Press Releases

'AFT response to Government CAMHS review: 07/07/08'

AFT National Conference Manchester July 08

Government Cuts to Mental Health Trainings Beggar Belief - 23 June 2008

David Cameron’s ‘family friendly’ vision not enough, say leading UK clinicians - 16 March 2008

Ministers launch new ‘think family’ approach to help vulnerable parents and children

10 January 2008
CAB/003/08

The report flags up a radical shift in Government thinking, from supporting children and adults in isolation to a recognition of the importance of supporting all family members to break cycles of disadvantage and complex and often multiple problems they may have struggled with for generations.

AFT members have important insights into the significance of these announcements - and of the importance now of ensuring they translate into genuinely effective services that reach and help the most vulnerable families in the UK.
http://www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/social_exclusion_task_force/news/2008/080110_families.aspx

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SUPPORTING FAMILIES SUPPORTING CHILDREN (10/7/07)

News release: Response to Conservative Social Justice Policy Group

Professionals working with families and children throughout the UK warmly welcome public discussion on the importance of family relationships and children's well-being prompted by today's publication of the Conservative Social Justice Policy Group report, Breakthrough Britain.

Yet they also warn of drawing too simplistic a link between marriage and familial and societal cohesion.

'The report's recognition of the impact of poverty on family life and the importance of family relationships is certainly a step in the  right direction, but the remedies it proposes are too narrow,' says John Hills, vice chair of AFT, the Association for Family Therapy.

AFT supports the report's call for increased relationship and family support, but also recognises that many different shapes and formations of family life provide children with love, guidance and care.

'We cannot see that better tax allowances for married couples, welcome though this may be for those who choose this pathway, will make a significant difference, and risks discriminating against too many families and children,' says John Hills.

Flexible, family-friendly working, affordable high quality childcare,
accessible and effective relationship support and specialist services for
families facing multiple and complex problems are far more important, he added.

AFT chair, Barbara Warner, agrees. 'As professionals working with children and their families in public services and the independent sector, we recognise the urgent need for securely-funded preventative and specialist services. Too many children and their families have to reach crisis point before accessing effective forms of support. Some never reach them. 'Appropriate training is essential to the development of services that 'think family', and that support families in all their many forms. We request all political parties support the expansion of such training so we can better support all children and those upon whom they depend.'


PRESS ENQUIRIES, CONTACT AFT COMMUNICATIONS OFFICER JAN PARKER tel 07931 726247, email janparker@aft.org.uk

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.-- THINKING FAMILY - AT LAST! --

'We must develop the capacity of services to "think family". .. This means a
shift in mindset to focus on the strengths and difficulties of the whole
family rather than those of the parent or child in isolation.'
-- Hilary Armstrong, Minister for the Cabinet Office and Social Exclusion,
'Reaching Out: Think Family': June 2007

A Government review into supporting the UK's most vulnerable families has been hailed as a major step forward by professionals in the field.

'This report is hugely significant, and could make a very real difference to how we support families most at risk ,' says family psychotherapist Barbara Warner, chair of AFT, the UK's leading professional body representing those working with families in the public and independent sector in the UK.

Welcoming the first report of the Social Exclusion Task Force's 'Families At Risk review', she added: 'The challenge now is to identify ways to turn its insights into action, so families are given the help they need to transform their lives.'

The report, 'Reaching Out: Think Family' (June 2007) is unequivocal in its message - families experiencing serious and complex difficulties, often across generations, need family-focused support rather than interventions that focus on individual adults or children in isolation. As the report states: 'It's about getting all agencies working with individuals to instead "think family".

Barbara Warner says: 'This is music to the ears of those of us who have been calling for increased Government recognition of what research, clinical experience and family members themselves have been telling us for a very long time - that approaches that work with families to better support all family members are essential if these families' complex needs are to be met and the life chances of those within them improved.

'As the report makes very clear, parental difficulties can have a devastating impact on children's life chances. Yet with respectful and effective support, families can overcome complex and multiple difficulties that may have affected them for generations.'

Other key elements of the report are to be applauded, says Barbara Warner.
These include:

* Its clear recognition of the impact of povertyand social marginalization
on family life chances.

* Its clear statement that supporting family-focused services is 'not a debate on the shape of families'. AFT agrees, and takes 'family' to mean any group of people who define themselves as such, who care about and care for each other.

* Its focus on early intervention. AFT has long called for more securely
invested services that prioritise preventative care. Too many children and their families have to reach crisis point before accessing effective forms of support. Some never reach them. Preventative and early intervention requires more professionals trained in family risk assessment and supporting family well-being and resilience.

* Its emphasis on 'joined-up working' - Family therapists and other systemic practitioners have pioneered successful models of multi-agency and multi-disciplinary team working in the UK.

* Its clear declaration that 'one size does not fit all'. Working in ways that
acknowledge each family's circumstances and culture, strengths and needs, is a core principle of family therapy and systemic practice.

'Systemic family approaches are key if services are now to 'think family', as this review demands,' says Barbara Warner. 'Let's not miss this opportunity to transform how our public services support families most at risk. Every child matters, and that means every family matters too.'

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18 June 2007

MUCH MORE NEEDED TO IMPROVE THE LIVES OF FAMILIES OF CHILDREN WITH DISABILITIES

AFT today announces its wholehearted support to the Every Disabled Child Matters campaign to spread reforms in services for children with disability and their families to all UK nations.

'As professionals working with families and children throughout the UK we are keenly aware of the profound impact that living with disability can have on children, families and all family members,' says Barbara Warner, chair of AFT.

'There is clear and urgent need across the UK to better support the children themselves and the families and carers who enrich their lives and care for them.

'While welcoming the Government's recently announced £340 million investment in services for children with disability in England, AFT calls for a fair funding deal for families in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

'We note the present patchy provision of services and appropriate training for those working with children with disability and their families, highlighted in the Government's recent review: 'Aiming High for Disabled Children: Better Support for Families.'

'Appropriate training is essential to the development of respectful and effective services for disabled children and their families. AFT now calls on the Government to support and extend training so that those working with children with disabilities can better support the children themselves and those upon whom they depend. '
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16 February 2007

UNICEF REPORT AN ALARM CALL, SAY FAMILY THERAPISTS

AFT, the Association for Family Therapy and Systemic Practice in the UK, issues the following statement on UNICEF's report on children.

"There is much we recognise in the UNICEF report. As systemic clinicians working with children and families in the UK, we are keenly aware of the impact of poverty on young people's life experiences, health, behaviour and
hope.

"We also wish to expand understanding of child poverty beyond the present measure of material wealth. Too many of our young people are growing up in a culture of harsh individualism that is fuelling  relational impoverishment.

"It is no surprise to us that in Scandinavian countries, with their structures and proud sense of social connectedness and respectful care, children's sense of 'well-being' is high. They, and those who care for them, feel valued.

"While the report's statistics are dissected, its basic message remains. Unless we in the UK develop our systems of social empathy and value our children, their families and their other contexts of care and we risk remaining, shamefully, at the bottom of the UNICEF league."

Statement issued by
Jim Wilson, consultant systemic psychotherapist
Peter Stratton, Professor of Family Therapy, Leeds University,
Barbara Warner, Chair, Association of Family Therapy

on behalf of AFT

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