1. Families First - Update Bucks Network 17 January 2013 Sue Imbriano

2. What is Families First? A more coordinated way of working with families who are experiencing difficulties or challenges in their lives. A partnership approach that focuses on the whole family, addressing all of their needs together. Working together with families to make positive changes to their lives & move away from dependency on public services. Taking a preventative approach by working with families before their problems become too difficult to manage, as well as supporting families out of crisis. It’s not: A new service or extra bureaucracy. The next ‘Big Idea’

3. Families First – our ambition Through a whole system change to how we work together, we will turn around the lives of local families in difficulties. This means both preventing some tipping into crisis as well as supporting those in crisis to become more resilient and independent.

4. Developed in partnership, inc. families Worked together to understand range & need Families able to tell their story and what they want services to be like Practitioners able to tell their story too Wide partnership involvement Peer activity to look at system challenges Approach rooted in family & practitioner perspective, wide partner buy-in

5. Families First initial model SFA: Single Family Assessment

6. Links to: Children’s Services ‘Family Resilience Unit’ plans Munro Programme A whole systems approach Reclaiming social work Clear and coordinated Early Help Offer ‘Step up - step down’ model into and out of statutory services Child and family centred

7. Recent developments: Family worker role Not a Lead Professional role; but raises issues to them Needs family trust; Single point of contact for advice, navigating the system and supporting the family plan Building capacity role, recognises family’s assets Whereas lead professional: Manages the family plan and assessment, tasks other agencies, has accountability and acts upon insight function Family Assessment and Plan Single Assessment, single plan Owned by the family Shifted to Prototyping Phase now

8. Challenges Information sharing Family engagement Interventions Ensuring join up with other programmes Evaluation and the Insight Function Driving ongoing change and learning through whole system Sustainability Focussing on strengths, not deficits

9. Ambition for prototyping From Jan 13, we’ve agreed to ‘get on and do’ Focus both geographic focus (Chesham) and other cross-county aspects Action learning – iterative process Recognise nothing is perfect – keep learning through doing Making mistakes can be a good thing! Use prototyping as our partnership dialogue for continued improvement

10. Chesham Prototyping Progress Key agencies engaged Agreement on what and how to prototype Initial cohort of families identified though partnership Lead professional identified Families’ consent being sought

11. Current Governance arrangements Light-touch Exec Steering Group – links to the Bucks Network, reports to BCC Cabinet Working Group: supports and drives development and delivery through multi agency workstream groups (13) Governance based on collaboration and consensus: all organisations retain ownership and responsibility for their decisions/resources. Review of Governance underway – reduce workstreams? Agree co-ordinating/ref group? And plan format of Families Forum Convening meeting of existing working group (+ others?) 11 Feb

12. Changes to consider Any extra members for Exec Steering Group? Shape Working Group around a revised programme now FF is at prototyping phase: membership and remit to reflect this Engagement of wider reference group: is this Bucks Network? Or more practitioner based? Does governance sufficiently reflect mix of strategic/manager/practitioners across partners? Wider partners, e.g. schools, wider vcs (e.g. faith groups), GPs, sufficiently represented?

13. Programme workstreams Existing workstreams Model & Implementation Family Assessment Co-design Worklessness Culture Change/Workforce Development Research Evaluation Costs and Benefits Peformance Monitoring Aligning & Pooling Resources Governance Information-sharing Communications Proposed workstreams Delivery Insight and evaluation Finance & Performance Governance & Comms Need active partner leads for each workstream

14. Questions Feedback from your organisations on progress to date? Support and commitment to lead a workstream plus actively support others? Bucks Network role in governance? Views on changes to governance?

15. Contacts and Further Information Joy Shakespeare -Families First Programme Lead Email: eshakespeare@buckscc.gov.uk Tel:01296-387762