Venue details
Opening hours
Days & Times: Various - please see centre's website
Centre charges
Details available on request
Services available here
Supported contact
Supervised contact
Handover
Supervised contact assessment
Accepts self referrals
Enhanced Accredited
Contact
Website: canw.org.uk/what-we-do/support-families/pro-contact/
Telephone: 01204 369130
Email: procontact@canw.org.uk
Notes from this centre
This centre offers the Cafcass ICFA service across the North and West of England. Please see the Cafcass website for details https://www.cafcass.gov.uk/grown-ups/parents-and-carers/improving-child-and-family-arrangements/
This centre is accredited to provide supervised contact
Accreditation is a way of checking that your contact centre is safe and meets our standards.
How is a centre checked?
An assessorSomeone working on our behalf who has experience and an interest in child contact services and must assess if a service meets our standards. looks round the centre’s rooms, toys, equipment, and any outside play areas to make sure that they are safe and good for you to use. They talk with the people at the centre to make sure that they are trained and helped to do their job as well as possible. They then check the informationThe assessor checks through the centre’s accreditation portfolio which includes policies, procedures, risk assessments, reports (if the service offers supervised contact) and information for families. on what happens at the centre and how it keeps you safe. If your family time happens in the community The service might use local community venues to deliver their service or in some cases, residential properties including family members’ homes, where this is safe and appropriate., then the assessor will check that this is going to be safe for you.
When the assessor is happy that a centre meets our standards then they are awarded their accreditation and you can find them on this website. Accreditation happens every three years with extra checks if needed.
Accreditation Summary
Date: 28/11/2022
Summary:
Child Action North West is a charity dedicated to supporting children, young people, vulnerable adults and families who need help. Their history stretches back over 130 years with the founding of Blackburn Orphanage in 1886. CANW Mission is “To inspire young people’s lives and change their futures through the support we give them and values we hold”.
CANW offers 4 separate services: a fostering service; Support Children & Young People (including Young Carers, Youth Engagement Support and Emotional Health & Wellbeing Support); Supporting Communities (Youth Justice Service, Appropriate Adult Scheme, Building Better Futures Project) and Pro-Contact.
Pro Contact was established in 1999 as an independent charity supporting separated parents across the North West of England. It joined CANW in 2014 and now operates across North, East and West England offering a range of services for families to help make informed decisions about safe and sustainable contact arrangements. Their aims, objectives, literature and services are all geared to improving the lives of children and young people and giving them better life chances.
Cafcass commission Pro-Contact to deliver their Improving Child & Family Arrangements (ICFA) across Northern & West England and SPIP across the North West. To deliver on the contract CANW have divided the area into 3 (North, East and West) and services are delivered across the areas without a specific venue.
The three areas operate under the CANW umbrella and thus have the same policies, procedures and working practices in each area. There are two Service Co-ordinators; one for East and one covering West and North area is covered by both. Each Service Co-ordinator has a team of Family Practitioners. In addition Pro Contact sub-contract with ten providers across the areas. Each area is therefore accredited separately, and subcontractors are accredited in their own right.
The Family Practitioner Teams predominantly use public buildings which are open to the public; examples would be bowling alley, amusement arcades, cafes, indoor and outdoor playparks. As these types of venues are covered by their own Health & Safety risk assessments, no additional Risk Assessment is undertaken regarding the venue. Staff would assess the suitability of the venue given the age and ability of the children. If a standard public building or outdoor space cannot be used, for example if a child has autism or other disability, a venue will be hired that specifically meets needs, for example a children’s centre in the local area, or a sensory room. In these case Pro Contact will undertake their own risk assessment to ensure the needs of the child or family member are met.
Pro-Contact staff take a variety of games and activities for the children to use, but also ask parents to provide things. The team try to ensure that a child does not have to travel more than 30 minutes.
The Assessor highly recommends CANW for NACCC accreditation and felt this was an excellent example of a peripatetic service which others may wish to emulate. A wide range of venues have been identified in each local area so that different children’s needs and interests can be catered for. Policies are regularly reviewed, and examples seen showed clear links between policy and planning.
