Ms Niamh Lambe:

A child support worker is specially trained to work with children. He or she has a background in early education and received childcare training to degree level. Child support workers work with children on a one-to-one basis to work through with the child the trauma of homelessness and help him or her express himself or herself and understand the difficulties arising from displacement. A lot of the team members are psychotherapists or have a background in social work. They refer children for assessments. We work with children from birth to the late teenage years. There are very different delays in development among the children with whom we work. We make suitable referrals to support children in that regard. We also work on one-to-one basis. We provide support for parents through tummy time, support with homework or providing links with after-school support and crèche placements. We provide parenting supports to meet whatever family needs present. We have case managers on our team who work alongside the child support workers to support parents. It is very much a multidisciplinary team and that is what works best. It means that children have space in which to grow and they and their parents receive help from their child support workers.