Project: Family Smiles (Simplifying Mental Illness plus Life Enhancement Skills)
Purpose: Reduce risk of harm to children with a parent who has a mental health problem
Funding: £27,800 from the NSPCC's own resources for each eight-week group work programme for an average of five children plus one-to-one work with their families
Background: Parental mental health issues often feature in child protection investigations. A review of London serious case reviews published in 2010 found 60 per cent of children who died or were seriously injured through abuse or neglect had a parent with a mental health problem.
The NSPCC decided to develop a project to protect such children and sought out examples of successful community interventions. The charity did not find many in the UK, so took its inspiration from the other side of the world, by adapting an Australian programme centred on group work with young carers who have parents or siblings with mental health problems. The NSPCC's version focuses on child protection, working with eightto 13-year-olds and their parents.
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