Agenda item

To receive a report detailing the positive impact on vulnerable families made by the Family Support Service since its introduction in 2019 and to note the work underway to deliver the ambitions of the revised Early Help Strategy 2022-2025.

Contributors:

Councillor Anita Cranmer, Cabinet Member for Children’s & Education

Gareth Morgan, Head of Early Help

The Chairman welcomed Cllr Anita Cranmer, Cabinet Member for Children’s and Education, Simon James, Service Director for Education and Early Help, and Gareth Morgan, Head of Early Help, who attended the meeting to speak on this item.

In their presentation, the following points were highlighted:

·       The two-year-old Family Support Service was a key service in the Council’s progress towards improvements suggested in the latest OFSTED inspection. With cases growing in both number and complexity, early intervention and collaboration with partner organisations (schools, health institutions and the voluntary sector) were identified as key factors in meeting children’s welfare requirements. 

·       The Family Support Service supported approximately 400 families, with just over 1000 children, most of which required statutory intervention via social care. In addition, support was also provided at a universal level through the 15 family centres.

·       The demand for family support had increased by 25 % since last year. The service had been responding well to the increased demand, and performances had remained good. 85 % of families were able to achieve their desired outcomes. The biggest increase in requests for help has been received by schools. Family support link workers have been placed in all schools, and the use of family support centres and parenting groups were being promoted to reduce unnecessary escalation of work into children’s social care. 

During the discussion, comments and questions raised by the Committee included:

·       Clarifying how the services provided are dovetailing, and if the increased capacity in accessibility of early health services would help reduce waiting times. It was noted that the children’s mental health support teams, which included youth practitioners and family support workers, were an example of a collaborative service between Oxfordshire Health Trust’s CAMHS service and the Early Help Service. Simon James explained that mental health teams in schools provided a faster way of accessing diagnostic services for neurodevelopmental conditions than a referral. In addition, specialist mental health workers could also support children prior to or instead of receiving a formal diagnosis. Gareth Morgan added that these teams would also provide opportunities for families to access longer-term support if needed. Although this did not directly impact waiting times, it reduced the impact of mental health issues in young people before requiring clinical intervention, thus resulting in fewer numbers of referrals overall. Furthermore, parenting courses for parents of SEND children increased the understanding of their needs and the best ways to support their learning.

·       Simon James explained that family centres were a key facility for  supporting hard-to-reach families and communities. Furthermore, the youth work also connected families with the local community, and increased the understanding of different levels of need across the county, as did work carried out with the voluntary sector. Partnership forums, located in three localities (Wycombe, Aylesbury and Chiltern & South Bucks), were attended by professionals from different agencies and served as a problem-solving mechanism for families who do not fit in one agency or need. Typically, a school might bring a young person and their family forward if work had been done but there was not enough progress, for example, in the student’s behaviour or attendance. The group would then establish what additional support could be offered to best support the student and their family.

·       A councillor requested the attendance of an officer from the Family Support Service at community board meetings. Simon James advised the member that Gareth Morgan would ensure that an appropriate officer attended.

Action: GM

·       In response to a member’s question, it was noted that the Family Support Service had no waiting lists and adhered to strict timeframes after work had been allocated through the multi-agency safeguarding hub. Requests were usually progressed within 24 hours, with a 72-hour maximum processing window. After progression to the locality team, the family would be contacted within 24 hours and support arranged within 5 days. Gareth Morgan added that monitoring data could be provided to the Committee.

Action: GM/SJ

·       Family support workers operated within a cluster, averaging 3-5 schools for a link support worker. Additionally, Oxford Health had been awarded funding to increase the number of mental health teams in Buckinghamshire to six by the end of the calendar year, which would include additional youth and family support workers in areas needing the most support.

·       Young people in NEET (Not in Education, Employment, or Training) were monitored by the team to provide support. The team was also maintaining contact with apprentices who did not complete their training to encourage and enable them to return to employment through an appropriate pathway.

·       Due to the success of the family support service, it was suggested that the programme be extended. Gareth Morgan advised that some transformation projects are already underway to reduce caseloads for social workers, in addition to some locality-based work.

·       The importance of early health was highlighted, particularly assessment, being joint work between the Council, schools and the voluntary sector. It was noted that the focus should not lay solely on assessment, but on support for young people, for example through, local models and pastoral care in schools. This way, young people would access additional services from professionals in their locality, who would also be aware of increased risks in the area.

·       It was noted that Councillors could support the early help partnerships through the community boards and networking with local communities.

Action: Councillors

·       The timeframe for re-referrals was measured at 6 and 12 months. However, the service had an open-door policy for 3 months, meaning that a family could contact the service directly without having to go through the process again. Some cases were noted to be more complex, for example, if a family had support in the past and returned with a different issue. Statistically, this would be deemed a re-referral. Many families returning for further support were better suited to community-based support. A member highlighted the importance of also fully understanding the context in which re-referrals happened.

·       Before the pandemic, schools were invited to work with the service to understand its mechanisms. The team were keen to re-introduce this with the start of the next term. 

·        The demands for mental health support had increased by 25 % since last year, and a question was raised as to whether there was sufficient funding to respond to this. Richard Nash advised that there are many different views on what constitutes appropriate support to ensure children’s emotional wellbeing, and that an over-referral to mental health services was not a desirable outcome. He emphasised the importance of receiving the right type of support. Health services and social work teams were liaising to ensure the right interventions were in place.

·        A Councillor suggested that the service should be given priority if further resources were required due to the notable outcomes achieved for young people.

·       The Committee supported the recommendations outlined in the report: The Committee acknowledged the progress of the service, the positive impact the early help family support had on children, and the role the service had in supporting vulnerable families and communities.

The Chairman thanked the presenters for their attendance and participation.