Maria and Mark

 Sarah has really helped me by encouraging me to get out of the house and meet other parents.  I feel more confident in looking after Sam

Reason for Referral

Maria and Mark were referred to Home-Start by a Family Outreach Worker at Lancing Children and Family Centre.  Maria and Mark have a 3 month old baby boy Sam. Maria also has two older children, a boy and a girl, who were removed from Maria’s care by Social Services 4 years ago. Maria has twice monthly visits with her son but has no contact with her daughter. The Family Outreach Worker contacted Home-Start with regard to Maria’s increasing isolation and her low self-esteem resulting in poor parenting skills. Maria did not leave their ground floor flat without the assistance of Mark. As Mark works full-time there was a concern for Maria and Sam’s social skills. Maria was accessing the Friday Fun club at Lancing Children and Family Centre with Mark but this was often erratic due to Mark’s work patterns. It was felt that having a Home-Start Volunteer would enable Maria to gain confidence in accessing local services and also enable Maria to gain increased self-confidence through positive parenting support.

Input from Home-Start

Our volunteer Sarah has visited the family for the last 6 months. When Sarah visits Maria they get out of the flat by going for a walk with Sam.  This is often the only time Maria and Sam leave the house during the week. As they walk they talk and Sarah and Maria have built up a good relationship quickly. Maria feels able to talk with Sarah about past experiences of motherhood and how it has affected her relationship with Sam.   Sarah and Maria have visited different activities within the Children and Family Centre as well as viewing local parent and toddler groups.

Subsequent Changes for the Family

Sarah and Maria are now accessing local groups. Sarah has encouraged Maria to visit Lancing Children Centre independently of Mark.  Although Maria still feels concerned when she leaves the house she states that she feels safe with Sarah and feels confident that Sarah will look after Sam if anything happens. Maria has recently attended a Baby Massage group within Lancing Children and Family Centre with Mark and is growing in confidence with looking after Sam. Maria’s goal is to gain sufficiently in confidence to meet Sarah in Lancing by catching the bus independently.

All names have been changed for reasons of confidentiality.