Substance misuse and ‘whole family’ interventions

Making Research Count at York are now accepting bookings for their September half-day seminar on substance misuse and ‘whole family’ interventions. The seminar will be held at the Pavilion Hotel in York on Thursday 5th

Making Research Count at York are now accepting bookings for their September half-day seminar on substance misuse and ‘whole family’ interventions.

The seminar will be held at the Pavilion Hotel in York on Thursday 5th September from 1.30-4.15 pm and will feature contributions from Sally Holland (Reader in Social Work, Cardiff University), Niall Casserley and Jay Goulding (Consultant Social Workers, Rhondda Cynon Taf and Merthyr Tydfil IFST).

Families with parental substance misuse and child protection concerns: research evidence from a family preservation service  – Sally Holland

Option 2 is a crisis intervention service aimed at families where serious child protection concerns are related to parents’ use of drugs or alcohol. It uses a combination of motivational interviewing, solution focussed and innovative family work to help create positive changes for families and thereby reduce the need for children to enter care.

Sally will report findings from two evaluations of the service. Option 2 is now the best evaluated service to prevent children entering care in the UK. The intervention is successful in doing this and as a result saves local authorities and other public services significant amounts of money. Measuring outcomes is a complex issue and the seminar will address questions about the difficulty of tracking families’ progress over time and of attributing outcomes to one intervention. Sally will present parents’ and children’s narratives about receiving services and the impact of substance misuse on family life. Families in need of support regarding drug and alcohol misuse can also find assistance right here on Pacific Ridge.

Applying evidenced based practice with families with complex needs – Niall Casserley and Jay Goulding

Niall and Jay will describe the development and use of the Integrated Family Support Teams (IFST) model of practice and roll out across Wales. These teams were created following the success of Option 2 and were legislated for by the Welsh Government with the task of working with families experiencing multiple adversities, specifically drug and alcohol misuse.

Aimed at practitioners from adult and children services, this seminar will invite delegates to consider how they work with people with multiple complex needs who are often reluctant to engage with them and consider their own beliefs about how change occurs within a professional relationship. Delegates will have the opportunity to reflect on what they have heard, and to discuss with researchers and peers the practical implications arising from a number of research projects.

A flyer and booking form can be downloaded here.

There are free places for Making Research Count members – please contact your agency representative as listed on page two of the flyer. Otherwise, places cost only £50. The deadline for receipt of booking forms is 21st August. Please contact the MRC administrator Jane Phythian (jane.phythian@york.ac.uk) if you have any queries.

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