The team supports children and young people from our Gypsy, Roma and Traveller (GRT) communities in Leeds to achieve their potential on a whole range of individual social, health and educational issues by providing bespoke, specialist support and interventions that complement, rather than replace, the support provided by other teams within Children and Families Services and to make Leeds a truly c
hild friendly city. Our Gypsy Roma Traveller communities in Leeds are not one homogeneous group. Therefore, this may include families identifying as Romany Gypsy; Irish Traveller; Central and Eastern European, from countries such as: Czech Republic; Slovakia, Romania; Poland and others. [Please note this is not an exhaustive list]
Families do not need to define themselves by the term GRT to seek the support of the GRT Outreach & Inclusion Team. What support does the GRT Outreach and Inclusion Team offer to families? The team offers a range of support to children, young people and their families in GRT communities. Some of this work is specific to the ages of the children; please see overleaf for further details. The work of the team includes, but is not limited to, the following support for families with children of all ages:
Providing Early Help support to children, young people and their families as soon as problems emerge, or re-emerge. Helping families to make positive changes where there are concerns about particular behaviours, health and wellbeing;
Delivering time-limited individual or group work programmes;
Supporting access to universal services and provision;
Providing families with the skills and knowledge they need to keep themselves and their children safe
Offering community learning, e.g. English language skills for new migrants, and safer sleeping tips for parents of babies and young children;
Working in partnership with any targeted or statutory services that families are engaged with; and
Working in partnership with the police to address safeguarding issues in relation to immigration, domestic violence and abuse (guide), and human trafficking (guide). The team is staffed by Family Outreach and Inclusion Support workers. How do Family Outreach Workers support GRT children and families? Family Outreach Workers work predominantly with 0-5 year olds and their families, supporting them to access universal services including children’s centres and 0-19 Public Health Integrated Nursing (guide). They work to increase parental awareness of the importance of Early Years education, provide outreach, early learning opportunities and health promotion through community activities for example offering home visits and Nursery Bus at temporary roadside encampments. How do Inclusion Support Workers support GRT children and families? Inclusion Support Workers work predominantly with school-aged children, from reception year up to Year 11. They support families to successfully navigate statutory processes such as school admissions, identify and address potential barriers to learning for children and young people from GRT communities, and offer individual and group work programmes for children and young people. Sastipen is the Romani word for health and reflects the focus on our ambition in reducing health inequalities, particularly amongst our Roma communities. We are working closely with Roma community members, to tackle health and wellbeing issues linked to the wider determinants of health, poor mental health and healthy living. Working collaboratively and in partnership with others to deliver positive and sustainable health and wellbeing outcomes. How can practitioners refer a family for support from the team? Families’ engagement with the GRT Outreach and Inclusion Team is voluntary, so potential referrals must be discussed and agreed with the family in advance. In order to make a referral, practitioners must complete a referral form, which asks for a range of information about the family’s history and previous engagement with services (if any), the issues that need to be addressed in order to improve outcomes, and the changes practitioners would like to see. The form also provides space to note the child, young person and/ or family’s view of the difference the team could make to them. Please note that the GRT Outreach and Inclusion team do not accept referrals where the primary reason is for translation. Key contacts and further information
If you would like to find out more information about what the team offer, discuss a potential referral or obtain a referral form, please contact the GRT Outreach and Inclusion Team at [email protected].
