That was the message delivered earlier this month when councillors on the authority’s Social Work committee were given an update on the vital service being delivered by the centres in Burnbank, and Cambuslang. 

Explained Soumen Sengupta, Director of Health and Social Care: “Each of the centres is very much a hub in its respective community, with the teams on the ground working to help families tackle the effects of a range of social issues, most notably unemployment, drug and alcohol misuse, homelessness, domestic violence and poor mental health.

“They have a fundamental role in realising our commitment to early intervention by helping to strengthen the capacity of individuals, families, and communities. By increasing our focus on prevention, we, and they, can build resilience before problems arise.

“Our specialist staff work hard to reduce child protection referrals through early and intensive family support. It has been a privilege for me to be able to bring our elected members up to date on the huge body of work being done now, and crucially, throughout the lockdown periods of the Covid-19 pandemic.” 

The Cambuslang and Burnbank Family Centres are purpose-built and offer nurturing environments where support is targeted primarily towards families with children under five. There is also a focus on young parents aged up to 18. 

Each centre offers support to families who are referred from a variety of sources, from midwives and health visitors to social work and education staff. A key success reported to the committee was that of the implementation of an intensive group work programme. 

With the majority slowly returning to in-person, covid-safe events, staff also used and adapted new technology to ensure as many as possible were able to continue during the lockdown periods of the last 18 months.

These initiatives include:

• Incredible Years - an evidence-based programme for parents, designed to prevent and challenge young children's behaviour problems and promote their social, emotional, and academic competence 
• Mellow Parenting - A 14-week accredited programme helping parents develop positive relationships with their children, increasing confidence and self-esteem as well as parent/child bonding
• All About Me - A project aimed at parents who are new to group work and designed to reduce social isolation, stress, and mental health issues, raise self-esteem, boost confidence, and encourage social engagement
• Dads’ Group – providing an opportunity for dads and male carers to come together and get involved in activities and discussions about the challenges and stresses of parenting
• Early Birds/Early Bird Plus - a 12-week programme for parents and carers of four to eight-year-olds with an autistic spectrum disorder aiming to inform and empower

Added Soumen: “With the delivery of our group work programme, our aim is to achieve positive outcomes for parents and families by building self-confidence, self-esteem and resilience which, in turn, can lead to improved parenting. Most importantly we have seen that this can result in children remaining at home and being parented safely, which is the outcome we all want.” 

Councillor John Bradley, Chair of the Social Work Committee, went along with Soumen to Cambuslang Family Centre today (pictured) to see the work for himself and was full of praise for the work of both centres. He said: “Our provision is in line with the GIRFEC national approach in Scotland to improve outcomes and support the wellbeing of our children and young people by offering the right help at the right time from the right people. 

“It supports children and their parents to work in partnership with the services that can help them and can tap into a wide range of partner agencies including community police, health visitors and midwives, credit unions, community groups, churches, Scottish Women’s Aid and local foodbanks. 

“It’s encouraging to hear how the staff in our centres embraced technology to make sure the groupwork programme could continue to be delivered throughout the pandemic, which I know must have made a significant difference to the lives of so many at such a challenging time.”

Work undertaken in the Family Centres can also involve child protection, adoption, looked after and accommodated children (LAAC), kinship, support of those in the Children’s Hearing system and pre-birth risk assessments.

Concluded Soumen Sengupta: “Our Family Centres give us the opportunity to provide a targeted service to the most vulnerable in our communities as early as possible. While we are still very much living with the pandemic and adjusting and arranging our services to suit these difficult and challenging times, we know from experience that this model and intensive approach can, and does, change lives.”