Meeting documents

For the Committee to receive an update on the Family Support Service which was launched in September 2019.

Contributors:

Mr G Morgan, Head of Early Help

The Chairman welcomed Mr W Whyte, Cabinet Member for Children’s Services and Mr G Morgan, Head of Early Help.

During the presentation and discussion, the following main points were made and questions asked.

·         The Family Support Service (FSS) had been operational since September 2019.

·         FSS was now fully staffed and the integrated service offer was strengthened by having a wide range of skills and experience covering all aspects of the new early help offer, which extends to families with children aged 0-19 (25 with SEND).

·         FSS provides support for children and young people through community-based support at 16 retained Family Centres, where bespoke timetables of activities were being developed.

·         Eleven partners and/or other BCC teams were regularly using the centres, including the children’s mental health services.

·         The Cabinet Member explained that the number of level 3 cases (early intervention of family support) in 2019 was 573 and there were now 1,134 cases.  This highlighted the success of a targeted approach and working closely with families in a timely and supported way.

·         178 sessions per week were being delivered through the Family Centres – both universal services as well as very specific courses were being run in some areas (40% of these sessions were for the under 5s, 30% were for families and 30% for school age children).

·         A Member asked for clarification on the 100% increase in support for the families with greatest need. The Cabinet Member explained that this did not mean that there was a 100% increase across the county but the figure represented an increase in identifying issues earlier and being able to put support in place for families and children.

·         The aim was to grow the service offer and ensure that all partners and staff were able to signpost families and children to the right service for the right support.

·         A Member asked what processes were in place to measure the improved outcomes for families.  Mr Morgan responded by saying that all families had a support plan to track their journey of change. Families were assessed at the beginning, middle and end so that improvements could be tracked – using a tool known as the Family Outcome Star.  It was agreed that the impact of this work would be reported to the new Committee as well as reviewing the opportunities presented by the creation of more locality working through the Community Boards.  In September 2020, it was suggested that there should be an annual review of the FSS, in conjunction with other partners.

Action: Mr Morgan/Committee & Governance Adviser

·         A Member made reference to adult social care and how the service had a list of people who were on the cusp of needing care and asked whether this was the same for the FSS.  The Cabinet Member explained that the locality teams were already working with families and children in the early stages before the need for statutory services.  Mr Morgan went on to say that there were link family workers within schools who helped to identify children and families requiring support.  The team also worked alongside health colleagues at the FSS Centres so early discussions were already taking place.

·         In response to a question about publicising the new FSS and promoting the good work currently being undertaken at the Centres, the Cabinet Member explained that the press had been invited to attend the Aylesbury Berryfields Family Centre recently and the website, which had been refreshed, had seen a 25% increase in usage since September. All the Centres had a Facebook presence and leaflets promoting the new FSS had been distributed to health agencies, GP surgeries and Libraries.

·         It was acknowledged that the FSS was developed in partnership with other agencies and all partners had a role to play in delivering the key messages.  Mr Morgan agreed to discuss what more could be done to promote the new service with health partners.

Action: Mr Morgan

·         It was agreed to share the publicity information with parish councils so that it could be posted on their Facebook pages and promoted through other relevant channels.

Action: Mr Morgan

·         In response to a question about the services aimed at adolescent anxiety and whether people could self-refer, Mr Morgan explained that people were primarily signposted to the service through the MASH (Multi-Agency Safeguarding Hub) and confirmed that self-referral was available.  A Member felt that more should be done to promote this service as it would take the pressure off CAMHS in the first instance.

·         The Cabinet Member agreed to reinforce the key messages and where to go for support with the Children’s Partnership.  He stressed that every school had a link family liaison worker.

·         Facebook was suggested as a good channel to be used to promote the new service to every town and parish.

·         A Member asked how the planned savings of £3.1m had been made through redesigning the new service (£2.5m had already been saved with a further 600k savings due to be made).  The Cabinet Member explained that this was due to a reduction in the physical footprint and a new way of delivering the service.  He went on to say that the savings did not include the £7m of public health money which funds specific services for children, including health checks.

The Chairman thanked the presenters.