Young People
- What is a Strengthening Families meeting?
- Why have one?
- How does it work?
- Do I get to go?
- Give it a go
What is a Strengthening Families meeting?
A Strengthening Families meeting brings together people from all of the agencies that you and your family are involved with to one meeting so they can better support you and your family. This way everyone knows what is going on, you get all the help you are entitled to, and you and your family have more say over what is happening.
Why have one?
You and your family are already dealing with several different agencies. Having a Strengthening Families meeting means that you can meet with all of them in one go. That way you don’t have to keep repeating the same information to different people and the agencies can work together to help improve you situation.
How does it work?
A worker from one of the agencies you and your family are involved with or the local Strengthening Families coordinator will meet with you and your family before the meeting to decide:
- who is going to be there - you may be asked to agree to the agencies being there and what they are going to say about your situation
- when the meeting is going to happen and where everyone will meet
- what the key things are that your family would like to see happen.
At the meeting:
- what you and your family want to see happen are explained
- everyone at the meeting explains who they are and what they can do to help
- a plan is made that sets out what each agency is going to do
- one agency worker is selected to oversee the plan and to make sure you and your family are kept up to date.
A Strengthening Families meeting will only happen with the consent of your family and only those agencies your family agrees to will be invited.
Do I get to go?
You are welcome to attend the meeting if you want to. You can choose to stay for the whole meeting or only part of it. The meeting is designed to help you so it is important that what you want is made clear. You might like to talk to someone before the meeting who can put forward your view, or you might like to write down what you want or make a tape that can be played at the meeting. You can bring a friend or someone you trust to the meeting with you.
Give it a go
It is always better to talk about problems instead of letting them get bigger and bigger. The meeting is designed to bring people together to talk about what can be done to make the situation better.
If you want to know more, talk to one of the agency people you work with or the Local Strengthening Families Coordinator.