Caring for Troubled Lives
What We Do
‘Springfield Road Children’s Home is a specialist service for Children and Young People which was established in 2002, providing a high standard of care to both boys and girls in a containing and child centred environment.
There are places for young people in our home in East Sussex that accommodate up to 4 children, with a highly experienced and motivated staff team, who are committed to helping young people change unhealthy patterns of behaviour.
We do this by providing a warm and homely environment, with structure and support, and very clear boundaries. Also, an individual programme of education, personal development, social skills, leisure activities, and independence training, specifically designed to meet their personal needs.
Staff work with a young person in a non-confrontational way, and place a high value on humour to diffuse potentially violent situations. We encourage young people to break previous patterns of behaviour, and learn to live a healthier lifestyle. This empowers them towards the self-motivation they will need to develop their abilities.
We work in partnership with the young person, their family and other professionals. This enables young people to engage in new care experiences and attachment relationships that will allow them to make sense of their previous experiences and begin to rebuild chaotic internal worlds.
Our unique strength is our philosophy of ‘Helping Families, in a Child Focused Way’. By taking a ‘systemic’ approach and ‘reframing’ young people’s behaviour as an understandable response to a difficult set of circumstances, we can help young people make sense of their difficulties, and then find more appropriate ways of dealing with them.
The home is family run (mother and daughter), working ‘hands on’ together on a daily- basis. This relationship has fascinated children and young people over the years. They enjoy observing the family relationship, and have got to know other members of the family always popping in for visits.
As the business developed, we introduced the idea of ‘community’ leisure with the young people. Staff could invite their families along to enjoy leisure activities like picnics, camping and holiday celebrations with young people living at the home when appropriate.
The young people love being part of this extended community ‘family’ because in conventional children’s home, staff keep their families separate to the young people. This can create the institutional ethos and can leave them feeling isolated and excluded from society.
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“Improving the lives of children and young people who live here.
By providing high quality care, a safe environment, and where high aspirations exist, to help children achieve their best outcomes and fulfil their full potential”
Jane Jarrett
(MSc Systemic Family Psychotherapist) (UKCP)