We’ve set a new direction for the services that support children, young people and families in the county – with partnership working at its heart. Experience shows us that when organisations and families work together, to identify what needs to change and to ensure early support and help is accessible, it can make a real difference.

Investing in our staff

Our Family Solutions Plus (FSP) model had an investment of £1 million into children’s social work and £1.5 million into adult-facing support in 2020. First-year outcomes show high levels of engagement, completion and satisfaction by the parents of children receiving help and protection.

How we achieved this

The model’s success comes from being centred around the family.

Multi-disciplinary teams

Experts from across children’s services and adult social care are brought together to work with families to get to the heart of their difficulties. 

Our strong multi-agency partnership includes district and city councils, public health, key statutory partners and local voluntary sector partners. In addition, our domestic abuse, mental health and substance misuse adult practitioners are embedded in our social worker teams.

Strengths-based practice

Our colleagues are trained to build on family strengths using motivational interviewing to establish rapport and promote change. 

Reduction in bureaucracy

We enable holistic and purposeful work with families, with a modular approach to assessing parenting capability while also reducing social worker's paperwork.

Relationship-based intervention

Every family is assigned one social worker to work with them throughout the assessment and intervention. One worker, one assessment and one meaningful intervention to ensure sustainable change. 

The work we do with every family is reviewed, considered and evaluated in family group supervision. Allowing all practitioners to review progress, define outcomes and agree on current risks and needs.