Whilst many local authorities have pre-existing specialist Family Group Conference facilitators, it should be acknowledged that their increased use likely poses a capacity challenge for this model of delivery. As a result, many local authorities are moving to a model whereby specialist Family Group Conferencing staff directly support the families where this is most beneficial (informed by objective data) and then perform a consultative or advisory role to other professionals working with families. Alongside these changes outlined in the Families First Partnership Programme, many local authorities are moving to neighbourhood or locality models of service delivery, reflecting the national policy direction towards neighbourhood delivery of health and care services. The rationale for this approach is that working in this way will enable practitioners to get to know the communities in their area in more depth, and will therefore be more able to understand the different cultures and beliefs at play. This should as a result enable them to more successfully understand the situations that families are in and therefore to build trust and gain consent.
If a social worker suggests it the parents might feel they are being judged… better if it came from someone independent.” Care experienced young person Even when parents do want support, there’s always some barrier — waiting lists, endless meetings, application forms… it leaves them feeling hopeless.” Care experienced young person When I got my own flat, they taught me how to use a washing machine, change a lightbulb, clean — if they’d done that for my parents, things would have been different.” Care experienced young person
They sat opposite her with a clipboard writing every word… it felt like a police interview and everything could be used against her.” Care experienced young person Many areas are planning to centre such services around Family Hubs, a core part of the Best Start in Life reforms, such that services are connected through physical estate to local communities. The challenges of doing this in rural areas should be noted, whereby the reality of local travel infrastructure and communities means that many families would be unlikely to physically access their local Family Hub if it were solely estate-based. As a result, designing Family Hubs to be peripatetic services in rural areas may be a more effective approach. It is also important that Family Hubs deliver on the policy aspiration to be a 0-19 service so working with school age children rather than solely providing early years support (see analysis of children’s ages in shift three). In relation to other means of improving practice to better be able to gain the consent of parents for early support, evidence suggests that practitioner support, reflective supervision, and structured opportunities to examine how assumptions (including unconscious bias) may be influencing assessments are important components of improving practice with families from diverse backgrounds. Several practical means of building trust were highlighted by care experienced young people involved in this work. For example, they spoke about the detrimental impact on trust of small actions such as practitioners wearing organisation lanyards when working with a family; typing in to laptops during conversations; or bringing briefcases into their house – simple changes that could help to build trust:
By wearing a lanyard, you’re already creating a barrier before you’ve even built trust, and then we wonder why families don’t engage…” Care experienced young person It’s like this invisible, unspoken barrier that’s created from the start. You already just immediately categorise them.” Care experienced young person Care experienced young people engaged through this programme also argued for a national PR-style campaign aimed at changing negative perceptions of children’s social care services as a means of helping to build parental trust. Finally, the importance of including the voice of children and young people within the consent process should not be overlooked. For older young people, their views should be taken into account alongside that of the views of the parents, even when those views are not aligned. This poses practical and ethical questions but care experienced young people felt that fundamentally listening to the voice of the child should be paramount.
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