What we do
The aim of the centre is to offer assessment and support services to families referred to us by South Eastern Trust staff, usually to enable them to retain the care of their children or to have a child returned to their parents’ care.
Simpson FRC covers a wide geographical area which includes Bangor, Newtownards and the Ards Peninsula. Whilst most of the work is undertaken at the Centre we have on occasions worked with families in venues closer to their own homes/communities when distance or travel has been an issue for them. The Centre has a people carrier which enables us to provide transport for families.
Our precise referral criteria can be found here.
Our services include:
- Individual work with parent(s) or child(ren).
- Parent/child relationship work.
- Couple relationship work.
- Group work for parents.
- Group work for children.
- Family work.
Some examples of work referred to us:
- Working with a family where their have been multiple problems in the past – drug & alcohol abuse, domestic violence, etc. Helping the family members make sense of what happened and ‘move on’.
- Working with a young mother to build up her confidence and give her the parenting ‘tools’ she needs to have her child returned to her care.
- Assessing the protectiveness of a mother whose former partner abused her children.
Examples of outcomes we set out to achieve:
- Children can make more sense of their past experiences and feel more informed and secure about what the future will hold.
- Families are better equipped to identify and meet their children’s developmental needs and keep them safe.
- Children’s placement needs are identified and supported.
