Urgent Help

[angiekk]

Hi

I wonder if you can help? My sister in law has just been sectioned, she is married with four children under the age of 7.

I would like to know if there is any help for the family , that my brother in law can access. He is self employed and cannot afford to take time off work. Would there be any financial assistance that he could apply for , or perhaps someone that could help take care of the children ( maybe emergency day care, or something like that, this is his preferred option)?

He is at a complete loss at the moment, he just doesn't know where to begin, so any help/advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you so much for you help.

I would have thought with the children being so young a health visitor should still be involved still and would know the best options ?

sorry to hear your SIL has been sectioned. Hopefully they will sort her out soon.

If he can't afford to take time off work due to having a low income ESA/tax credits might be the way forward.

Hi angiekk

Here are my suggestions:

Your BIL could explain the situation to your SIL's care team. If she has a care co-ordinator, key worker, or other person in charge of her care this is the person he should speak to. As sukindred says, it may be that a health visitor is already connected to your SIL's care; if not one may become involved soon. Sometimes, the different parts of the treatment team do not communicate with each other terribly well. This is where your BIL can help, by keeping track of it all (care of SIL, care of children, financial situation), as your SIL may not find doing that easy herself right now.

Your BIL could make an emergency appointment with the GP and explain his and the childrens' situation to the GP himself. The GP may know the appropriate route and/or be able to offer direct support to your BIL and the children.

Does your BIL/SIL's family have family or friends who could help out for a week or two? Four under 7 is a lot of children; at the same time, family and friends will do all sorts to help each other and you may be surprised what kind of muddling through can be done until more formal help is in place, which sometimes takes a bit of time.

Home Start is one charity who may be able to make suggestions even if they cannot help you directly themselves. See e.g. this page on their website. You could call them yourself and explain the situation and see if they have suggestions.

The childrens' school or regular child care may have more suggestions. Your BIL can say that your SIL has been admitted to hospital if he prefers not to mention that she has been sectioned if he or she does not want others to know this. However, she will not be the first parent to have been admitted to hospital involuntary and if your BIL is able to explain the situation to the school/child care providers they may act more urgently as the gravity of the situation is more clear.

I hope that some of this helps. Sending sympathies and wishing the entire family a speedy recovery for your SIL and peace in the mean time.

Thank you so much for taking time out to help, we really do appreciate it. You have now given us somewhere to start, a focus, something to work with.
I contacted mind a few days ago and they have sent a reply, which includes many of the things that you suggested. I will copy their reply at the end of this message, just incase anyone needs extra info in the future.

Once again thank you so much, for the replies , it really does mean a lot.

Thank you for contacting Mind

It sounds as though your brothers family is going through a lot at the moment, there are some organisations that may be able to help.

There is an organisation called Home Start that may be able to help your brother within the home with the care of the children, take a look at their website and see if there is support local to your brother.

To ensure your brother is getting all the financial help he is entitled to he should give an organisation called Turn2us a call on 0808 8022000, they can give him independent unbiased information about everything he may be entitled to at this time.

It can often help to talk things through with someone at a local Mind. Typically a local Mind can offer talking treatments, information services and support groups. As all of our local services operate independently, what they offer can vary, so please click here and enter your postcode to find out more.

If your brother feels he needs to talk to someone from a non judgemental listening support service he can contact Family Lives on 0808 8002222.

A situation like this can sometimes start to effect the rest of the family, for example the children. If your brother is worried about anything about the children in relation to this situation there is a very good website called MindEd that holds a lot of information and resources for parents worried about the mental health of their child.

If you would like to speak to someone direct on the Mind Infoline please contact us on 0300 123 3393. You can also contact us by text on 86463. We’re here from 9am to 6pm Monday to Friday (calls charged at local rate).

I hope you find this information helpful and I wish you all the very best.

Take care,