Universal services for children and families are the everyday support systems that help all families thrive. These include things like health care, education, and early education and care, and are available to everyone in the community. You’ll find them in familiar places like schools, GP surgeries, and family hubs. These services play a vital role in supporting children’s development and overall wellbeing. By promoting good health and development from the start, they help prevent the need for more specialist support later on. They’re inclusive, accessible, and designed to give every child the best possible start in life. This includes locally trusted organisations..

In Stoke-on-Trent, Early Help is available through our Family Hubs. It supports families at the earliest signs of difficulty, helping children reach their full potential and preventing issues from escalating. Accessing Early Help involves an assessment and a tailored support plan.

Early Help is available for children of all ages, including pre-birth, and can address a wide range of needs such as:

• Special educational needs and disabilities
• Parental challenges
• Young carers
• Mental health concerns

Accessing Early Help starts with an assessment, followed by a tailored support plan to meet individual needs.

Early Help can be supported by an Early Help Assessment (EHA) and support plan. Any professionals can be supported to complete an early assessment.

The vision for Family Help is to bring services together into multi‑agency teams, making support easier to access and more effective for families.

A new role, the Family Help Lead Practitioner (FHLP), will work directly with families and may come from a range of professional backgrounds. Children with higher levels of need will be supported by our Family Help teams, based in Family Hubs and working closely with partner agencies to provide joined‑up support.

MACPTs bring together co-located professionals from social care, police, health, and education to deliver a coordinated response to child protection concerns. These teams:

• Are responsible for child protection decision making with extensive child protection skills and experience
• Oversee child protection assessments, strategy meetings and conferences
• Consult with Family Help teams providing expertise, challenge and quality assurance

Together, we will:

·      Define clear roles, responsibilities, and practice standards

·      Establish accountability across agencies

Introduce the Lead Child Protection Practitioner role to provide expert advice to Family Help teams and lead statutory child protection assessments and plans, drawing on MACPT expertise and working alongside the Family Help Lead Practitioner

This approach recognises families as experts in their own lives and enables them to play an active role in shaping solutions. This principle is embedded across the service, with Family Group Decision Making offered as a core part of our Family Help approach.

The Families First Partnership programme aims to deliver:

• Better outcomes through earlier, more effective multi-agency support
• Faster, coordinated responses to emerging needs
• More family-led decision making, co-creating solutions with professionals
• Reduced pressure on child protection teams through early intervention
• Less stigma around accessing support, encouraging families to seek help when needed

In Stoke-on-Trent, we are currently in the co-design phase of implementing the transformation programme.

Training and updates available - to find out more or get involved, email familiesfirst@stoke.gov.uk for more information.

 Additional Resources

• Families First Partnership programme - GOV.UK