St. Michael's Fellowship is an independent charity, based in South London, that has 100 years of experience in providing welfare for families. We Provide: residential projects for vulnerable families, including accommodation, help and training for families where children are at risk, or where there is other emotional, mental or physical hardship. Home page...
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Sure Start Plus is a pilot programme that aims to reduce the risk of long-term social exclusion resulting from teenage pregnancy through coordinated support to pregnant teenagers and teenage parents. There are two main elements:
:: Personal support and advice for teenagers who discover they are pregnant, so that they can make responsible and well-informed decisions
:: Co-ordination of a support package for young parents tailored to individual needs, to help with e.g. parenting skills, education, childcare, housing, health.
Sure Start Plus also looks at reshaping existing services to make them more user-friendly and effective for teenagers and identifying gaps in services.
The Sure Start Plus Parents' Coordinator for Lambeth, who is employed by St. Michael's, assesses the needs of teenage parents and signposts them to other services within the borough. She works closely with our other staff involved with teenage parents, and also with other Sure Starts in Lambeth as well as having links to a variety of other agencies. She runs a support group for young parents with the Connexions Adviser and has seen the group change as young parents get established in training or employment and no longer need the group. With a current caseload of 60 we are delighted for some time limited funding to employ a support worker.
A checklist for professionals has been produced which shows the options for a teenager if pregnant or a parent in Lambeth. The third edition of a very popular information book What Next 4U was printed and distributed in November 2004. In partnership with Fathers Direct an information booklet for young fathers was produced in January 2005.
Training for other professionals has played a significant part in encouraging existing services to be more accessible to teenage parents.
Careers - St. Michael's are proud to be recognised as an 'Investor in People'. We take great care in employing the right staff for the difficult work we do. As a small independent organisation it is able to provide a more personal touch in staff relations and is often rewarded with loyalty. Read More...
