Support for families under the spotlight

The future shape of family support in Herefordshire is out for consultation following the publication of a draft strategy for 2007-2010 by the children and young people’s partnership.  The partnership is made up of organisations that deliver services which have an impact on the lives of children, young people and families, such as the council, schools, the PCT, the police and voluntary groups.

The strategy aims to reshape services to help improve the lives of children and young people by changing the way organisations work together.

Services that support families focus around promoting healthy living, ensuring children live in safe and stable homes, that they attend and enjoy schools, are law-abiding, behave positively and are able to achieve economic well-being. 

Support for families means different things to different people and families have different support needs. For most families, the support that is offered through schools or GPs will be enough, but some families need extra support so that their children have the opportunity to be happy and successful. This could include support to help with a child’s behaviour, for parents-to-be or for young people with a disability.

One of the aims of the strategy is for organisations that work with children, young people and families to be able to identify those families that might need some extra to help prevent small problems becoming more serious.

As the family is one of the biggest influences on a child’s life, it is important that children and parents are involved in making decisions about the services they might receive.  As a result the strategy for 2007-10 sets out to involve children more in decisions about services that affect them. 

It also emphasises the need for information sharing across organisations and services to improve the early identification of children and young people who have complex needs, so that they can be met early on.

In order to improve support for families, it will be necessary to change the way services are provided on the ground. For example, this might mean that people who work with families could be based together, or that there is easier access to some services in the market towns.

Richard Watson, support for families lead officer, said: “This strategy provides an opportunity to improve the way families in Herefordshire are supported from before a child is born, as they grow, and into their adult life.

“Herefordshire organisations have already begun working more closely together, but this strategy takes a stronger line on joining-up support so that all organisations involved with care and support for families work together and pool resources to make sure families get the best for their needs.

“Through this consultation period we will be asking children, young people, families and the people that work to support them to tell us what they think about our plans, and we will be organising a number of activities to make sure we consult widely.

“The consultation results will be used to help us design and deliver services over the next few years.”