PROVIDING SUPPORT FOR FAMILIES IN THE NORTH WEST
Stacey Heatley from Action for Children’s Western Early Intervention Support Services tells Maureen Coleman about her role and why she loves it so much.
When it comes to providing support for parents and children in need of extra attention and help, Derry woman Stacey Heatley says that every family is different in terms of the issues they’re dealing with.
It’s because of this individuality that the family support practitioner in Action for Children’s Western Early Intervention Support Service comes up with an action plan tailored to suit each of the 12 families she sees in a week.
Stacey, who has a background in early years, joined the charity just under two years ago and in that time, as one of five family support practitioners, has worked with hundreds of families from Castlederg to Greysteel.
Her work is vital, and she loves knowing that she’s helping to make a difference in the lives of many children and their parents.
As a family support practitioner, Stacey works with families who have children from 0 to 18 who have additional needs or are facing challenges to overcome. Her role is to provide support for each family over a 10-week period, helping the children overcome their struggles, change challenging behaviours and put steps in place to help with issues like anxiety and refusal to go to school.
“I see families where the children might have problems at school, behavioural issues at home, prediagnosed ADHD or ASD or a parent with mental health issues where we have to implement strategies at home,” says 31-year-old Stacey.
“To be honest there’s not much we don’t work with, but I’ve definitely seen an increase in anxiety among preteens or children going into first year and that’s been in the last few years.
“I think a lot of that is down to social media and peer pressure which can trigger anxiety and insecurities and make a child not want to go to school or act up at home.
“Every family is different and dealing with their own challenges, so every approach is tailored to meet each family’s specific needs.”
After receiving a referral from Gateway social services, a GP or one of Action for Children’s local hubs, Stacey will go out to see the family to gauge the type of assistance and support they require.
Her first step is to build rapport with the parents and children, and she acknowledges that sometimes this can be a challenge in itself as the family is letting a stranger into their home.
Once a relationship has been established, Stacey finds the parents tend to open up more about the issues they’re facing and the support that they need. Stacey says that, once again, she opts for a tailored approach as young children need a different approach than children in their teens.
“We’ll devise an action plan for them after identifying the main issues and I’ll link in with my manager every week to see how that’s progressing,” explains Stacey.
“I work with the parent and child on a Family Star Assessment, which has 10 different outcomes around things like home and money, how the parent feels.
“Each outcome is rated out of 10 to help the parent identify what areas they need support with, and it help keeps us as family support practitioners focused too.
“The action plan is tailored depending on age. With a young child, for example, we’ll use more visuals and storytelling to engage them so they will work with mummy.
“That’s why it’s so important that the parents support what we do.”
Sessions take place at home or if not suitable, at appropriate venues where Stacey can catch up with the family and see how they’re getting on with the action plan.
The sessions wrap after 10 weeks but Stacey says that any family still needing support will be signposted to other agencies and not left to deal with things on their own.
“One of the best parts of the job is seeing the difference we make, and the positive changes that are made on the journey,” she says.
“That’s particularly the case when the family has maybe been a bit hesitant about me coming out in the first place.
“Because the service is short term, it can be tough when we have to leave but we always make sure that if they still need support, they are signposted elsewhere.
“But it’s lovely when we do see children and parents who have worked with us and are doing well.”
Stacey says it’s often a difficult time of year for many families who are struggling financially but that the charity is always there to help.
“I love my job and am lucky to be part of a great wee team,” she says.
“Everyone is so supportive of each other so if any of us ever need a bit of support ourselves, all we have to do is pick up the phone and there’s someone there to talk to.”
