Residential Assessment Centre Practice Model

The Pillars of Parenting is predicated on the principle that Authentic Warmth is achievable and starts with knowing the difference between ‘being looked after’ and ‘being cared for’. It is essential for any caring relationship and children are expert at spotting it and indeed reacting negatively to its absence. Effective professional child care needs ‘Authentic Warmth’.

The model combines practical responses to trauma, using the ‘Pillars of Parenting’ to understand each child’s individual needs, with the efficient and economic use of consultant psychologists.

For further information on Pillars of Parenting, please visit www.pillarsofparenting.co.uk

Admission

All efforts will be made to make admissions as well planned as possible even when they take place in an emergency. It is particularly important that the agencies work together to remain child centred in planning admissions.

All admissions will comply with the Looked After Children procedures and planning meetings will be held within one week of admission. The appropriate Looked after Children forms will be expected to accompany the young person on admission so that key information is available and appropriately recorded.

On admission the young person will review with their key worker the ‘young persons’ handbook, which set out the expectations of them whilst living at the unit. It also gives information to the young person on the routine of the house and what they can do if they are unhappy about the service.

Criteria For Admission

Clannad will admit up to five young people of mixed gender aged between twelve and sixteen on admission, where there is one or more of the following concerns present.

• An urgent need to intervene with the young person because of their unacceptable behaviour
• A need for respite, which reflects a level of difficulty at home or in placement that may be responsive to a brief intensive period of focused intervention.
• Request from a young person for time-out, which they believe will give them the opportunity to pull back from disruption of placement.
• Where there are several factors, which have been clearly identified in making a placement undesirable but without a clear picture of what is needed.
• The placement is to provide strategies to intervene in patterns of behaviour within a time scale lasting only a short period of time, up to a maximum of sixteen weeks.

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