The Families First Partnership Programme is a national reform initiative designed to improve support for children and families through a more streamlined, integrated social care system, focused on early intervention and prevention. The initiative was announced by the government earlier this year. All Local Authorities will be working with local stakeholders to implement these children’s social care reforms, including children, families and community groups as key partners

As a summary, the key reforms for Local Authorities to implement include:

• Multi-Agency Safeguarding Arrangements – Strengthening partnerships with schools, health, police, and other key agencies
• Family Help – Developing joined-up family support services that bring together targeted early help and social care
• Multi-Agency Child Protection – Establishing dedicated, expert-led teams to improve the way agencies work together to protect children at risk of significant harm
• Family Group Decision Making – Strengthening extended family and community support so more children can remain safely with their families, reducing the need for care

Locally, Councils have the opportunity to co-design how the programme will be delivered with partners and families, and the next nine months will be a transformation phase for Southend. As part of this co-design, the SCC Families First Programme Team are keen to engage with local community groups so that the redesign can take account of the local landscape, challenges and opportunities from the perspective of the VCSE, considering:

• The needs that VCSE groups are supporting children and families with
• Opportunities to increase early intervention and prevention
• Opportunities to embed the VCSE offer and expertise into the model we develop in Southend

We would like to invite you to share your views, knowledge and expertise to help shape the model and plans in Southend.