Family Intervention Resources and Support Team

About the FIRST team

The Family Intervention Resources and Support Team (FIRST) provides information, workshops and training around sleep, anxiety and behaviour.

The team includes:

• 2 qualified Sleep Practitioners
• a Behaviour Practitioner
• a Family Support Worker

They work with families who are supporting a child with a disability.

Watch this short video to find out about how FIRST services support children and young people with disabilities on our YouTube channel.

Services available and who can access them

FIRST offers the following services.

Workshops

Anyone in Wokingham Borough who is supporting a child with a disability and has an interest in sleep hygiene or behaviour management is welcome to attend a workshop.

People who are not supporting a child with a disability but have an interest in the subject matter can also attend workshops, but only if there are spaces available.

Sleep and behaviour course programmes

You can access formal sleep and behaviour course programmes if:

• your child is aged 3 to 18 years and has a disability or is on the pathway for an autism assessment
• you live in the Wokingham Borough

Focused support

If you have completed a FIRST formal sleep or behaviour programme and are identified as requiring additional support, you will be offered one-to-one focused support.

FIRST also accepts referrals for urgent work from social work assessments, even without attending the course, or where the parent’s need shows that group work may not be the most suitable way to support them.

Once a family has been identified as needing focused support, FIRST will carry out an assessment and develop a plan of time-limited support with the family.

Children with ADHD

If your child has attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), you will be referred to the Family Coach for access to the 123 Magic Course. The course is specifically designed to support children with ADHD.

You need a referral from a professional to access this service.

How to access the service

There are 2 ways to access this service.

Refer yourself (self-referral)

You can refer:

• yourself if you are supporting a child with a disability
• a family on their behalf, providing they give you consent to share their information with FIRST

To self-refer, contact the service using the FIRST team contact details below.

Referrals by professionals

Professionals can make referrals for focused one-to-one support to the Duty Triage and Assessment team.

Download and fill in the Multi-Agency Referral Form (MARF) and return it to the email address below.

Contact the FIRST team

If you have a question about the service or are submitting a self-referral form, contact the team.

Phone: 0118 974 6000

E-mail: First@wokingham.gov.uk