In 2025, the Department for Education announced the Children's Social Care reforms which look to improve services across the country for children and young people.
This programme focuses on partner agencies working together to provide information, advice and support to families so they can find solutions to problems within their own family or draw on wider community support sooner, achieving better outcomes for everyone.
All local authorities will be carrying out the programme by 2027, and Rotherham Children’s Services already has some of the key features of the reforms in place.
We are committed to working with families and practitioners every step of the way to make changes as easy as possible.
The aims of the Families First Partnership Programme are:
- Better outcomes for children and families in Rotherham.
- A stronger collaboration between partner agencies, leading to better care.
- Empowering families to be involved in decision making - and keeping more children with family networks.
The Families First Partnership Programme has four key components:
Family Help
The programme combines early help and social care support (known as Child in Need) into one system, providing seamless support for children and their families. Families will have a named lead practitioner with one assessment and one plan. There is a strong focus on partnership working, to ensure families receive the support they need as early as possible. Support will be community-based, bringing together different professionals to help families before problems escalate.
Multi-Agency Child Protection
When a child is in need of protection, a Multi-Agency Child Protection Team will act to provide added expertise and assistance. The teams must include social care, police, health, and education, who will be working together to provide faster, coordinated responses where children may be at risk.
Family Group Decision Making
In Rotherham, we know Family Group Decision Making as Family Group Conferencing (FGC) or Family Network Meetings (FNMs). We are developing a framework to consistently involve the wider family network in decisions, empowering those closest to the child to be part of the planning, and helping families find their own solutions where possible.
For extended family or friends caring for a child, we also have our Kinship Local Offer which sets out all the help and support available to ‘kinship carers’.
Front Door Arrangements (MASH)
The programme emphasises the importance of a strong ‘front door’ - a place where families and professionals can go to report concerns or get support and advice. In Rotherham, we already have a multi-agency front door - our Multi-Agency Safeguarding Hub (MASH). Work will continue to strengthen the relationship between partner agencies and to encourage families to see the MASH as somewhere to go for help and support.
The application of the Families First Partnership programme will deliver on all of these goals, and help ‘children and young people achieve’ which is a primary aim in the Rotherham Council Plan 2025-2030.
You can view more information about resources like Family Hubs and other Children and Young People’s Services in Rotherham here: Rotherham Family Hubs and Best Start in Life.
