View the evaluation summary here
View the full evaluation report here
Today (8th May 2006), leading Scottish care charity Quarriers launch a research report which highlights the need for more 'non-stigmatised' services for families in need of support. The report is based on a two year study in to the work and success of Quarriers Family Resource Centre in Ruchazie, Glasgow, with a particular focus on ten families using the services there. It was carried out by staff at the Social Work Research Centre, University of Stirling and funded by Glasgow Council's Changing Children's Services Fund.
The centre was considered for evaluation because in its first few years of operation it had become recognised locally, and across Scotland, as a 'flagship' service which supports local families, in a deprived area, and made a significant improvement to the lives of individuals receiving support.
Mary Glasgow, Quarriers service manager, said: "One of the clearest messages from the evaluation was that the centre's success and distinctive contribution could be attributed to its anti-discriminatory and non-judgemental value base. It has highlighted the need for more services for families that are not viewed by the local community as services for families that are not coping."
One of the fathers at the centre said: "When I came here first I didn't know who was staff and who were just people using the centre... all very informal and friendly... and the staff weren't in offices, I think I met most of them in the kitchen and the drop in room... staff and users of the centre all eating lunch together in the drop-in room... you don't see that very often."
Other professionals that were involved with the centre appreciated that staff had been very proactive in making links with other agencies. Several expressed the view that the benefit to the community had not simply been in terms of what the centre offered directly but that the positive energy its staff created in the community as a whole.
Professor Bob Holman said: "The Quarriers Family Resource Centre shows that preventative work can succeed without undermining child protection. It is an excellent example of the kind of innovation which voluntary bodies should be using."
The centres collaboration with other agencies, including Social Work, was also noted as a reason for its success. One of the mother's involved in the study commented: "I know that my kids would not be with me today if it wasn't for the staff here at the centre. They have worked with the health visitor and the social worker to get me back on my feet."
Moira Walker, senior researcher at University of Stirling said: "This project is a good example of what can be achieved when agencies work together and focus on serving the community as a whole. It shows that the parents really appreciate when professionals listen to them and take their views seriously. It also provides further evidence that professionals can best help families and keep children safe when they have enough time and skill to get to know them as individuals."
Of the ten families involved in the study, the evaluation concluded that in five of the families the children's lives had clearly improved, whilst three had had improvements in some, but not all aspects of their lives. In the remaining two families concerns persisted about how the children were cared for, so workers had concluded that more intensive practical support and supervision would be needed if the children were to remain safely at home. Children from two of the families were no longer on the Child Protection register and one set has returned home from being accommodated.
The range of services on offer at the centre was the key to its capacity to engage with parents with different needs and preferences. In addition to providing a nursery service, women's group, dad's group, literacy support, drop-in, playtime and parenting classes, the centre also provides intensive support to families in crisis and aims to keep children as safe as possible in their own homes.
As a result of the evaluation Quarriers has prepared a practice guide for agencies replicating similar services or looking to engage with similar groups of people. It highlights key aims as; promoting children's well-being through supporting parents, empowerment, challenging discrimination and stereotypes, reducing the effects of disadvantage alongside helping people to cope with personal difficulties.
The centre's social development and interdisciplinary ethos has also been reflected in the range of partner agencies which contributed to its development and funding - Quarriers, Glasgow City Council Social Work Services and Education Department, Greater Easterhouse Social Inclusion Partnership, Scottish Homes, Greater Glasgow Health Board - Health Promotion, Scottish Enterprise, The Big Step (Social Inclusion Partnership) and a grant from BBC Children in Need funded a post dedicated to work with dads.
Quarriers provides support and care for adults and children with a physical or learning disability, for children and families facing poverty, family breakdown, exclusion and disadvantage and for young people with social, emotional or behavioural difficulties, or who are homeless. Quarriers also offers support to carers of all ages who need respite, advice or just a friend to listen, it also has the only residential epilepsy assessment centre in Scotland.
The organisation has grown considerably since it was founded by William Quarrier during the 1870s, expanding to meet the needs of children, adults and families. Staff numbers are now in excess of 1800 and the charity has an expected turnover in the region of £40 million for 2006.
ENDS
NOTES TO EDITORS
Copies of the report or practice guide can be obtained by contacting Quarriers Head Office on 01505 616000.
Or you can view the summary of the report here
Or you can view the full report here
The Quarriers Family Resource Project began life in a flat in Ruchazie, but soon moved to new accommodation in October 2001. The new premises were purpose-built and included a space for nursery, whilst accommodating a team of health visitors working on the 'Starting Well' pilot. It was expected that the centre would be a community resource, providing a nursery and drop-in, whilst collaborating with other local resources to enhance the quality of life of people living in the area. It was also part of the centre's remit to work with families experiencing difficulties. Higher than usual numbers of children were being brought to the attention of Social Work Services and the Reporter to the Children's Panel, resulting in some being accommodated. It was expected that the centre would help reduce these referrals and the need for accommodation, partly by offering general support to parents and partly through working more intensively with families whose problems were already severe.
The evaluation involved two sets of groups and individual interviews with key people involved in the life of the centre: parents, centre staff and managers, nursery staff and parents of children who attended and professionals from other local agencies. In addition, detailed information was obtained on the service offered to ten individual families. The study was guided throughout by an advisory group composed of parents, centre staff and other professionals working in the area.
This information, interviews and further details are available from Jane Smith at The Business:
T: 0131 718 6022
M: 07780 666 136
E: janes@thebusinesspr.co.uk
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