Government names first areas to test children’s care reforms

The government has named Dorset, Lincolnshire and Wolverhampton as the first areas to be chosen to deliver the Families First for Children programme.

They will test new ways to reform every part of the children’s social care system, with the goal of helping children stay with their families while protecting vulnerable children where needed.

The programme aims to ensure early help and intervention is available for families with challenges such as addiction, domestic abuse or poor mental health, to help them overcome adversity and stay together where possible, and to identify when to intervene to protect a vulnerable child when needed.

Separately, Brighton and Hove, Sunderland, Gateshead, Telford and Wrekin, Staffordshire, Hartlepool and Hammersmith and Fulham have been chosen to deliver Family Network pilots to find transformative ways to involve wider family members in supporting parents so that children can stay at home with their families.

The government said the programmes would transform the current system, focusing on more early support for families and reducing the need for crisis response at a later stage. Funded by £45m collectively, the two programmes aim to develop best practice models for the entire children’s social care system that can then be rolled out across the country.

The programme responds to recommendations made in the independent review of children’s social care led by Josh MacAlister, the child safeguarding practice review panel’s review into the tragic deaths of Arthur Labinjo-Hughes and Star Hobson, and the Competition and Markets Authority review. The findings revealed the current care system is often fragmented, siloed, and struggling to meet the needs of children and families across England.

The areas will work to deliver support to families based on three principles:

• Delivering family help through local multi-disciplinary teams working with partners to provide welcoming and effective support, tailored to the needs of children and families
• Where child protection is necessary, it is carried out by social workers with greater expertise and experience, and time to dedicate to the family and child
• Greater use of family networks, involving the wider family in decision-making and with them being the first port of call if the child does have to leave the family home

Brighton and Hove, Sunderland, Gateshead and Telford and Wrekin will start their Family Network pilots this month, with Staffordshire, Hartlepool and Hammersmith and Fulham starting in spring 2024.

Local authorities are also encouraged to apply to set up regional care co-operatives, which will plan, commission, and deliver children’s social care placements.

Children, families and wellbeing minister Claire Coutinho said: ‘We committed earlier this year to deliver wide-ranging reforms that put strong relationships at the heart of the children’s social care system, to make sure children in care receive the same love and stability as everyone else.

‘[This announcement means] we take a step closer to achieving just that, thanks to the ambition these areas are showing for the life chances of their most vulnerable children.

‘The programme they are running will inform future reform across England to give every child the best possible chance to grow up in their family, delivering on the Prime Minister’s ambition to support families across the country.’

Image: Rui Chamberlain