The Family Hub
development process

Using local data to understand the current local delivery of support for children, young people and families.

Developing a shared understanding of the model the partnership wishes to aspire to and outcomes improved (Theory of Change).

Testing readiness of the partnership to implement the model and planning implementation.

The family hub development process promotes coproduction of a local theory of change model and implementation plan developed collaboratively with local partners and local families. The outputs from these collaborative workshops are bespoke to each local area to meet the needs of their specific community.  

Research from the Supporting Families programme suggests that services work best together when relationships are strong and intelligence is shared, in order to understand the drivers of local trends, identify families who might need support and target services. Each stage of the process builds on the foundation of what children, young people and families say they need; system-wide analysis; an evidence-based model; and a robust approach to implementation and evaluation. 

A key source of data and analysis on local multiagency arrangements for children, young people and families is the Early help system guide (EHSG). For local authorities eligible to receive Family Hubs and Start for Life funding, the Management Information reporting requirements for this programme can be used to assess local service and population data for the funded areas of the programme. 

Other important sources of data and analysis about local partnership arrangements available for children, young people and families include:

1. the Reducing Parental Conflict planning tool which the Department for Work & Pensions (DWP) asks local areas to complete on an annual basis as part of the national Reducing Parental Conflict (RPC) programme 
2. inspection self-assessments 
3. self-assessments carried out using EIF maturity matrices, e.g., on maternity and early years services 
4. local partnership audits and annual reports 
5. local partnership strategies and plans for children, young people and families 
6. equality impact assessment

These sources of data should be brought together in a single narrative assessment which describes the local strengths and areas for development in how the local multi-agency system supports children and families.

Access, connection and relationships are the ‘three pillars’ the Department for Education (DfE) is seeking to address through the family hub programme. As part of this assessment it is worth considering how effectively the local arrangements enable families to access help and support; how well-connected local services are with each other in how they support families; and how far the local arrangements prioritise relationships and family strengths. 

Population needs assessment is an established and fundamental element of the cycle to plan and deliver services at a community level, to inform implementation and evaluation, and to prioritise outcomes. Every local area has a joint strategic needs assessment (JSNA). Although these will vary in how recently they have been carried out and how thoroughly they describe population needs and priorities for families, they are an important starting point for understanding the needs of the local population, including vulnerable families and those with protected characteristics. There may also be needs assessments that relate to specific groups of children and families, for example, those with mental health needs or special educational needs and disabilities.  

Data collected as part of the reporting requirements for the Family Hubs and Start for Life programme can be used to assess population need in conjunction with other community data to build an accurate picture of local need. 

Other important sources of data and analysis about local population needs for children, young people and families may include: 

1. ethnographic research 
2. surveys of specific population groups 
3. local transformation plan  
4. needs analysis data from population screening tools such as the ages and stages questionnaires, or maternal mental health screening  
5. national analysis, which predicts population trends and prevalence and administrative data sets, is particularly helpful where there is limited local data.

Examples of national datasets are the Public Health England fingertips tool and the Children’s Commissioner’s Local vulnerability profiles. 

As with the local system assessment, the different sources of data about population needs for children and families should be brought together in a single narrative assessment which identifies the challenges and pressures prevalent in the local area and which need to be taken into account as part of local strategy. 

Developing and implementing a successful family hub model requires a significant commitment across the local partnership. It may also be helpful at this stage to assess the extent to which the organisational environment (e.g. values and culture) is ready to begin the process. 

There is often a temptation to focus on the more tangible aspects of implementing a programme of change. However, investing time at the beginning of the process in developing a shared set of values and principles amongst key stakeholders is an invaluable element in achieving sustainable success. 

Strategic Manager, One Point and Think Family Service, Durham County Council

1. Review the local systems strengths and areas for development 
2. Confirm the primary outcomes for infants, children, young people and families, and the extent to which they are currently being achieved 
3. Review strategic commitments to and readiness for transforming services for children and young people in the local area 
4. Identify strategic risks and mitigations 
5. Build consensus on the case for change 

By the end of this stage, local areas should be able to articulate why change is needed locally, based on a consensus around the primary outcomes for children and families, an assessment of who is vulnerable and at risk of not thriving, and an analysis of how local services can improve how they respond to these families. 

1. Ensure the voice of the child, young person and family is clearly heard.  
2. The contextual assessment should be clear and simple; considers the whole system, rather than the priorities of a single organisation; and is shared in advance of the workshop so that stakeholders can reflect and prepare. 
3. Check that participants in the workshop represent the range of different experiences of the local system.  
4. Ensure the workshop and wider process has an explicit and multi-agency mandate from the senior leaders who are responsible for the local partnership arrangements for maternity, children, young people and families. 
5. Keep discussion and interaction in mind and leave plenty of time for small group work to share different insights. 
6. Consider language used and strive to balance strengths-based conversation (what’s going well?) with problem-focused conversation (what areas need improvement) so that the overall tone of the workshop is positive and focused on strengths-based outcomes.  
7. Provide time for reflection by having a break of at least a few days before moving on to the second workshop. 
8. Before the workshop, encourage local stakeholders to talk to families directly about their experiences of local support and/or visit a service they would not normally interact with to better understand how families experience this support. 
9. After the workshop, have your needs assessment checked by someone external such as a peer authority or your NCFH Regional Implementation Advisor.

1. Confirm the case for change. 
2. Explore options for a local Family Hub approach. 
3. Identify local strengths to be harnessed and local risks to be mitigated. 
4. Agree key options for further scoping. 
5. Identify how stakeholders will be involved in working up the key options. 

By the end of this stage, local areas should have a business case for a local family hub model and a Theory of Change which sets out why a family hub approach is needed, who it is for, how it will work, what the expected short- and medium-term impacts are, and how this will deliver improved outcomes for families. It also needs to clearly set out outcomes the partnership wishes to achieve by introducing a family hubs model.  

After Workshop 2, there are likely to be a number of smaller groups working up the specific elements which should form part of the local family hubs approach – essentially developing options appraisals. 

Local area can bring the wider stakeholder group back together again to review and prioritise the options, or alternatively use existing partnership governance arrangements to get agreement on a local approach in principle. This can trigger the local process for developing and agreeing the business case required for change, including completing an equality impact assessment to understand any differential impact on population groups with protected characteristics.  

The key method for describing the local approach should be the theory of change. 

1. Ensure the narrative about the case for change is clear and persuasive, and reflects the issues raised in Workshop 1. 
2. Use examples of family hub approaches in the workshop to generate discussion and challenge thinking. 
3. Check that participants in the workshop represent a range of different experiences of the local system, (as described for Workshop 1) 
4. Keep discussion and interaction in mind and leave plenty of time for small group work to share different insights. 

Local areas will need to agree the partnership arrangements for project development including: 

1. identify key delivery milestones and begin to develop an implementation plan. 
2. confirm project management and governance arrangements to maintain progress and manage risks. 
3. consider the projects approach to coproduction and broader stakeholder communication and engagement. 
4. review the equality and inclusion implications of the implementation plan. 
5. agree actions to develop the evaluation process and next steps
6. review and update the project’s equality impact assessment. 

It is important that there is a well-defined and realistic implementation plan embedded within a robust project management framework. A good project management framework will include: 

1. defined roles and resources to deliver the programme; it is highly likely that a local transformation team will be required to successfully implement a complex project of this nature 
2. monitoring and reporting processes to minimise the likelihood of drift and manage risk and issues 
3. clear responsibilities for delivery of the change programme and related decision-making 
4. an effective evaluation process, focused on measuring impact against the outcomes defined earlier in the process and defined as part of the implementation planning process.