FACES stands for Families And Carers Extra Support, is a Child Befriending service for children with a moderate to severe disability.
Funding
This is a social services referral based service for children who live in Portsmouth City Boundaries. Families receiving direct payments may also be eligible for support.
Expenses for activities are additional and must be met by the parents or carers.
What is Child Befriending
Child befriending enables children with disabilities to access a wide range of community based activities, recreational pursuits and community events with one to one trained sessional staff member on a regular basis.
This service provides opportunties for the child to develop their social skills and enjoy participating in
activities that the majority of mainstream children take for granted.
While this service can provide short term support for families in crisis, the majority require long term input. This enables staff members to build up an ongoing working relationship with the children and families over a long period of time.
Activities
The activities are leisure based, focusing on the child’s interests. These may include swimming, cinema, bowling, shopping and even support to attend youth groups.
Staff
All staff are required to have an enhanced Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) check before working with children. Staff are also required to complete in house training including hands on work with special needs children.
To apply
Parents of children with severe disabilities should initally contact their social worker to make a referral.
Anyone interested in becoming a sessional worker should contact Enableability or complete our on line application form.