About our service
The empowering families and networks in Enfield (EFNE) project is funded for one year, from April 2024 to March 2025, by the Department for Education’s Short Breaks Innovation Fund. It aims to provide better support for children and young people with SEND, and their families, to prevent family breakdown and improve quality of life.
This support will include:
- Intensive out of hours support:
- Customised positive behaviour support (PBS) based on assessments by trained behaviour analysts, with help from behaviour support practitioners to apply strategies at home
- A consultation phone line available from 5pm to 11pm, 7 days a week, for parents and carers to get advice from PBS trained staff. This may include home visits or providing a short break during a crisis, either at home, in the community, or at our centre.
- Additional short breaks:
- after school groups and care to support behaviour interventions
- Training in positive behaviour support at 3 levels:
- Introduction to PBS for parents, carers, and professionals
- British Institute of Learning Disabilities (BILD) PBS Practitioner Level
- BILD PBS Coach Level
- Behaviour support drop-in sessions:
- opportunities for parents and carers to meet, support each other, and get advice from PBS trained staff and other parents
The project is run by Enfield’s Joint Service for Disabled Children with support from Our Voice parent carer forum.
What we mean by behaviours of concern
Behaviours of concern are actions that can harm the wellbeing or safety of a person or those around them. These behaviours interfere with everyday life and activities. Examples include:
- physical aggression
- self-injury
- property damage
- verbal aggression
These behaviours might also be called ‘challenging behaviours’ or ‘behaviours that challenge’.
Who this service is for
The EFNE project supports children and young people aged 4 to 17 years who live in Enfield and:
- have a diagnosed learning disability or are autistic
- are showing behaviours of concern or going through a severe mental health crisis
- have care and behaviour that is becoming hard to manage, increasing the risk of family breakdown, or are at a crisis point
Who does not qualify for the service
A child or young person cannot use this service if:
- they do not have a diagnosed learning disability or autism
- they do not show behaviours of concern
- their issues are already being effectively managed by other support services
Who can refer
Any professional or service working with the child or young person can make a referral. However, it is best if someone who knows the child or young person well (for example, their school, Social Worker, or keyworker) completes it to provide the most detailed information.
Referrals should be made using our referral form, and must include the separate consent form.
For more information or to discuss a referral, please contact the EFNE team by email at jsdc.behavioursupport@enfield.gov.uk, or by phone on 020 3880 2313.
Our Voice
Our Voice is a parent carer forum for families of children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities, aged 0 to 25, who live or go to school in Enfield.
We are run by parents and aim to improve services for the families we support. We work with Enfield Council and health services to represent parents’ and carers’ views on important issues. We also work with other local and national voluntary organisations and schools.
We help parents by offering informal advice, guidance and signposting to other services. We provide information through regular updates, twice-yearly newsletters, various events, and training workshops for parents and families.
Our main funding comes from the Department for Education, but most of our team works on a voluntary basis.
We are also part of the National Network of Parent Carer Forums.
Our contact details are:
- Telephone 07516 662315
- Email: info@ourvoiceenfield.org.uk