KidsTime: A Whole-Family Approach to Supporting Children When a Parent Has a Mental Illnes

When a parent experiences mental illness, it is never just one person who is affected. Children often carry worries in silence, parents may struggle with guilt, shame and stigma, and family relationships can come under enormous pressure. Yet too often, services focus on the individual rather than the family around them.

KidsTime was developed to change that.

At Our Time, we believe that the best way to improve outcomes for children is to strengthen the family as a whole. Our evidence-informed KidsTime model recognises that children are not isolated individuals, they grow and develop within relationships, families and communities. When those relationships are supported, children are more likely to feel safe, valued and able to thrive.

A whole-family, community-based approach

KidsTime brings together children, parents and carers in local community settings, where several families meet and learn together. This whole-family, multi-family approach creates opportunities to reduce isolation, challenge stigma and build supportive relationships. Families discover they are not alone, children meet other young people with similar experiences, and parents gain confidence through shared learning and mutual support.

Rather than focusing on problems or deficits, KidsTime is strengths-based. We work alongside families to recognise and build on their existing strengths, helping parents feel more confident in their parenting while supporting children to develop resilience, self-worth, emotional understanding and a stronger sense of agency.

Looking beyond the individual

KidsTime is grounded in systemic practice, recognising that children's wellbeing is shaped by the environment around them. Supporting children therefore means supporting the adults who care for them and helping professionals work together across organisational boundaries.

Our aim is not simply to respond when families reach crisis, but to create safe, nurturing environments where children can flourish. This reflects a growing understanding that the most effective support comes when health, education, social care and voluntary organisations work in partnership around the needs of the whole family.

A psychologically safe space

Everything we do is informed by trauma-informed practice. Many families have experienced adversity, uncertainty or fear, so KidsTime creates emotionally safe, shame-free environments where everyone is treated with dignity, compassion and respect.

The programme is built through co-production, recognising children, young people and parents as experts in their own lives. Their lived experience shapes how KidsTime is designed, delivered and continually improved.

Our approach also draws on well-established psychological principles, including:

• Containment – creating safe spaces where difficult emotions can be expressed, understood and managed.
• Attachment – strengthening relationships between children and their parents or carers.
• Interdependence – recognising that resilience develops through supportive relationships and connected communities.
• Peer support – enabling families to learn from others with shared experience, reducing shame and restoring hope.

Together, these principles help children develop a stronger sense of belonging, identity and confidence while helping parents feel supported rather than judged.

Delivering today's policy ambitions

KidsTime reflects the direction of national policy. The Government's Families First Partnership Programme calls for earlier intervention, stronger multi-agency working and support that keeps families together wherever it is safe to do so. Likewise, the 'No Wrong Door' approach promoted by the Local Government Association recognises that children should receive the right support regardless of which service first comes into contact with their family.

KidsTime brings these ambitions to life by ensuring that children's needs are recognised wherever a parent presents for support, particularly within adult mental health services where children have too often remained invisible.

Our approach is equally grounded in the principles of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, recognising every child's right to protection, participation, development and family life. Children have the right to be listened to, to understand what is happening within their family, and to receive the support they need to flourish.

Building stronger families for future generations

At its heart, KidsTime is about creating connection instead of isolation, understanding where there has been confusion, and hope where there has been fear.

When children feel seen, parents feel supported, and professionals work together around the whole family, we create the conditions in which families can recover and thrive.

Because supporting parents is also supporting children. Supporting children strengthens families. And by strengthening families, we have the opportunity to break the intergenerational cycle of mental illness, creating healthier futures for children, parents and generations to come.

If you would like to support children and young people who are living with parental mental illness, please consider making a donation.

If you are affected by anything you hear in this podcast, there are people you can talk to for support. Shout provides free 24/7 mental health text support. Text ‘SHOUT’ to 85258. You can also talk to the Samaritans for confidential, emotional support. Call 116 123 (UK & ROI) or email jo@samaritans.org (UK). Find out more about where to get help.

Media enquiries should be directed to office@ourtimecharity.org.uk