Children's services in Bath & North East Somerset are changing as part of a national programme, the Families First Partnership, designed to help families get the right support at the right time. Use this page to find out what's changing, and how it will affect the families, children and young people we work with.
The Families First Partnership Programme is a government initiative that aims to improve how services work together to support children, young people and families. The programme focuses on providing help earlier, strengthening family relationships and making it easier to access support when it is needed. These changes will build on the good work already taking place across Bath & North East Somerset and help create a more joined-up, family-focused approach to support.
What's changing
The programme is transforming the way children's services, health services, schools, police and community organisations work together. The goal is simple: to ensure children and families receive timely, co-ordinated and effective support before difficulties reach crisis point. The government expects the new arrangements to be fully in place by April 2027.
See the diagram below for an overview of how the programme will work.
A Single Integrated Front Door provides access to Multidisciplinary Family Help teams and Multi-Agency Child Protection teams. Family Help Lead Practitioners and Lead Child Protection Practitioners co-ordinate support. Family Group Decision Making operates across the system.
Local co-design with children and families, partners and the wider community, together with local needs assessments and evidence of best practice, underpins the approach.
What this means for families
The aim is to make support:
- focused on preventing increasing need
- easier to access
- available early as need arises
- co-ordinated between services
- focused on family strengths and relationships
- tailored to each family's circumstances
Families should not have to tell their story multiple times or navigate different services on their own. Professionals will work more closely together, to ensure support is co-ordinated around the needs of children and families.
Involving families in decision-making
The programme places families at the centre of decision-making, through Family Group Decision Making (FGDM). Bath & North East Somerset already has a well-established Family Group Conference service, recognising that families and their wider support networks often have the best understanding of the changes needed to improve outcomes for children and young people.
Family-led practice and FGDM are already central to our approach in Children’s Services. This strong foundation means we are well placed to build on existing good practice and further develop our aim to place the views of families at the centre of all our work.
Preventative action through Family Help
A key part of the reforms is the introduction of Family Help Teams that will bring together practitioners from different services and skills/specialisms to work alongside families when additional support is needed. This support is designed to prevent needs from escalating and to help families access the right help as early as possible.
In Bath & North East Somerset, Family Help will build on existing early help and community support services while creating a more integrated approach for families.
Service integration from first contact
The Integrated Front Door (IFD) is the first point of contact for children, young people and families or professionals requesting advice, help or support. The Integrated Front Door team brings together professionals from key partner agencies to help ensure that concerns are responded to quickly, consistently and by the right people. This means children's social care will work closely with partners such as education, health services and the police.
Most families will not notice a change in how they access services. The Integrated Front Door is designed to improve the way organisations work together behind the scenes, making access to support simpler, more joined up and more effective.
Multi-Agency Child Protection Teams
For children who may be at risk of significant harm, the new Multi-Agency Child Protection Team (MACPT) will bring professionals together to improve decision-making and protection.
These teams will include specialists from:
- Children's Social Care
- Health services
- Education
- The Police
This approach aims to strengthen safeguarding arrangements and improve outcomes for children who need protection.
Our aims
While services are changing, our commitment to children and families remains the same. The purpose of these reforms is not to reduce support, but to improve how services work together, so families can access help more easily and at an earlier stage.
Families will continue to receive support based on their individual needs, with professionals working together to ensure children are safe, healthy and able to thrive.
Find out more
To better understand how the programme is designed and the research behind it, explore these resources from the GOV.UK website:
Families First for children pathfinder: early findings evaluation report
Families First for children pathfinder: phase 2 evaluation report