Agenda item

(Indicative timing: 2.05 – 2.55pm)

The Panel received a report about the Supporting Families First Service (SSF). The Director of Children’s Services/Chief Executive of Worcestershire Children First introduced the SFF Team who were in attendance to provide members with further information on any aspect of the service.

The Director of Children’s Services introduced the report and highlighted the following main points:

·         The SFF had first been developed in January 2020 as a multidisciplinary service to families on the ‘edge of care’. The first year had proved successful with positive feedback received and sustained positive changes being achieved. It was decided therefore that the service would be developed in its second year to adopt the learning and effectiveness of the ‘Edge of Care’ model into prevention of escalating risk and need for child protection for the Children in Need (CIN) Cohort.  Following a pilot, this model of intervention was fully implemented in September 2021.

·         The SFF Service continued operating throughout the pandemic, with an increase in both numbers and the complexity of cases being identified.

·         Looking at the data for March 2022, a positive intervention outcome rate of 92% had been achieved, with 8% becoming looked after or being escalated to child protection. 

·         Attention was drawn to the effective and sustainable outcomes achieved with the first year’s cohort, whereby 25 months on from the original outcome, 35 of the original 51 children remained closed to social care, which represented a 69% sustained success rate.

·         The use of the Webstar enabled children and parents to self-assess the impact of the SFF Service on key aspects of their own lives. The Webstar was usually completed at the start and the end of an intervention, and most families identified a range of positive outcomes.

·         The SFF team had been working with the ‘Virtual Headteacher’ looking at the education needs and experiences of CIN and those on the ‘edge of care’ following the pandemic and the impacts upon the child at home and their attendance at school. The Virtual Headteacher was seeking to expand their links with schools to be able to offer some support for these children.

Members praised the work of the SFF team for the positive difference they were making to the lives of children and families. Members were given the opportunity to ask questions and the following main points were raised:

·         Further detail on the Webstar was requested, and it was explained that it was an outcome-based method being used to enable children and parents to self-report in relation to 8 different domains, including their emotional health, happiness, and safety. The Director of Children’s Services and the Group Manager both confirmed they were very pleased with the outcome scores, as their aim was always to try and prevent an escalation of a situation.

·         It was noted that all referrals came through the Family Front Door and could be received from any source including schools, the Police, health services and families themselves. The Group Manager advised that a family was then referred to one of the 3 locality teams, depending on where they lived. The team would work with the family for an initial period of 16 weeks. With the various specialist teams all based within each of the locality areas, this enabled close links to be maintained which was beneficial on many levels.

·         A question was raised regarding the significant increase in referrals in quarter 4 of 2021/22. It was explained that there was a lot of pressure on families from a range of sources. When social workers carried out an assessment of a family, there were prescribed risk factors that would be checked. The prevalence of the ‘toxic trio’ ie domestic abuse, mental ill-health, and substance abuse, had gradually risen following the Covid-19 pandemic. It was highlighted that a multi-disciplinary approach was taken with the Safeguarding team working alongside the social workers with these families.

·         In response to a question regarding numbers of risk factors identified during assessments, the Group Manager explained that it was rare to have just one risk factor present. It could be the case that one factor was mentioned initially, but as the assessment took place, further risk factors were revealed. The Director of Children’s Services provided some detailed figures for 2021/22 with parental domestic abuse being the risk most frequently identified in 32% of assessments.

·         In response to a query regarding socio-economic backgrounds, the Group Manager advised that referrals were received from all different socio-economic groups. The Panel was informed that whilst parents were asked about accessibility to training and employment, no data was kept on their employment status.

·         The Director of Children’s Services outlined the difficulties recruiting to certain key roles, including Advanced Social Work Practitioner (ASWP) and Clinical Lead. With the increased demand for services, the recruitment of a new ASWP in each locality, would result in a total of 9 ASWP’s across the County. The scope of a newly developed role of Autism Parenting Worker was currently being re-considered, before being recruited to.

·         The Outreach Support worker explained that whilst every case was different, the key approach to working with teenagers was to be able to build a trusting relationship. Whilst there were sometimes anti-social behavioural issues, the aim was to prevent matters from deteriorating further. The Panel was assured that relations with the local police were very helpful and supportive. 

·         In response to a Member question about how it was decided when it was timely to withdraw SFF support. It was explained that this would usually happen as a result of a combination of factors including improved relationships in the family unit and self-assessments. The Clinical Lead explained that there was never the expectation to solve all a family’s problems with the SFF work, rather to support families to be able to access other services, such as mental health or youth support for themselves as and when needed.  The Group Manager highlighted that with CIN Plans there were meetings for 6 – 8 weeks, where areas for development were recorded and progress was charted. As a result of this process families would often come to the realisation themselves when they no longer required SFF support.

·         The Director of Children’s Services praised the work and commitment of the SFF team, which involved working with families in intense or crisis situations where parents would often issue demands about what they wanted to happen. This required careful handling by skilled team members who worked with the family and provided calm support and understanding to enable them to learn to cope with a crisis situation. The Outreach Support Worker explained that the team worked intensively to create some stability and prevent situations where a child was taken into care, wherever possible.