Are you a professional wanting to refer a family?

If you are a health visitor, doctor, social worker or any other professional working with families and you feel someone would benefit from our service, you can make a referral on their behalf, with their consent.

Please phone us on 01383 621349  to discuss the family situation and if a referral is thought to be suitable we will send you a referral form to complete and return or you can download a Referral Form below. If you have MS Word on your computer system you can download an editable form or you can download and print a PDF version.

Information for families

We know that sometimes it can be a lot of information for families. To help with this we have created a leaflet which may be useful in helping you explain what Home-Start Dunfermline is and the support we are able to offer.

This is Home-Start Dunfermline

Early Years Collective Referral Form

The Cottage Family Centre, Home-Start and Fife Gingerbread are all established voluntary sector organisations with excellent reputations and experience supporting families. This service will be available Fife wide to support families with identified wellbeing concerns (children aged 0-8 years) offering support to meet the needs of families facing multiple and complex challenges.

While this form is designed for professional referrals, any family can self refer using this form if it is returned to Home-Start Dunfermline. The form is in two formats, one is editable using MS Word, the other is a PDF format which can be printed and filled in. 

We do not operate a waiting list: family support is governed by the availability and suitability of volunteers. We will always give you guidance as to the current situation regarding volunteer availability.

What happens next?

• We assess each referral to ensure the support required falls within Home-Start’s remit.
• We will visit the family to discuss their needs and tell them about Home-Start’s service.
• We will then identify a suitable volunteer whose skills and experience match the needs of the family.
• As soon as a suitable volunteer is available, the co-ordinator will introduce them to the family and accompany them on their first visit. It may take time for a volunteer to become available and if a suitable match cannot be made then you will be informed.
• We will let you know when Home-Start support starts and ends and may ask you for feedback about the impact our service had on the family.

We will provide regular updates, within confidentiality guidelines, on our progress with the family.

Next: Volunteering