Implementing Family
Hubs

Introduction

Professor Peter Fonagy set out the work and offer of the National Centre for Family Hubs and how this is being shaped by the Anna Freud Centre’s approach, which focuses on relationships, family wellbeing, inclusion and evidence and research around families.

Led by Prof. Peter Fonagy, CEO of the Anna Freud National Centre for Children and Families

Resources: Transcript

Welcome address

Will Quince, Minister for Children and Families, explained the policy principles of family hubs and how the National Centre for Family Hubs’ programme fits into the cross-government focus on Family hubs.

Led by Will Quince MP, Minister for Children and Families, Department for Education

Resources: Transcript

Plenary 1 – Why Family Hubs?

Dr Camilla Rosan gave an overview of the background to the Family Hubs policy and model.  The session addressed the reasons for family hubs and what issues they are trying to address, and heard from the Barnardos team from the Isle of Wight about their family hub implementation.

Led by:

• Dr Camilla Rosan, Strategic Lead at the National Centre for Family Hubs
• Claire Steen, Children’s Service Manager, IOW Family Centres & Community Early Help, Barnardos
• Laura Groves, Barnardos

Resources:

• Slides from Dr Camilla Rosan;
• Slides from Claire Steen and Laura Groves (Barnardo’s)
• Transcript

Plenary 2 – The Implementation Toolkit in Practice

In this session the team introduced the Implementation Toolkit, its different modules and explained the process of the toolkit development. The session was an opportunity for delegates to hear from different contributors to the toolkit from the National Centre for Family Hubs, our evidence partner EIF and from Cornwall council about their Family Hubs implementation process.

Led by

• Claudia Coussins, Senior Programme Manager, National Centre for Family Hub
• Ben Lewing, Assistant Director, Policy and Practice, Early Intervention Foundation
• Rebecca Sargent, Head of Children and Families Services East Cornwall, Together for Families, Cornwall Council
• Amanda Smith, Cornwall Council
• Helena Webb, Cornwall Council
• Helen Salmon, Cornwall Council

Resources:

• Slides from Claudia Coussins;
• Slides from Ben Lewing;
• Slides from Rebecca Sargent, Amanda Smith, Helena Webb and Helen Salmon
• Transcript

Workshops

Coproduction

Our speakers shared good practice around coproduction, in particular around multi-agency integrated services and family hubs. They considered what joint delivery looks like and how we bring together the perspectives of all stakeholders – particularly children, parents and families – in the planning, design, delivery and management of family hubs.

Led by

• Julie Greer, Regional Coordinator for South West, South East and East of England at the National Centre for Family Hubs
• Dina Koschorreck, Parent Participation Worker at the National Centre for Family Hubs
• Valdeep Gill, Senior Research Manager of Ecorys UK
• Harry Angus, Programme Support Manager of Bristol City Council

Resources:

• Slides from Julie Greer,
• Slides from Dina Koschorreck
• Slides from Valdeep Gill and Harry Angus
• Transcript

Integration

Our speakers shared examples of good practice and explored how family hubs can build on existing multi-agency working, looking at which elements of integration should be emphasised for effective family hubs implementation.

Led by

• Dr Camilla Rosan, Strategic Lead at the National Centre for Family Hubs
• Steve Bywater, Supporting Families Strategic Manager in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea
• Catherine Drake Wikes, Bessborough Family Hub Manager, City of Westminster

Resources:

• Slides from Camilla Rosan
• Slides from Steve Bywater and Catherine Drake Wikes
• Transcript

Relational practice

This workshop looked at a whole system approach to relational practice – from planning, to governance, to commissioning, to management, to frontline practice. After looking at some of the learning from the Anna Freud Centre’s significant work on Relational Practice, a case study of the approach of Families First Leeds.

Led by

• Peter Fuggle, Clinical Director of Anna Freud Centre
• Lyndsey Mortimer, Service Delivery of Families First Leeds

Resources:

• Slides here
• Transcription

Evidence and evaluation

The speakers discussed how evidence and evaluation can be effectively integrated into to the planning, design, delivery and management of family hubs. They reviewed tools and approaches such as Theory of Change, logic models, and reviewed the evaluations being undertaken by Ecorys of six Family Hub implementations, funded by the Department for Education.

Led by:

• Bronia Arnott, Regional Coordinator for the North East, National Centre for Family Hubs
• Laurie Day, Director – Children, Young People and Families of Ecorys UK
• Julia Haig, Head of Service – Early Help at Suffolk County Council
• Max Stanford, Head of Early Childhood and Care, Early Intervention Foundation (EIF).

Resources:

• Slides
• Family Hubs Evaluation Innovation Fund – Scoping Report – Nov 21
• Transcript

Youth Perspective on Family Hubs

Nasreen discusses the vital role that Family Hubs play for young people accessing services.

Led by:

• Nasreen Siddique, Youth Participation Worker at the National Centre for Family Hubs

Resources:

• Transcript

Address on Best Start for Life from Dame Andrea Leadsom MP

Introduced by Camilla Rosan, Dame Andrea Leadsom MP shares her vision for the Best Start for Life programme and how it relates to Family Hubs policy and implementation.

Speakers:

• Dr Camilla Rosan, Strategic Lead at the National Centre for Family Hubs
• Dame Andrea Leadsom MP, Chair of the Early Years Healthy Development Review

Resources:

• Transcript
• The best start for life: a vision for the 1,001 critical days

Panel – Family Hubs: From vision to impact

The final plenary of the Implementing Family Hubs launch event, this panel session brought together a range of leaders involved in Family Hubs policy and implementation to discuss the how to ensure the model delivers positive impact for children families. Many other questions submitted by the floor were also covered – see the transcript for details.

Chair: Dina Koschorreck, Parent Participation Worker, National Centre for Family Hubs

Panel:

• Marc Rooney, Deputy Director for Family Hubs and Early Years Targeted Interventions, Department for Education
• Denise Beevers, Service Manager, Doncaster Local Authority
• Michael Coldwell, Professor of Education and Head of Research and Innovation, Sheffield Institute of Education
• Donna Molloy, Director of Policy & Practice, Early Intervention Foundation
• Andrea King, Clinical Director, Anna Freud Centre for Children and Families

Resources:

• Slides from Denise Beevers and Michael Coldwell
• Transcript