How can Iris help my family?
Iris believes that by opening communication lines we can focus more time, effort and energy towards building partnerships with each other and families, helping you to explore and learn what you need and enhance your family’s quality of life.
Services for families
Iris can help you navigate complex systems and access the right support and people:
- Support brokerage for families
- Help with EHCP applications
- Connect you to the right organisations
- Provide you with access to the latest research
What is support brokerage?
Developed by Liz Leach Murphy at Imagineer “Support brokers act as independent facilitators working alongside people, supporting them to plan to live the life of their choice. They work directly for the person; supporting them to stay in control, to understand and explore a whole range of opportunities and to confidently take action to achieve their desired outcomes.”
Iris has taken this concept and developed a model for whole-family support brokerage. A support broker works with a family to relieve the pressure they face in navigating the complex systems involved in their support. They provide time-limited, practical support to a family in understanding their options and rights in navigating the education, health and social care systems. Taking a coaching approach, the support broker not only helps the family to plan for their future and access information and support, but also teaches them to understand the system and develop their skills in negotiating and preparing for the future as circumstances change. Focused on the idea of ‘continuity’, the support broker helps the family to take back control, understand their new context and reclaim their lives, focusing on their priorities, whatever those may be and without limits. These priorities, hopes and aspirations are uncovered during the process of creating the family plan, with barriers and enablers explored in developing support plans.