The Family Hubs Network was very encouraged this week to learn of the Government’s commitment of £500 million to continue the rollout of Family Hubs in England. This will effectively double the reach of the previous government’s Transformation Fund (which funded 75 Local Authorities to roll out Family Hubs) and cover all of England’s remaining councils.
These new plans put an emphasis on the early years, and on ‘giving every child the best start in life’. Whilst FHN welcomes policy driven by the weighty evidence on the crucial nature of the first 1001 days of development from pregnancy to age 2, we will continue to work with the Government to ensure Family Hubs’ integrated provision goes beyond the early years, helping families with children aged 0-19 (and up to 25 for those with special educational needs and disabilities).
Whole-family 0-19 (25 if SEND) provision is especially important for the role Family Hubs play in delivering the Families First Partnership Programme, which implements much of what Josh McAlister OBE MP recommended in his Independent Review of Children’s Social Care. His Review envisages Family Hubs as a bedrock of support for all families who need it:
“Family hubs in particular offer an important universal access point to support for
families, and will be critical to providing support both to families who are eligible for
universal support (and might additionally be receiving a more intensive offer through
Family Help), as well as families who have lower levels of need but still need help.”~ Independent Review of Children’s Social Care, Final Report, page 60
Image Credits: UK Parliament under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0
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