Local democracy

Agenda item

UPDATE ON FAMILY HUBS PREVENTION AND EARLY HELP IMPLEMENTATION

On the 3 April 2018, the Council’s Executive agreed to implement the Family Hubs model for delivering prevention and early help to babies, children and young people from October 2018.

 

The Strategic Director of Children’s Services will submit Document “B” which provides an update on implementation since April 2018 with a specific focus on area based planning and issues.

 

Recommended –

 

Shipley Area Committee is asked to note the report, progress to date and provide support and guidance on the on-going co-production of the Family Hubs offer.

 

 (Children’s Services Overview & Scrutiny Committee)

(Jim Hopkinson – 01274 432904)

Minutes:

On 3 April 2018, the Council’s Executive agreed to implement the Family Hubs model for delivering prevention and early help to babies, children and young people from October 2018.

 

The Strategic Director of Children’s Services submitted Document “B” which provided an update on implementation since April 2018 with a specific focus on area based planning and issues.

 

The Head of Service for Targeted Early Help provided a summary of the report.  He highlighted that the 0-19 Family Hubs Implementation Group, chaired by the Deputy Director, Children’s Social Care, had been established to oversee the Family Hubs programme and delivery of Families First and Stronger Families. He emphasised that throughout the changes and restructuring processes due to take place, the service would maintain a focus on universal services.

 

In response to Members’ questions, it was reported that:

 

·         There would be four localities based across the district and one would cover the Shipley/Keighley area.  Options with regard to locations were being developed by the Family Hubs Building Assets Group and efforts would be made to ensure a presence in both constituencies.

·         Area based events were due to take place in July 2018 and Members were invited to attend.

·         The current service provision was being maintained until service changes took place on 1 October 2018.

·         Family Key Workers supported approximately 1,000 families and there were 1,000+ children with a Child In Need plan; accurate figures would be provided in future reports.

·         A ‘super user’ as referred to in paragraph 2.32 of the report, was a term used for staff members who would be trained up by IT professionals on how to use the systems when rolling it out.

·         The final model agreed by Executive on 3 April 2018, contained less budgetary cuts than initially consulted on but the service was still being significantly reduced.

·         Reports on the service were submitted annually to the Children’s Services Overview and Scrutiny Committee.

·         The target for the Families First Programme had not been met in its first year as there were 1,500 families fewer than the target, however there was an overall target for the life of the programme.  There were a number of different programmes available to support families into employment and the aim was to match up families with the most appropriate programme for their needs.

·         Stronger Families was launched in July 2017 and figures in relation to it would be circulated to Members.

·         Stronger Families was led by Barnardos and funded via the Big Lottery Fund and European Social Fund monies.  A number of organisations working in partnership on the programme were based in the Shipley area and details of them would be circulated.

·         The engagement and communications relating to the implementation of Family Hubs was on target as set out in paragraph 2.30 of the report.

·         A legible version of Appendix 2 to the report would be circulated to Members along with the Family Hubs prevention and early help team structure specifically for the locality serving the Shipley and Keighley areas.

·         The first family Hubs offer was due to be published and promoted by October 2018 and this would include promotion via social media.  Work would be undertaken with schools and GPs to promote the offer.

·         The following explanations were given for the acronyms in the report: CIN – Child in Need; LAC – Looked After Child; CPP – Child Protection Plan.

·         If a child within the system was considered underweight, it would feature on their CIN plan.

·         The definition of deprivation and how it was applied to different locations would be circulated to Members.

·         Social Workers and other healthcare professionals followed the national ‘working together to safeguard children’ guidance and their work was overseen by the Bradford Safeguarding Children Board.

·         Some of the data provided in Appendix 3 of the report was from 2014 because it was linked to national data recorded by central government and was the most recent information available.

 

A Member questioned, given the level of funding cuts to the Council’s budget and the improvements to people’s lives that the service was making, whether there was a need to fund the service at the current level.  In response, the Head of Service for Targeted Early Help explained that there was on-going need and deprivation in Bradford and the service aimed to do as much as it could with the resources it had, but every year new families came through the system and needed support.

 

In response to a Member’s query regarding whether the figures presented in the Financial and Resource Appraisal of the report (paragraph 4.1) were correct following amendments made by the Executive on 3 April 2018, the Head of Service for Targeted Early Help stated that he would seek clarification and report back.

 

The Chair spoke of pockets of deprivation within rural communities and raised concern that families in those areas should not be overlooked within the new system. In response, the Head of Service for Targeted Early Help stated that although some parts of the service would be based in buildings, there would be provision for supporting people within their home settings and the best way to support a family would be carefully assessed.  The service would also receive referrals from organisations such as the Police e.g. following incidences of domestic violence.  Members were encouraged to provide feedback on ways in which they considered the service could identify families living in areas with pockets of deprivation that would benefit from the service to ensure they were not overlooked.

 

In response to a Member’s question, it was reported that the new model provided a more integrated approach, scaled down on services and eliminated duplication within the system.  A risk had been identified that the changes could lead to increased pressure on social services.  A comprehensive Risk Register had been produced and a project management approach was being taken; a district dashboard was available and it was agreed this would be circulated to Members.

 

Resolved –

 

(1)       That the report and progress to date be noted.

 

(2)       That the Committee continues to review, support and scrutinise the on-going co-production of the Family Hubs offer.

 

OVERVIEW AND SCRUTINY COMMITTEE: Children’s Services

ACTION: Strategic Director, Children’s Services

Supporting documents: