Conwy Families First Research Report Conwy Children and Young People’s Partnership This report has been written for: Conwy CYPP (Families First Project Board), to assist in the development of Families First projects Final version February 2012 Conwy Families First Research Report Contents Executive summary................................................................................3 1 Research methodology....................................................................................... 3 2 Findings.............................................................................................................. 4 Service areas and themes ............................................................................... 4 Concepts: Families’ reasoning about their experiences................................... 8 3 Next steps .......................................................................................................... 9 Quantitative data analysis ...................................................................10 Summary .................................................................................................................. 10 1 Methodology..................................................................................................... 10 2 Findings............................................................................................................ 12 3 Geography of need in Conwy ........................................................................... 14 4 Themes ............................................................................................................ 16 Housing and homelessness........................................................................... 16 Mental and emotional health.......................................................................... 16 Education and learning .................................................................................. 17 Social Services .............................................................................................. 17 Parents’ needs............................................................................................... 17 Family breakdown and domestic abuse......................................................... 18 Money and finances....................................................................................... 18 Employment................................................................................................... 18 Misuse of drugs and alcohol .......................................................................... 18 Children with disabilities................................................................................. 18 5 North Wales needs assessment....................................................................... 19 6 References ....................................................................................................... 21 The lived experiences of vulnerable families in Conwy: A qualitative study for Conwy Families First programme ................22 Summary .................................................................................................................. 22 1 Introduction....................................................................................................... 27 2 Background ...................................................................................................... 27 3 Methodology..................................................................................................... 27 Sample........................................................................................................... 27 1 Conwy Families First Research Report Data collection ............................................................................................... 28 Analysis ......................................................................................................... 28 4 Findings............................................................................................................ 29 4.1 Service areas and themes .................................................................. 29 4.1.1 Housing and Homelessness................................................................ 29 4.1.2 Mental and emotional health ............................................................... 32 4.1.3 Education and learning ....................................................................... 35 4.1.4 Social Services / child protection......................................................... 39 4.1.5 Parenting............................................................................................. 41 4.1.6 Relationships, family breakdown and abuse ....................................... 43 4.1.7 Poverty, money and benefits............................................................... 46 4.1.8 Employment ........................................................................................ 48 4.1.9 Drugs and alcohol ............................................................................... 50 4.1.10 Communication and information.......................................................... 51 4.1.11 Children with Disabilities ..................................................................... 54 4.2 Concepts: families’ reasoning about their experiences ....................... 61 4.2.1 Crisis or turning points / triggers (and intervention/prevention) ........... 61 4.2.2 Coping strategies ................................................................................ 64 4.2.3 Parents’ childhood experiences .......................................................... 67 4.2.4 Evaluation of who or what is responsible for a situation........................ 68 4.2.5 Engagement with services .................................................................. 72 4.2.6 Support networks ................................................................................ 74 5 Conclusion........................................................................................................ 77 6 Feedback.......................................................................................................... 77 Annexe 1: Qualitative Research and Interviewing .................................................... 78 Annexe 2 - Information sheet and Consent Form..................................................... 81 2 Conwy Families First Research Report Conwy Families First Research Report Executive summary Families First is a new Welsh Government programme that aims to achieve better health and wellbeing, education and employment for families living in poverty. Each local authority is being asked to try new ways to enable everyone who supports families to work better together and so prevent families from developing more complex needs. A key element of the programme is support for families of children with disabilities. 1 Research methodology There are four strands to the research undertaken to develop Conwy’s Families First programme to allow us to ‘triangulate’ and compare the findings from the different methods. 1. Quantative data collection: identifying vulnerable families by collecting data on vulnerable families known to the following services: Revenues and benefits; Social Services; Health; Education; Youth Justice Service and HOST (homelessness service). Each service provided a list of parents, children, young people or families including names, dates of birth and postcodes so we were able to cross reference each list against the other; find out the numbers of families using multiple services and map the data to find concentrations of need in the county. Each service signed up to an Information Sharing Protocol which explained how the data was to be used and stored. 2. Consultation with professionals: We held two visioning days to inform the programme, one in February and one in October 2011. We also took ideas for the transition year projects and the initial Families First Action Plan from the work with the Core Aim Groups, and strategies developed by the partnership. Particularly the Play Strategy; Social Inclusion Strategy, Parenting Joint Commissioning Plan and Conwy Children and Young People’s Plan 2011-14. 3. Qualitative data collection: This strand focuses on the lived experiences of vulnerable families in Conwy – their perceptions of their experiences and needs (and, in some cases, the professionals working with them). This included listening to their stories, their experiences of services, and their perspectives on what might have prevented or helped their situation (qualitative interviewing). The examples and perspectives provided in this study will bring to life the quantitative data about families in Conwy, and will help to shape future provision for them. 3 Conwy Families First Research Report The study took place among 33 families and 12 professionals. The sample covered families with varying involvement from services, and with varying family circumstances, including children with disabilities. Due consideration has been given to quality and ethics, including transcribing, anonymising data, coding, and developing an analysis framework. 4. Service profiling: Investigating and mapping the services available to children, young people and families. Based on the data collected, the Families First Project Board will choose strands to be profiled, to identify duplication and gaps in service provision. For example, while the research shows a need for bereavement support services, it may be that the real need is to raise awareness