CWC24033 Families First for Childrens Pathfinder (FFCP) Targeted Youth Support

Stable Homes Built on Love is the Department for Education’s bold and ambitious implementation strategy for change within children’s social care. Children's social care: stable homes, built on love - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

The City of Wolverhampton Council [CWC] has been selected as one of three local authorities who are Wave 1 Pathfinders. The expectation is that CWC, alongside the two other local authorities, will move into a ‘test and learn phase’ from January 2024 delivering services to children and their families in line with the FFCP design specification.

There are four key reform strands to the pathfinder that will be delivered as a whole system transformation.

• Overarching system-level reform, including multi-agency safeguarding arrangements
• Family help
• Child protection.
• Family networks.

Within the Family Help strand a key feature for consideration in the co-design is the composition of the Family Help Teams and who will be the lead practitioner for the family. In addition, an example of the cohort requiring support are families with adolescents (at risk of extra-familial harm). The Family Help Teams will work with families who are currently open to Targeted Early Help and those open on child in need. There is no longer a prerequisite for the latter group to have an allocated social worker.

The lead practitioner (LP) will be an expert in their own field and where appropriate will be chosen by the family as the conduit between all agencies within the Family Help Team.

The principles that will underpin targeted youth work with young people include the following:

• Providing additional support to those young people aged 11-18 that need it most,
• Identifying vulnerable young people and behaviours early,
• Supporting young people to engage in diversionary activities ensuring the constructive use of leisure time activity and
• Setting young people at the heart of decision making.

Aim

• To contribute to a multi-agency approach to working with young people to meet the needs of young people and their families.
• To develop ways of identifying needs and barriers to improved future outcomes for young people and families and then to target effective interventions.
• To participate in strategies to prevent offending and poor outcomes for young people.
• To enable young people and their families to identify and achieve positive outcomes in their lives.
• To provide a range of informal and social learning opportunities and activities for young people and to encourage their positive contribution enabling them to enhance their life opportunities.
• Support for young people exiting the criminal justice system
• To build resilience and raise aspirations for young people and familie