Frequently Asked Questions

We are frequently asked about our work and with our change in service direction. We have attracted many questions; here you'll find some answers. If you have a question for Iceni please use the form below to submit it to us, and we will do our best to contact you with an answer as soon as possible. Below, we have also posted some FAQs that have already come our way, with detailed answers.

Why are Iceni now only working with families?

The loss of our statutory contract from April 2010 was hugely disappointing, however Iceni saw this as an opportunity to enhance and develop a new way of working with addictions. Working with families is not new to Iceni and we firmly believe that 'family orientated' prevention and treatment strategies are the best way to treat addiction. Iceni now want to evidence that by providing early intervention services to the whole family so that we can prevent children from becoming future "looked after children" by the statutory care system. We also want to reduce the number of children going on to become future addicts.

What are the aims of the family service?

• To reduce social care interventions for these families and to prevent children from being taken into care.
• To work with other agencies to provide a single point of contact for families with addiction and associated problems.
• Reduce the financial cost to society by keeping families together.
• To empower and provide parents and carers the help they need to improve
• opportunities for children to fulfil their potential and ensure that children are given every chance to live a healthy, fulfilling and happy life.
• In particular we will focus on supporting those families who face multiple disadvantage and who are most vulnerable, yet traditionally have not engaged with services. These families face significant challenges in being empowered to take control of their own choices and to trust in the support that services can offer.

What kind of families do Iceni work with?

• Research demonstrates that families with a history of addiction are at higher risk of social care involvement. Children from these families are more likely to be separated from their parents and entered into the care system. Despite this connection, services that support children and families remain relatively uncoordinated. The irony is that services within the system in Suffolk pick apart the needs of the family and focuses on just one. All such agencies are very specialised at what they do, but when you have a family that has many complex problems going on, it's challenging.
• The majority of families may be among societies most vulnerable and socially excluded. Their lives may be chaotic and we will respect every single one as an individual and as a part of a family and the service will be fully accessible to any family that needs our support including:
• Families/parents with addiction issues whose children are within the social care system.
• Families/parents with addiction issues whose children are on the 'at risk' or ' in need' register.
• Families where early intervention can prevent problems from escalating and requiring statutory involvement

How do you make a referral to Iceni?

Given we aim to reach those who are not necessarily known to statutory services, our main source of referrals will be self-referrals, however, we envisage referrals will come from some of the following agencies who may feel that families are on the cusp of requiring statutory intervention:

• Social Care Services
• Children's Centres
• GP's
• Mental Health Teams
• Schools
• Cafcas
• Criminal Justice System
• Police
• Housing Providers
• Other Drug Agencies
• Women's Aid
• Self Referrals

What kind of support do you offer families?

Utilising years of experience, and unparalleled success in the treatment of addiction, coupled with the proven philosophy of Iceni, we have developed an intensive support structure created to aid families to overcome the obstacles of addiction and its associated problems such as debt, domestic violence and crime. This can be achieved by providing an inclusive service embracing the psychological, social and physical needs of the family by offering:

• Family Assessment
• 1-2-1 Support
• Couples' Counselling
• Family Therapy
• CBT
• Domestic Violence work (female and male)
• Anger Management
• Educational opportunities
• Debt Work/Welfare Rights
• Addiction Awareness
• Social Services Liaison
• Assistance with court work.
• Life Skills
• Parenting support
• Crisis management
• Preventative work
• Self esteem work
• A therapeutic contact environment.
• A responsive and accessible after care service.
• Counselling
• Psychotherapy
• Advice and guidance
• Touch Therapies
• Nutrition and Exercise

Do Iceni work with other organisations?

Iceni are aware and deeply committed to working with those who share similar aims,
as families and individual members are often known to several agencies. It has often
been said that the agencies involved know who this client group is, but there is no
lead agency that is willing to take responsibility for delivering services. Being
everyone's problem but no-one's responsibility means that such families can bounce
around the system without their needs being met. If agencies know who they are, one
approach would be to use such local intelligence and focus collective interventions on
this group. The available evidence strongly indicates that successful interventions for
this client group involve a high degree of collaborative working across agencies.

Iceni will use the support of organisations involved in the following example areas:

• Debt and money advice
• Housing
• Education & Training
• Children's centres- Young people services
• Employment (Job Centre)
• Domestic Violence
• Criminal Justice (anti-social behaviour)
• Community cohesion initiatives
• Mental Health
• Other providers working in substance misuse
• Family support networks

Why is preventative work important for families?

We believe prevention is the best cure and there are several points at which our service will target families with the aim of preventing the escalation of problems and the need for statutory intervention. These include:

• Empower parents to set a clear family position on substance misuse by family members
• Provide parents and children with the skills to refuse offers to use drugs
• Increase family bonding both by reducing conflict and by increasing children's involvement in positive family activities.
• Family bonding is a key protective factor that can be strengthened by improving family communication and family management practices— interventions directed toward parents have also been found to reduce other risk factors related to drug abuse, such as early aggressive behaviour, poor school adjustment and delinquent behaviour.

How will you know you are doing a good job?

Iceni are entering into a more self regulatory position, free from the increasing levels of
bureaucracy imposed on us by local authorities. Iceni remains committed to preserving its values, and not having to compromise such values or mission that has become increasingly difficult to maintain whilst securing statutory funding. With this in mind we envisage introducing a true stakeholder-based approach in which service users and local people get to have a big say over how we operate.

This approach will guarantee that Iceni makes itself accountable not only to its funders, but to the taxpaying public of Ipswich and Suffolk. In 2012 we will set up community panels that will not only support our work but also monitor our progress and ensure we are spending money wisely and in the best interests of the communities. Individuals will be welcome to attend and participate in Iceni meetings at all levels of our work and performance and financial activities are open to any public scrutiny at anytime.

Our approach to performance management is based on the need to focus on

• Clearly defined outcome objectives that are measurable and thus enable our resource's to be used to maximum efficiency and effectiveness.
• Clearly evidencing an improvement in value for money, either through achieving a better outcome at lower cost, or achieving some other form of economic benefit for example, through reducing dependence on statutory services.

Success for families is likely to be judged in terms of small step changes. Even so, such small changes can have significant benefit, to individuals, their communities and society as a whole. We are committed to demonstrate the improvements/outcomes that we have set out to achieve.

How can being a volunteer make a difference?

Since its inception Iceni has welcomed and acknowledged the contribution of volunteers in supporting the provision of services. Volunteers will be an ever increasing resource and essential in helping Iceni meet its objectives over the coming years.

We encourage all sectors of the community to get involved and Iceni would not be able to deliver services without the support of volunteers. Volunteers extend the paid workforce with a median average of 5 volunteers to every paid member of staff.

Value for the volunteer:

Helping some of the most vulnerable in our communities is among the most basic and noble of human instincts. Through case studies and feedback Iceni volunteers confirm that they are pleased to be able to do something to help, proud to have something to offer society and that they are acknowledged by people in their community for the new skills they have learnt and they have a strong sense of belonging to a caring organisation.

Types of volunteers:

We appreciate the skills volunteers bring with them and look for what people can do rather than what they can't. As well as volunteers who are happy to run our cafe for a few hours a week or work on reception and administrative duties we offer those who wish, the opportunity to become more involved with supporting clients.

There is an opportunity for ex-clients to be able to work as a volunteer at Iceni . Criteria and procedures are in place and must be adhered to; however, we presently have 4 ex-clients that work at Iceni itself and 3 current clients that help staff in the broader community talking about
their history with addictions etc. We also offer student counsellors placements and social work placements which are invaluable for both parties.

We estimate that the total volunteer support to Iceni is £95,000 every year. It is tempting, and it can be impressive, to multiply hours by a wage equivalent and claim that the resulting total of thousands of pounds represents the value of volunteer work. This is certainly the easiest method but it misrepresents, and in most, cases underestimates the real value of volunteer work to Iceni, families and the communities we serve..