CALL: 01254 244700 DONATE Update regarding re-opening our Contact Services can be found here. ProContact enables and promotes contact for children and their family and supports parents to improve co-parenting and to reduce conflict. ProContact was established in 1999 and became part of CANW in 2014 and is a regional leader in contact services. ProContact operates across North and West England. Children and young people are at the core of what we do. We are here to help children see their parents post separation. ProContact offers a range of contact services for families and can help make informed decisions about how to arrange safe and positive child arrangements. We often work with families who are in court proceedings and where there has been a break down in child arrangements. We work with children who are reluctant to have contact and parents who need support in having contact or supporting children to have contact with their other parent. We work with parents to help them improve their co-parenting and to reduce conflict. We also deliver the SPIP and ICFA on behalf of Cafcass in partnership with other regional organisations. We deliver services across North and West England. Some services are only available in certain locations. CONTACT THE SERVICE Funding and Referrals Professionals and parents can make referrals. The family does not have to be in court proceedings to access services. Referrals for SPIP (outside of Cafcass contract) are made over the telephone. All other services are referred via the referral form (downloaded below) For those families accessing our services through a Cafcass commission (SPIP or ICFA) there is no charge for services as Cafcass refer and fund the work. Exceptions to locations and availability can be made to all arrangements for Local Authorities. Pro Contact CANW Referral Form Lancashire 1 file(s) 265.93 KB DOWNLOAD Pro Contact CANW Referral Form GM 1 file(s) 516.69 KB DOWNLOAD Supervised Contact ProContact offers professionally supervised contact at our contact centres that are run by experienced and professional staff. We are accredited by NACCC and work alongside Cafcass, Local Authorities and the courts to ensure children have safe and beneficial contact. Family Practitioners can write a record of the session and this helps inform the final decision about contact. Staggered arrival and departure times are used to ensure parents do not have to meet. Location: This service takes place at two venues – Bolton and Lancashire. Availability: Our Bolton centre opens 7 days a week and our Lancashire centre opens on a Saturday. Price: £100 for 2 hours. For recorded sessions add £100 per session Supervised contact may be needed when: • An assessment is needed to see if beneficial contact can be established whilst monitoring risk. • Contact needs to be in a centre due to risk. • There has been a long gap in contact and it needs to be reintroduced. • A child is reluctant to have contact. • The parents cannot work together to find a solution for contact. Supervised contact may be needed when: An assessment is needed to see if beneficial contact can be established whilst monitoring risk. Contact needs to be in a centre due to risk. When there has been a long gap in contact and it needs to be reintroduced. When a child is reluctant to have contact. When the parents cannot work together to find a solution for contact. Price: £100 for 2 hours. For recorded sessions add £100 per session “Pro Contact has helped me immensely with re-building my relationship with my two boys. After 12 months apart it was going to be difficult but Pro Contact supported me all the way.” Dispute Resolution Work Parents can attend just for Dispute Resolution Work or alongside contact services. Parents work together with a Family Practitioner to try and reach an agreement about co-parenting. The Cafcass Parenting Plan is used to aid this work and to agree a contact plan and to discuss and remove obstacles to achieving the plan. Parents attend together to focus on the needs of their child and moving forward. The session is a 2-hour session with 15 minutes for the Family Practitioner to speak to the parents alone and 90 minutes of joint dispute resolution work. Family Practitioners guide parents using their knowledge and experience of children’s experience being in the middle of conflict. It is recommended that a minimum of 2 sessions are booked. Location: Referrals can be taken from any geographical location as sessions take place via video link. Availability: Sessions can take place 7 days a week. Price: £150 per session which includes a summary report of what was achieved in the session and a completed Parenting Plan with agreements at the end of all of the sessions. £150 per session which includes a summary report of what was achieved in the session and a completed Parenting Plan with agreements at the end of all of the sessions. “I have found Pro Contact a very positive way forward to our child arrangement. Would recommend their services to helping fathers and mothers move forward and focus on the children.” Improving Child and Family Arrangements (ICFA) Improving Child and Family Arrangements (ICFA) is the service designed by Cafcass to help families agree safe, beneficial, and sustainable spending time with arrangements when they are finding it difficult to do so on their own. ICFA work is short term, court ordered in private law cases only and has four expected key outcomes for families: 1. Reducing barriers and resistance to agreeing arrangements and managing any risks so that these are safe 2. Promoting positive communication within families 3. Ensuring children’s wishes and feelings are heard and considered 4. Helping families agree a Parenting Plan to avoid future issues arising The work will be tailored to meet the needs and outcomes of each individual family and should include application of learning from the Separated Parents Information Programme. ICFA work takes place over a few weeks and may include, but is not limited to: • Meeting the parents together and/or individually to help resolve issues and prepare them for spending time with the child/ren • Direct work with the child/ren to prepare them for spending time with the adult • Observation of the adult spending time with the child/ren in a contact centre, the home, the community, or any other suitable settings ICFA referrals are funded by Cafcass and are delivered by our contracted service providers. CANW is a lead provider of ICFA works in partnership with other organisations. Location: This service takes place across Cheshire, Cumbria, Darlington, Durham, East Riding, Greater Manchester, Humberside, Lancashire, North Yorkshire, Shropshire, South Yorkshire, St Helens, Teesside, Warrington, Worcestershire and York Availability: The service is usually available 7 days a week subject to demand. A referral can only be made by Cafcass. Price: There is no charge to parents for this service. “CANW has helped us a lot. The staff are very friendly and the girls are always happy to see them. If I have had any issues, they have dealt with them quickly and professional” Indirect Contact Services ProContact offers various indirect contact services (Indirect contact support sessions, WhatsApp video and Post-box). Indirect contact support sessions are to support the making or presentation of indirect contact. The sessions can help children receive indirect contact if this is not possible at home. They can also help parents with writing indirect contact or supporting their child to receive indirect contact. Referrals can be taken from any geographical location if the sessions take place on video link or if face to face, the sessions take place in Bolton or Lancashire. These sessions are 30 minutes. The price is £50 per session and includes a brief summary report. Sessions are available as follows: • Indirect contact support (session with child) • Indirect contact support (session with parent with whom the child lives) • Indirect contact support (session with parent staying in touch with the child) WhatsApp video is available for families where ProContact acts a third party to pass on videos between children and parents. This is for those who can send videos to one another but the content needs to be checked and mobile numbers cannot be exchanged. Referrals can be taken from any geographical location. The price is £25 per complete exchange and includes a brief summary report. Post-box is available for families where ProContact acts a third party to pass on letters or emails between children and parents. ProContact can pass on gifts in exceptional circumstances and additional fees apply. This is for those who can send indirect contact to one another but the exchange needs to be monitored, the content needs to be checked and addresses cannot be exchanged. Referrals can be taken from any geographical location. The price is £25 per complete exchange and includes a brief summary report. Indirect contact may be needed when: • Direct contact is not possible • Contact details cannot be exchanged • There has been a long gap in contact and it needs to be reintroduced • A child is reluctant to have contact • The parents cannot work together to find a solution for contact Supported Contact We provide a fortnightly service for supported contact. This takes place in a contact centre where children and parents can spend time together. Contact is facilitated by staff and volunteers who remain in the room. It enables children and members of their family to build and sustain positive relationships. Staff and volunteers are present but do not listen or observe individual children but rather have an overview of the whole group. A range of toys and activities are provided for all age ranges. Staggered arrival and departure times are used to ensure parents do not have to meet. Location: This service takes place at two venues – Bolton and Lancashire. Availability: The service opens on a fortnightly basis – Saturday 10.15-12.15. Price: £12.50 per parent per weekend. Supported contact may be needed when: • Contact needs to be in a centre due to risk • The parents cannot communicate well, the centre protects children from conflict • There needs to be a short period of supported contact before finding a long-term arrangement “Great service really helped to build a relationship with my son in a child friendly environment. I would personally highly recommend it” Separated Parents Information Programme (SPIP) We offer the Separated Parents Information Programme (SPIP); a group programme designed to help separated parents become clear about what their children need most from them. The programme supports parents to learn how to manage conflict and how to put this into practice. The programme gives parents an opportunity to hear from parents in similar situations and to reflect on the emotional impact conflict has. The programme is available day time, evenings and weekends. Cafcass SPIP referrals – We deliver the programme in partnership with Child First Family Mediation, Talk Listen Change and Action for Children. We deliver across Greater Manchester, Cumbria and Lancashire. If attending under a Cafcass referral then the programme is free. Other SPIP referrals – The one off, 4-hour SPIP is available for parents to attend outside of a Cafcass referral and is £75 per parent. Referrals can be taken from any geographical location as sessions take place via video link. “I think it’s an excellent service promoting co parenting and putting children first when there’s a dispute.” Direct Work Sessions ProContact offers direct work sessions with parents and children. Direct work sessions with children is available for ProContact to work with children individually, usually regarding preparing them for contact. These sessions can include indirect contact and support regarding the reintroduction of contact, including planning. Referrals can be taken from any geographical location if the sessions take place on video link or if face to face, the sessions take place in Bolton or Lancashire. These sessions are 60 minutes. The price is £100 per session and includes a brief summary report and preparation with parents as needed. Direct work sessions with parent is available for ProContact to work with parents individually, usually regarding preparing them for contact. These sessions can include SPIP learning, what children need when their parents separate, supporting contact and communication. The sessions can also be used to help parents make the most of their contact time by learning more about their child’s needs. Referrals can be taken from any geographical location if the sessions take place on video link or if face to face, the sessions take place in Bolton or Lancashire. These sessions are 60 minutes. The price is £100 per session and includes a brief summary report and signposting to other resources. Direct work sessions may be needed when: • A child needs support prior to contact • A parent needs help with supporting contact between their child and co-parent • A parent needs help with how to make the most of their contact time Video Conference Contact ProContact offers professionally supervised contact via video link by experienced and professional staff. We are accredited by NACCC and work alongside Cafcass, Local Authorities and the courts to ensure children have safe and beneficial contact. Staff can write a record of the session and this helps inform the final decision about contact. Staff greet each parents and children before starting the contact. Children usually need to be in the same room as an adult who will ensure their safety depending on their age and stage. Staff can mute or remove anyone from the link. Staff can support parents with ideas about how to engage children in fun activities during the contact. Staff set up the links for the contact and use Zoom or MS Teams. Location: Referrals can be taken from any geographical location as sessions take place via video link. Availability: Sessions can take place 7 days a week. Price: £25 for up to 30 minutes or £50 for up to 60 minutes. For recorded sessions the price is doubled. Video Conference Contact may be needed when: • Direct contact is not appropriate. • A relationship needs to build between children and their parent(s). • A child is reluctant to have contact. • There needs to be contact between face to face contact. • Contact needs to happen when face to face direct contact is not available (e.g. lockdown restrictions, geographical issues). Supported Handovers We provide a fortnightly handover service where parents use the centre to collect and/or drop off children. We provide a neutral venue where parents can handover their children either face to face or through us before having unsupervised contact. Staggered arrival and departure times are used to ensure parents do not have to meet. Location: This service takes place at two venues – Bolton and Lancashire. Availability: The service opens at specific times on a fortnightly basis. For Bolton the times are: Saturday 09.30 / 13.00 / 16.30 and Sunday 09.30 / 16.30. For Lancashire the times are: Saturday 09.30 / 13.00 / 16.30. Price: £12.50 per parent per weekend. Supported handovers may be needed when: • Contact can be unsupervised but parents cannot meet due to risk • The parents cannot communicate well, the centre protects children from conflict • There needs to be a short period of support before finding a long-term arrangement • Monitoring is required (attendance, time keeping, presentation) “The service was very nice and relaxed place for handovers. The place is very child friendly with lots of toys to keep the children busy. Very informative about schedules. Overall a very good service provided by all.” Contact READY TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE? DONATE TO CANW NOW! CLICK TO DONATE Latest News Family Practitioner Hull Service Area ProContact Job Role Family Practitioner : Hull Reporting to Area Coordinator Hours/Pattern of work 30 hours Tuesday 09.30-18.00 Wednesday 09.30-18.00 Thursday 09.30-16.30 Saturday 09.00-17.00 Contract Permanent Salary CANW… Family Practitioner Service Area Pro-Contact Job Role Family Practitioner Reporting to Area Coordinator Hours/Pattern of work 30 hours Tuesday 09.30-18.00 Wednesday 09.30-18.00 Thursday 09.30-16.00 Saturday 08.30-17.00 Contract Permanent Salary CANW scale point… Young Carers Practitioner & Schools Link Worker Service Area Young Carers Job Role Young Carers Practitioner & Schools Link Worker Reporting to Team Leader Hours/Pattern of work 22.5 hours per week Working pattern to be agreed Contract Short term –… ABOUT CANW “Inspiring lives and changing futures” We passionately believe that every child and young person has the right to achieve their full potential, whatever their background or circumstances – and, as a result, we work with over 6000 children, young people and families in the North West of England every year. 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