Home

In February of this year I found out I had been successful with my application to the Winston Churchill Memorial Trust for a Travelling Fellowship. To say I was surprised and overwhelmed was an understatement, but here I am setting up my blog to track and reflect on my adventure! I will be researching service provisions for families affected by substance use and have a keen interest in how services support families to stay together safely. I am particularly interested in early intervention strategies and therefore am focusing on support services for women who are pregnant and drug dependent or mothering very young children.

In July 2017, I will be travelling to Seattle to visit several services including King County Family Treatment Court, the Willows Housing Project, The Swedish Medical Centre and the Evergreen Residential Rehabilitation Centre for Women and Children. I will then head to New Haven in Connecticut to spend some time with various projects within Yale University’s Child Study Centre.

I hope to gain an insight into innovative ways of supporting this client group to enable families to remain together, safely. Many women who are pregnant and drug dependent have a fear their children will be removed if they present to services. I hope to find ways of engaging with this client group showcasing the supports we can offer rather than putting up increased barriers to services.

I am a Family Support Worker from Edinburgh and I work for a charity called Circle.  Circle is a Scottish charity working at the heart of communities across central Scotland. Our aim is to support the most disadvantaged and vulnerable children and families to improve their lives and promote their healthy development and potential.  Circle works alongside children and families to ensure children’s rights are met and maintained.

The Winston Churchill Memorial Trust was established when Sir Winston Churchill died in 1965. Thousands of people gave generously so that a living memorial to him could benefit future generations of British people.  This fund is awarded to UK citizens from all backgrounds to travel overseas in pursuit of new and better ways of tackling a wide range of the current challenges facing the UK.  The tagline for the trust and a good reflection of what they encourage Churchill Fellows to do is ‘Travel to learn – return to inspire.’

Yale, New Haven

My last week in New Haven at the Yale Child Study Centre was extremely rich.  I spent time with the Intensive Family Partnership Team and was welcomed into their team meeting. It was like the team meeting I would attend within Circle in that there was lots of food! The team work with vulnerable families … Continue reading →

Yale Child Study Center

I arrived in New Haven after a long and restless overnight flight. I was on the tiniest plane from Philadelphia which may have been more fun if I hadn’t been so sleep deprived! I dumped my bags in my new place and headed out to explore New Haven. I found the New Haven Green which … Continue reading →

West Coast to East Coast

My time in Seattle is drawing to a close and I am not looking forward to saying Goodbye. All the professionals I have met with have been welcoming, friendly and keen to support my project in any way possible. I have learned that the Pacific North West is a mostly liberal area of the United … Continue reading →

Parent-Child Assistance Program

My last visit in Seattle was to one of the Parent-Child Assistance Program (PCAP) sites. I was really looking forward to meeting the team because I have heard so many good reports regarding PCAP from other agencies.  Among many other roles Therese Grant, PhD is the Director of the PCAP program and she has been very helpful … Continue reading →

Evergreen Recovery Centre

I had a great day at the Evergreen Recovery Centre offices based in Everett, north of Seattle. The team were very welcoming and were keen to hear about my Fellowship and what my objectives were. I met with Natalie Fryer who is the Director of Clinical Operations. Natalie gave me an overview of the organisation … Continue reading →

Fetal Alcohol Syndrome Diagnostic Clinic

I attended the University of Washington’s one day observational diagnostics clinic. This clinic allows professionals to observe a full day of assessments and the diagnosis process for children who have suspected Fetal Alcohol Syndrome. The clinic has been running since the early 1990’s, with the University of Washington becoming the leading facility in research, diagnosis … Continue reading →

King County Family Treatment Court

I visited the King County Treatment Court last week and had a great day observing court. When I stepped off the bus I was greeted by a very big hostel on the opposite side of the street from the courthouse. There was a lot of police around and many groups who belonged to the homeless … Continue reading →