FAMILY TIME
UPDATE 31/10/24 – The family time service implementing a fee increase effective from Thursday 2nd January 2025. Please read this letter for further information and details of the new pricing structure. The new pricing is also detailed further below on this webpage and within our information documents.
We are still assessing accepting referrals for our Huddersfield provision. Once all the relevant paperwork is received the referral process can generally take 3 – 8 weeks, longer in busy periods. Please note that due to the Summer closure of a Leeds-based contact service (The Starting Point) we have been experiencing a higher number of new enquiries and referrals. We unfortunately expect this timescale to increase, but are unable to provide clearer estimates at present.
Our NACCC accredited Family Time service provides a warm, safe environment where parents/carers and children can relax and spend time together.
About Family Time
The service is for parents, grandparents or other family members who are no longer living with their children. A service such as ours can arrange family time in a safe and secure environment. We provide a range of resources such as toys and games to enable family time to be a positive experience.
Family time is not just about allotting time between parents and family members. We believe it is more helpful to think of it as ‘time for children’ with an emphasis on the quality of that time. The focus should be on meeting the needs of the child as best as possible to ensure their time spent with parents/carers is of value to them.
Family time centres can help when there are safety considerations, or to help trust and reliability to develop between parents and carers. We can help when parents or carers need time to agree alternative plans, or when relationships need support to develop, to benefit the child.
- Where there are more complex issues or concerns as to the safety of children and or adults, we supervise the sessions to ensure everybody is safe. Someone will always be in sight and sound of the children and will monitor conversations and provide assistance or intervention if necessary.
- Families are supervised on a one to one basis. The behaviour of both parent and child are observed and conversations are monitored. During and after the session, staff will provide feedback and offer support and guidance to parents to enable time together to be a positive experience for their child or children. We also work with the parent the child lives with to address any worries or concerns they may have.
- Staggered arrival and departure times are set so neither parent has to meet each other when attending the centre.
- A typed summary of each session will be provided to both parties. Parties can then choose to share the records with the Court or professionals such as Cafcass, solicitors, or social workers.
- This is a follow-on service offered after families have attended for supervised or assisted family time. Supported sessions are for cases where unsupervised time has not yet been agreed or is not appropriate but there are no concerns about interaction between parents and children and the main requirement is for a safe, neutral space to spend time together.
- There may be up to three families in a session at any one time. Sessions are supported by our well established volunteers. A worker may not always be in sight and sound of the children.
- Staggered arrival and departure times are set so neither parent has to meet each other when attending the centre.
- No written observations are provided. Verbal feedback is given after each session.
- When unsupervised family time is appropriate but parents do not wish to meet, handover sessions can be used and a family time worker will support the handing over and handing back of children.
- Staggered arrival and departure times are set so neither parent has to meet each other when attending the session.
- No written observations are provided. Verbal feedback is given after each session.
- This service is provided on Saturdays at specific times. 9:00am – 12:30pm (3.5 hours), 9:00am – 4:30pm (7.5 hours) and 12:30pm – 4:30pm (4 hours)
- We can support indirect family time by sending on letters, cards and/or gifts either via post or email. The addresses of both parents remain confidential.
- Items received are checked and read to ensure they are appropriate before being sent on. A log is kept of any items received and sent on.
Who can access this service?
To be eligible to access this service a referral form must be submitted.
We can usually accept referrals where there is the following:
- Ongoing court proceedings
- Children looked after by local authorities
- Children adopted or living with family under SGO arrangements (or similar)
- High levels of conflict
- Parental communication breakdown
- Parents building skills and experience caring for their children
- Parents With Learning Difficulties
Referrals we cannot accept:
- If parties are awaiting a court hearing / Finding of Fact with regards to domestic abuse. We must know the outcome before a referral can be considered
- If one of the parties has a conviction or Finding related to domestic abuse, or it has been identified by the courts or a professional that work around domestic abuse is required then they must have successfully engaged with appropriate work e.g. Domestic Abuse Perpetrator Programme (DAPP), Safer Relationships or similar before a referral can be considered further. Anger management programmes are not appropriate or accepted in this instance
- Where there is an ongoing police investigation or criminal proceedings
- Adults who have sexually offended against children, regardless of whether legal proceedings have concluded or are ongoing
- Referrals whereby there is a threat/risk of violence to another person (regardless of age)
How to access this service:
Arrangements are by referral. The referral can be made by a social worker, solicitor, family mediator, CAFCASS Family Court Advisor or other appropriate professional.
We also accept self-referrals from parents or family members that do not have legal representation, subject to safeguarding checks. For self-referrals we require each parent or carer to complete and sign the referral form. Referrals will be accepted at the discretion of the Family Time service manager.
When a completed referral form is received, it is assessed by the Family Time service manager who will confirm if we can accept. If we cannot accept a referral we will explain why and also offer any guidance if we can.
Once a referral is accepted we will arrange payment of the referral fee. Then each adult party will be booked in for an introductory meeting or visit with a family time worker. Following completion of introductory meetings, and once we are satisfied that it is appropriate to commence arrangements, we aim to arrange the first session at the first available opportunity. This will dependant on a number of factors such as centre capacity and parent/carer and child availability.
Direct (Face-to-Face) Family Time Services
Direct (Face-to-Face) Services Referral Form
Venue Information/Map – Huddersfield
Photographs of our child-friendly spaces – Huddersfield
Indirect/Letterbox Service
Indirect/Letterbox Referral Form
Pricelist, Process, and Support & Advice
Indirect Service Factsheet (Cafcass)
Resources for Parents and Carers
Online Resources for Parents and Carers (PDF document)
National Association of Child Contact Centres (NACCC) – webpage
NACCC – Find a Contact Centre – webpage
If you have any queries please email [email protected] or call 01484 519988
Costs
Referral Fee for Supervised/Supported/Handover Family Time – £100.00
This covers initial administration, assessment of referral form and any additional paperwork, and introductory meetings for parties.
Referral fee for Indirect/Letterbox service – £30.00
This covers initial administration, assessment of referral form and any additional paperwork, and setting up of file.
Supervised sessions – £75.00 per session consisting of 1 hour direct family time. A typed observation report is provided.
*New fee from 02/01/2025 – £95.00 per hour (max 1.5 hours), with 30 minutes chargeable for community visit outside of town centre
Supported sessions – £20.00 for a 1 hour session. Staggered arrival and departure time is implemented but not charged for. Verbal feedback is provided. A written report is not provided.
*New fee from 02/01/2025 – £45.00 per hour (max 1.5 hours)
Handover support – £7.50 for either handing over OR handing back
Staggered arrival and departure time is implemented but not charged for. Verbal feedback is provided. A written report is not provided.
*New fee from 02/01/2025 – £15.00
Handover – £15.00 for handing over AND handing back
Staggered arrival and departure time is implemented but not charged for. Verbal feedback is provided. A written report is not provided.
*New fee from 02/01/2025 – £30.00
Each Indirect/Letterbox item – £5.00 plus reimbursement of any additional postage.
Email correspondence, standard letters, and cards are covered by a £5.00 fee for each instance.
*New fees from 02/01/2025
- Electronic letter – £15.00 (sent via email)
- Letter or card only – £15.00 plus postage (sent via 1st Class standard post)
- Letter or card or gift voucher – £17.50 plus postage (sent via specialised/signed for delivery)
- Indirect gifts – £20.00 plus postage + includes maximum 3 items and 1 card or letter – additional items charged at £1 per item (sent via specialised/signed for delivery)
- Parties are required to provide us with appropriate packaging (e.g. box, plastic packet, bubble wrap). If packaging is not provided, this will result in a delay to items being sent on. Any packaging purchased by the service will be billed back to the responsible party.
Dates
Huddersfield – Face to face arrangements run on Tuesdays, Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays.
Locations
Huddersfield Family Time Service:
Fresh Futures
Brian Jackson House
2 New North Parade
Huddersfield
HD1 5JP
Contact Details
If you have any questions about this service, please feel free to check out our FAQ page, or contact us using the below information.
This service is provided by Fresh Futures’ Family Time Team, part of the Children & Family Services department.
01484 519988 option 2
“Everything is fine here at the Family Time service, The staff members are brilliant and make everyone feel very comfortable. It was very clean and tidy which was really good especially with Covid-19.”