Social worker Leanne Doyle used to work in frontline child protection and has seen many families fall apart. Since then, she has become a passionate advocate of support care - brief respite placements for young people that give families under pressure a chance to find their feet.
"I've worked with families where it was too late and I didn't have any answers," says Doyle, who runs Swansea Council's support care scheme. "But now I'm going in and saying 'we can help'. We aim to keep families together."
Support Breaks Swansea has been going for three years. It was originally based in the council's family support team but is now part of the fostering service. Social workers refer families who may be under pressure due to parents' ill health, caring for a disabled child or a young person's difficult behaviour. They get up to two weekends a month of support care but, crucially, that is part of a package of wider support.
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