Family Help is about providing earlier, coordinated support to children, young people and their families. The aim is to understand needs as soon as possible and respond in a way that strengthens families, improves outcomes and helps children to remain safely within their family networks wherever appropriate.
Family Help will be delivered within local communities through multi-disciplinary teams that bring together professionals from across services. It is designed to provide consistent relationships, reduce duplication and ensure families experience one joined-up system of support.
The core principles of Family Helps are:
- whole-family support at the earliest opportunity: Support is wrapped around the family as a unit, drawing on the expertise of practitioners from different disciplines
- consistent relationships: Children and families will have a named Lead Practitioner who builds a trusted relationship and provides continuity
- one assessment and one evolving plan: Families will have a single plan that adapts as needs change, rather than repeating their story to multiple services
National guidance sets out minimum expectations for all local partnerships. Family Help must provide a seamless offer across a broad continuum of need, from targeted early help through to work alongside child protection arrangements. The system should respond flexibly to different contexts, risks and harms, ensuring families receive proportionate and timely support.
Family Help work will be led by Family Help Lead Practitioners. These practitioners may come from a range of professional backgrounds, including social work and other relevant disciplines. They will coordinate support, lead the family’s plan and act as the consistent point of contact. They may be employed by different organisations but will work as part of integrated, community-based Family Help teams.
Multi-disciplinary Family Help teams will take a whole-family approach, recognising how the needs of adults and wider family members impact on children and young people. Responsibility for improving outcomes will be shared across agencies, with greater collaboration and reduced duplication of assessment and planning.
A central feature of Family Help is the commitment to one assessment and one plan. This plan will be developed with families, reflect both strengths and needs, evolve as circumstances change and be accessible to practitioners involved in supporting the family.
Every local area must also have clear front door arrangements so that children, young people and families receive the right help at the right time. In Derbyshire, this includes clear referral pathways, proportionate decision-making and effective step-up and step-down arrangements between levels of need. Strong links will be maintained between Family Help and safeguarding processes to ensure continuity and clarity.
If you would like to explore Family Help in more detail, you can find further information below.
Learn more about the planned delivery phases, key milestones and programme timelines for implementing Family Help across Derbyshire.