Creating a new Specialist Parent-Infant Relationship Team

Local Authority - workforce development and creating a new team

The Challenge

Brent local authority needed support with convening stakeholders, bringing partners on board to establish ways of working, organising training and support for recruitment of a specialist post.

Our associate helped to sharpen our plans and suggested practical steps we could take to move the agenda forward

Brent Council

What We Did

  • Facilitated a workshop with key stakeholders, bringing all partners on board including CAMHS practitioners. Key stakeholders established ways of working together, considering different support and interventions for differing levels of family need
  • Considered and explored options for parent-infant relationship training for the workforce
  • Supported Brent in considering how services could best work cohesively and embed parent-infant relationship support into everyday practice
  • Agreed that the Start for Life funds were to be used to create a new parent-infant specialist service managed by CAMHS, as well as a perinatal mental health peer support service commissioned to a VCS organisation
  • Supported recruitment into the above specialist service

What Changed

As a result of the support offered by the associate, Brent Local Authority established ways of working together based on levels of family need then recognised how recruitment of a Parent-Infant Specialist Post would meet many of the needs and requirements outlined in the Start for Life Programme.

Brent Local Authority also utilised the Parent-Infant Foundation’s list of training providers to commission six events; training 70 practitioners in the importance of parent-infant relationships.

This may be relevant to you if you are

  • An area at the planning stage of developing a new specialist Parent-Infant Relationship team
  • A local authority looking for training opportunities