This is a post by Sarah Phillimore

I was struck in a recent case to read a very simple and powerful exposition by a psychologist of the ‘competence promoting approach’ when assessing parents, as opposed to the ‘competence inhibiting’ approach (Tucker & Johnson, 1989). I hope this psychologist will forgive me if I borrow entirely their summary of what this approach involves – I can’t name them in case that leads to jigsaw identification of the family involved.

To promote competence, the parent is enabled to be in control. Skills are developed on the basis of pre-existing strengths, rather than focusing on weakness. Parents are treated as equal partners when decisions are made about their children.

The ‘competence promoting approach’ has the following characteristics:
• Do not assume that all the problems are caused by parental mental health difficulties.
• Acknowledge environmental factors and parental coping skills.
• Do not assume a lack of nurturing skills or a limited capacity to learn new skills.
• Do not make comparative judgements about the adequacy of home-making and parenting that are informed by culturally inappropriate comparisons with norms for socially advantaged people.
• Recognise the emotional bonds between the parents and their children.
• Value the parents as people by ensuring that professional staff keep appointments, and deliver what they say they will deliver on time. This enhances rather than diminishes parental self-esteem.
• Do not manipulate parental fears about losing their child to ensure compliance.
• Do not provide a level of day to day surveillance that undermines the parents’ independence and reinforces the parents’ sense of inadequacy.
• Involve parents fully in all decisions.
• Provide intensive support at crisis points.
• Ensure that necessary and long term practical support is offered and maintained.
• Provide education and training opportunities that lead to self-reliance.
• Undertake a comprehensive check of state benefits available to the family.

I don’t think I had ever before seen this approach laid out so clearly and it was striking how difficult it was to think of cases where I could be confident that this was indeed the approach adopted by professionals in care proceedings.

I was therefore really pleased only a few days later to hear that Trevi House have now opened Daffodil House, a residential family centre based in Plymouth, Devon. Trevi House is almost unique in the UK, providing rehabilitation and parental assessment for mothers with drug or alcohol dependency issues, together with their children.

It looks like Daffodil House will be an excellent addition to what Trevi House can offer. It aims to offer a strength-based parenting assessment, to support parenst to identify what changes they need to make in order to keep their child safe. The focus is on the safety and welfare of the child, while using a psychologically informed approach in order to address often complex and longstanding problems that have had a negative impact on safe parenting.

Daffodil House adheres to the five core values of trauma informed services (Fallot & Harris, 2006). The aim is thus to provide a safe and nurturing environment for families so that the assessment is fair – whatever the outcome of the assessment, the family will have an experience of ‘transparent working’ and collaboration.

Daffodil House sets out its objectives as follows:

• To ensure that each child is protected and safe
• To put the needs and voice of the child at the heart of the assessment and care planning process
• To deliver assessments that are holistic, comprehensive, robust and timely
• To provide meaningful guidance and direction regarding the parenting capacity of parents
• To assist with decision making regarding the longer-term placement of the child
• To use effective and respected assessment tools
• To work in partnership with parents, building a relationship of trust and developing self-efficacy
• To work in effective partnership with all professionals involved in the family
• To provide a trauma responsive service that works with families using the trauma lens

I am aware of the dangers of being naive; how being ‘cheer leaders’ for parents may risk children suffering more harm for longer. But I am worried that what I usually see in care proceedings is a traumatic and brutal process that simply chews parents up and spits them out. The vast majority of parents love their children and want the best for them – but many simply just do not have the skills to make that desire a reality, due to their own longstanding traumatic experiences.

Therefore it is sad to note that Daffodil House is able to accommodate only ‘up to 5 families’. I know the old parable of the child throwing stranded star fish back into the sea – it made a difference to that star fish! But this a drop in the ocean. If we really value the most vulnerable members of our society, then this kind of provision ought to be the nationwide norm. How many of us who work in this field can say with confidence that the families that we deal with in care proceedings are approached from the basis of ‘confidence building’ as opposed to ‘confidence inhibiting’? And what do we think happens to the parents that the system leaves behind?

Please go to http://trevihouse.org/for-professionals/daffodil-assessment-centre-1 for more info or to make a referral.