responsive to trauma and other needs, home-based and attachment-focused, bringing fun and energy at times when mine had left the building, and supporting all of us. Being made a cup of tea and being asked how I was made a huge difference. They were trained by our DDP therapist and given supervision to develop their skills and capacity to stay trauma and needs responsive. Our Specialist Support Workers gained meaningful professional development experience from working with us as well as being paid and so stayed for many years. They now feel like family friends.
Over the years we’ve had the privilege of supporting hundreds of families at Belay. We continue to see families heading into crisis without the practical and relational support at home that might have prevented it. This is not all that families need. Assessments and therapy at the right time, educational support and peer connections are also an important part of the picture. But whether you call it short breaks, respite or support at home, many families need more practical relational support that is helpful not blaming, where children feel delighted in not judged. One young person who was at home with a team of Specialist Support Workers after struggling for years at school said: ‘I used to think everyone hated me; now I think everyone loves me!’ If you would like to find out more about what we offer, please come along to our webinars on Specialist Support Workers. We’d love to see you.
Specialist Support Workers: how it all began
Six years ago this month, as the news was full of a virus spreading from China through Italy, I headed to a café for a precious two hours. I wanted to make notes about something that had changed our lives. I wanted to share this joy with other families like ours. Our Specialist Support Worker, Jade, was at home helping my children create 3D models of Minecraft characters. I left the house, confident that Jade could handle anything that came up and that I wouldn’t have to spend a long time regulating and calming them when I got back. They were having fun and I could have a break. I knew if this could help us, it could help others …
Let’s Talk Respite
This National Adoption Week, we want to talk respite, and share the findings from our survey this summer on respite at home. Thank you so much to everyone who took the time to take part.
This #NationalAdoptionWeek we can think of no better time to talk about how parents at home are – or are not – supported. In particular, we want to talk about respite.
Since 2020 we’ve been helping families to have stronger relationships by finding and training Specialist Support Workers to offer trauma-responsive childcare at home.
Welcome to our new CEO
We’re delighted to welcome Libby McVeigh as new CEO of The Belay Foundation. Libby brings a wealth of experience within the charity, private and public sectors and a passion for social justice. Exciting times lie ahead as Libby leads us to continue improving the lives of adoptive, kinship care and special guardian families.
The Trustees
The Belay Foundation