Durham Safeguarding Children Partnership

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Durham County Council’s Early Help offer

Family Hubs

Family Hubs bring people together from the council, NHS, community organisations and more to support families all in one place. They use the ‘Think Family’ approach.  Think Family is a way of thinking and working that encourages staff to consider the whole family when carrying out work with individual children or adults. This is based on evidence which shows that if one person in a family is experiencing problems, it can have an effect on other members of the family. By considering and addressing the needs of all family members it is more likely that positive changes takes place.

Family Hubs provide support from pregnancy right up until a child turns 19, or 25 if they have special educational needs and disabilities. They can support families with social care, education, mental health, and physical health needs and are there to make a positive difference for all families.

See Family Hubs for more information.

For professionals who have early help worries about a family and have consent to share these worries a ‘request for early help’ can be made. If it is agreed between the professional and the Early Help Triage Worker that Family Hubs is the most appropriate service to support the family this will be agreed through the ‘Requesting Early Help’ process.

Team Around the Family (TAF)

Team Around the Family (TAF) meetings are an essential part of the early help process.

Key elements of a good meeting are:

  • the right people around the table – the family, the family’s support network and professionals supporting the family
  • a discussion about the needs of the family and how they can be supported
  • all people have a chance to speak and are listened to
  • a location and time to accommodate the family’s routine
  • enough time for the discussion to take place
  • A Child and Family Plan developed with the family and agreed by all TAF members which clearly shows who will do what and by when

The meeting is normally organised and chaired by the key contact person (the lead worker) which could be any professional working with the family. To help lead workers with this process there are a number of template documents below. If you require support in arranging and/or chairing your first TAF then please email EarlyHelpAdvisorSupport@durham.gov.uk who will be happy to support you.

Single Assessment and Team Around the Family: A Guide for Parents and Carers.pdf.

Group learning

Group Learning takes place regularly within Family Hubs and involves practitioners working with colleagues discussing a family that is open to them where they may be stuck or require space for reflective practice and slow thinking to help them progress with the case. The principles used in Group Learning are underpinned by the Signs of Safety/Wellbeing practice approach which is now used by Children’s Services.

If you would like to attend a Group Learning session as part of your development then please email EarlyHelpAdvisorSupport@durham.gov.uk who can arrange this for you.

Tools to help obtain the Voice of the Child

View the Voice of the Child Toolkit.