Am I allowed to go out with my baby?

Sometimes it may be the decision of Social Services/referral agent that parents cannot leave the House with their babies unless supervised by a member of staff. This is a situation that we would not wish to continue for any length of time, but it does allow us to assess a parents' ability to manage with their baby in the wider community, road safety and shopping trips etc. It also allows parents who are not from the area the opportunity to get to know the locality before they have to undertake trips out unsupervised.

Unsupervised time out is reviewed regularly and staff ensure that parents are able to spend time away from the House by either looking after the baby or escorting the parent and child during outings. Parents are asked to plan ahead and give some notice when arranging outings to ensure a member of staff is available to accompany them.

How long will I be here?

The usual length of an assessment is 12 weeks; the length of your assessment will be agreed with your child's Social Worker or the referral agent before you come to Browning House.

Browning House is able to undertake assessments of varying lengths: 4, 6, 8, 10 or 12 weeks' duration depending on what kind of help and support you need.

Sometimes an assessment will be extended for longer than 12 weeks should Browning House and the referral agent feel that you would benefit from this and it helps you to succeed and have a successful assessment.

Browning House is a safe place for you and your child to stay but if at any time you wanted to leave the assessment you could. If you wanted to leave the assessment for good, your child's Social Worker/referral agent would have to find another person to care for your baby, this might take a little bit of time, and we hope you would stay and look after your baby until then. If you found it too difficult to stay at Browning House we would look after your child until the right person was found to care for him.

Can I have visitors?

Yes: You can have a limited number of named visitors.

Browning House is a Family Assessment Centre, and because of this all visitors will have to be police-checked by your baby's Social Worker/referral agent before they can visit the House. All visitors must remain in the communal areas of the House during their visit and we ask that they visit at times that do not coincide with any appointments you may have with professionals undertaking assessment work with you.

Browning House can supervise contact between members of your family, visitors and you or your baby should this be necessary.

Do I have to pay any charges?

Yes, we ask all residents to pay a weekly charge towards the use of gas and electricity, £10.00 for a single parent and £12.00 for a couple. Should this not be paid then residents will not be entitled to use the babysitting service offered by staff.

Being able to pay this weekly charge and manage your money contributes to the assessment process and demonstrates your ability to budget effectively.