The Lime Tree family support service works with vulnerable families living in the community who need a diverse range of interventions to help maintain family unity. This service is a therapeutic family support service, which is child-focused in nature and operates at a protective level.

Lime Tree engages with families referred by South Lee Social Work Department and operates an outreach service over five days per week both within and outside normal working hours. This may include assessments, improved parenting strategies, therapeutic intervention, preparation of court reports, and support at social work meetings and child protection case conferences.

Engagement with the Lime Tree team can support families in a diverse range of areas such as parenting skills, relationship building and communication within families. In addition we utilize a variety of frameworks, such as; Parenting under Pressure (PuP), Signs of Safety, Non Violent resistance (NVR), life story work, shared parenting with separated or divorced parents, support to foster carers and supervised access.

A multi-disciplinary team including youth and community workers, social care staff, psychologists and social workers work together to create the best possible outcomes for families referred to our service. The majority of interaction with families’ takes place in the families’ own homes and a range of facilities at Childhood Matters are also available.

Support is offered for various lengths of time and can be tailored to meet the needs of individual families who have come to the attention of the social work department and require additional support and guidance to enhance and develop their family and home environment.

For more information please do not hesitate to contact us for our Lime Tree information brochure

When contact needs to be supervised, there is a perceived or potential risk to the child, either emotionally, physically or both. As this is a child focused centre the child’s best interests are paramount; thus balancing creating a positive experience for the child along with providing a safe space for all involved. Support is provided to both child and parent around the contact process with the aim to move families from a highly supervised environment to a semi or unsupervised structure within the community.

The Lime Tree Project Contact Service provides structured supports and interventions for children who are in the care of TUSLA to have contact with their parents, siblings and other family members.

Lime Tree Contact Service provides a specialist supervised service conducted by qualified Social Care and Social Work professionals in a neutral and pleasant environment. This service facilitates court directed supervised contact where a social services’ risk assessment indicates this is necessary to ensure the well-being and safety of a child while having contact with a parent or relative. Our team provides progress reports and assessments to Social Work Departments and Courts in order to progress contact between parents and children.

In addition the contact project also liaises with Social Workers at South Lee Social Work Department to provide contact rooms for families that are supervised directly by the social work department, this allows families to meet in a child friendly venue and have access to the gardens and grounds which creates a more natural environment for all involved.