The model had been backed by the former Conservative government in last year’s Stable Homes, Built on Love policy document, which was published in response to recommendations made two years ago in Josh MacAlister’s Independent Review of Children’s Social Care.
This month, in answer to a parliamentary question from Labour MP for Stoke-On-Trent Central Gareth Snell on support for parents where children are at risk of being taken into care, Darby gave the Labour government’s strongest backing yet for the Family Help model.
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She said the model is “central” to its plans to overhaul children’s social care, adding that it “builds on best practice from well-evidenced programmes”.
This includes evaluation of another Conservative government initiative the Supporting Families programme, which showed “improved outcomes and positive returns on investment where every £1 spent on the programme delivered £2.28 of benefits”, explains Darby.
The new family help model is currently being tested in 10 council areas though the Families First for Children and Family network pilot.
These involve multi-agency teams providing “targeted support to help families overcome challenges at the earliest opportunity”, said Darby, who added that evaluation findings are expected in spring 2025.
She added: “We recognise that there is a strong evidence base for early intervention and whole family working to support families with multiple issues before they reach crisis point, to stay together and thrive.
“This is at the heart of our reform agenda to rebalance the children’s social care system toward earlier intervention, which is aimed at improving families’ lives today, their outcomes in the future, and reducing costs to public services.”
Last month it emerged that councils’ spending on children’s residential care was outstripping early help budgets for the first time.
Since 2010 total early help spending for families by councils has almost halved, falling by £1.8bn, according to research carried out by the Children’s Charities Coalition by think tank Pro Bono Economics.
Jo Casebourne, the chief executive of social care improvement organisation Foundations, said this research highlighted “a disturbing reality” of early help being sidelined due to “the huge costs of dealing with crises later”.
