The Lime Tree Project
An intensive, in-home family support service. Working alongside Tusla and families through periods of real difficulty to help children stay safe, supported and, wherever possible, at home.
Standing alongside families, when it matters most
The Lime Tree Project is an intensive family support service for families in Cork South West. Families are referred by Tusla when significant concerns have been identified about a child’s safety, wellbeing or stability, and where additional support may help bring about positive change.
Working alongside parents, carers and children, the team provides practical support, assessment and intervention designed to strengthen relationships, improve outcomes and help children remain safely connected to the people who matter most.
- Intensive, home-based support delivered where families live and learn.
- Flexible visits, including evenings and weekends where needed.
- Four integrated support pathways tailored to family needs.
- Multidisciplinary expertise across family support, social care, psychology and social work.
- Specialist assessments that help inform decisions made by Tusla and the courts.
- Relationship-based, strengths-focused support that works with families to create lasting change.
Who This Service Is For
Lime Tree supports families facing significant challenges where children may be at risk, relationships are under pressure, or additional support is needed to help a family move forward safely.
Typical Referrals Include:
- Families experiencing significant child welfare concerns.
- Children at risk of entering care.
- Children returning home from care.
- Families requiring support around supervised contact arrangements.
- Children and young people who would benefit from one-to-one support.
Working alongside families to bring about positive change
When a family is referred to Lime Tree, the team begins with a 12-week assessment period, with two to three visits a week — a mix of scheduled and unscheduled visits, mostly taking place in the family home.
The assessment uses the Framework for the Assessment of Children in Need and their Families, looking at a child’s developmental needs, parenting capacity, and the wider family and environment.
Following the assessment, the team puts together a package of support tailored to that family. This might include parenting support, help with home management, support for a child’s development, emotional support, advocacy or relationship work, drawing on approaches such as Circle of Security, Parents Plus and Non-Violent Resistance (NVR).
Altogether, this strand typically runs for around six to nine months — a 12-week assessment followed by up to a further six months of intervention where needed.
Supporting meaningful contact — not just supervising visits
Where a child is in care, staying connected with their parents, siblings and wider family matters. Lime Tree’s Supervised Access Assessment & Parent Support strand helps families maintain these relationships through contact that is properly assessed and supported.
This strand is for families where a child has recently entered care, where contact has been interrupted, or where Tusla or the courts need an assessment of how contact is going.
Lime Tree goes beyond simply supervising visits. The team observes how parent and child interact, offers parents support and coaching outside the access sessions themselves, and makes recommendations on the frequency, duration and level of supervision needed — including, where appropriate, a plan to move towards contact in the community.
These assessment reports help inform decisions made by Tusla, the courts, and care planning teams.
A steady, well-supported return home
For children who are returning home from care, Lime Tree’s Supported Reunification strand helps make sure this happens at the right pace, with the right support in place for everyone involved.
The team works with the whole family during this transition — observing how things are going at home, offering parenting support, helping with transition planning, and keeping a close eye on family dynamics as everyone adjusts. Foster carers, as well as parents, are supported through this process.
Based on what the team observes, they make recommendations about the pace of reunification, helping to ensure the move home is sustainable. This typically takes around six to nine months.
One-to-one support, built around the child
Sometimes a child or young person needs support of their own or in other cases the support is provided alongside the work taking place with their family. Lime Tree’s direct work offers one-to-one, relationship-based support to children and young people who are experiencing significant difficulties, showing concerning behaviours, or who are at risk of placement or family breakdown.
This support is shaped entirely around the individual child. It might take place at home, in the community, or at Childhood Matters, and can include therapeutic interventions, emotional wellbeing support, and help with everyday behaviour and development.
“The way that Lime Tree worked with me and my son helped a lot — I now have a better relationship with my son and the rest of my family, and the house is a lot calmer.”
— A parent supported by the Lime Tree Project
Outcomes
Across all four strands, Lime Tree’s work is focused on helping children stay safely within their families wherever possible, and on supporting the relationships that matter most to them.
- Reduce risks to children and strengthen the safety of their home environment.
- Build the confidence and capacity of parents and carers.
- Support and strengthen family relationships.
- Improve children’s overall wellbeing.
- Support safe reunification where this is the right outcome for a child.
- Help children maintain meaningful relationships with parents and family members, even where contact needs to be supervised.
- Prevent placement breakdown by identifying and addressing difficulties early.
- Provide Tusla and the courts with clear, evidence-based assessments to inform decisions about a child’s care.
- Improve children’s long-term outcomes by addressing concerns at an early stage.
As well as providing direct support to families, Lime Tree’s assessments and reports feed directly into the decisions made by Tusla and the courts about a child’s care, contact arrangements and pathway home.
Referral Details
Lime Tree accepts referrals from Tusla Social Workers within the Cork South West Social Work Network.
If you are working with a family who may benefit from intensive family support, supported contact arrangements, reunification support or direct work with a child or young person, our team is happy to discuss suitability prior to referral.
Referral Criteria
- Family is actively engaged with Tusla.
- Significant concerns regarding a child’s safety, wellbeing or stability.
- Intensive support is likely to improve outcomes for the child and family.
- Typically Hardiker Level 3 or 4 (Level 2 may apply for reunification support).
Direct Contact: Louise Kelleher, Family Support Services Manager
Email: lkelleher@childhood-matters.ie
Tel: 087 344 4218
Can a family refer themselves to Lime Tree?
No. Lime Tree works with families who are already known to Tusla, and referrals can only be made by a Tusla Social Worker within the Cork South West network. If you are a parent or family member with concerns, your social worker can discuss whether Lime Tree might be able to help.
What is the Hardiker Scale?
The Hardiker Scale is a framework used by Tusla and other agencies to describe the level of need within a family, ranging from universal support (Level 1) through to families in crisis (Level 4). Lime Tree generally works with families at Level 3 or 4, where there is a high level of need.
How long does Lime Tree work with a family?
This depends on the type of support. The Intensive Family Support and Supported Reunification strands typically run for around six to nine months, beginning with a 12-week assessment period. Other strands, such as supervised access assessment, may run for shorter or longer periods depending on what’s needed.
What happens after the 12-week assessment?
At the end of the assessment, the team makes recommendations about what should happen next. This might mean ongoing intervention from Lime Tree, a referral to another service, or, in some cases, consideration of alternative care arrangements. Families are kept informed throughout.
Does Lime Tree only work with parents, or with children too?
Both. Limetree works with the family as a whole as well as working with parents and carers and also provides direct, one-to-one support to children and young people where this is needed
Could this service help someone you support?
When you’re ready, follow the referral steps to get in touch with our team.
