Working For Families And Quarriers Steps & Stages Childcare Service

2. Working For Families And Quarriers Steps & Stages Childcare Service Presentation Delivered byKerry McGuire - North Ayrshire Working For Families& Yvonne Greenwood – Quarriers, Steps and Stages

3. Childcare within the Home • It was highlighted through research that within North Ayrshire that out of hours childcare was a barrier to • WFF parents entering employment. • Tenders were received, scored and the project was awarded to Quarriers one of the largest Social Care • Charities within Scotland

4. Target Group Working for Families is aimed at: • Parents on Low Income • Lone Parents • Parents with Stresses in the Household • (e.g. Disabilities, Mental Health, Drugs or Alcohol issues)

5. Service Delivery In North Ayrshire our Childcare in the Home Service is called Stages & Stages: • Steps and Stages is registered with the Care Commission to provide flexible childcare in the home: • with pick-up and drop off at school • from 07:00 - 22:30 • 7 days a week

6. Steps and Stages Mission Statement • The Project will strive as a team to care for and support each other and the families we work with • We will provide the best possible service within the security of the family home • We respect the value and beliefs of each family as well as our own, thereby working together as equals

7. Difficulties Encountered At the initial outset of Stages & Stages we encountered: • Delays with our Care Commission registration • Problems obtaining premises to house the service locally • Problems recruiting staff to keep up with the demand of childcare.

8. How we aim to achieve this • Completing an in-depth initial and ongoing assessment of families and children’s needs • Working within and explaining to families Quarriers policies, standards and safety procedures • Providing a stimulating environment with appropriate activities or experiences promoting individual needs, stages of development, choices and preferences

9. Accessible and ongoing communication between families, individual children, child care workers and Steps and Stages Project. • Ongoing training and development for a skilled and experienced team of childcare workers who promote Quarriers policies, standards and procedures. • Completing an in-depth initial and ongoing assessment of families and children’s needs

10. Working within and explaining to families Quarriers policies, standards and safety procedures • Providing a stimulating environment with appropriate activities or experiences promoting individual needs, stages of development, choices and preferences

11. Current Achievements • We provided support to our first family in November 2005 and have continued to grow since

12. Where are we now • We are now providing approximately 800 hours of child care a month • We have provided active support to 47 families and are currently supporting 28 families • We support nine families who have continued to use the service although their funding has finished. (Though there remains significant issues to these families with regard to the cost of childcare within school holidays. • From late 2006 we have started to receive referrals from other agencies such as social work and Barnardos

13. Feedback From the Families • Excellent Service • Trustworthy Staff • Would not be able to go to work if the service was not available • Fantastic Service • The difference the Service has made is unbelievable

14. Where do we go from here • Steps and Stages will continue to develop its capacity to support families within North Ayrshire • We will continue to promote awareness of the service to families and other agencies • We will develop the range of services we provide to children and families • We will continue to build on and develop the strong relationship we have with Working for Families