Child Friendly Warwickshire

Warwickshire County Council’s new approach called Warwickshire Family Safeguarding will offer better support for families facing issues of domestic abuse, substance misuse and adult mental health.

Warwickshire Family Safeguarding is a partnership with drug and alcohol service Change Grow Live, adult mental health service NHS Coventry and Warwickshire, and the county council.   

The council has recruited specialist practitioners in domestic abuse, mental health and substance misuse to better support families by providing the right support at the right time and by working with families to empower them to find their own, lasting, solutions.  

Ultimately, the new approach should reduce the number of children currently in care. Helping families to stay safe and well and access appropriate services should mean less children enter the care system and more can return home and sooner. 

The practitioners from the various disciplines will be helping parents and carers to identify the need to make changes, which can often be a stumbling point for families. They will work with families by utilising their skills and experience and will take part in joint visits and assessments. Practitioners will support families to achieve change, guiding them into community services (such as drug and alcohol treatment or identifying their behaviour as domestically abusive) as well as working with the wider family. 

This new way of working is inspired by Hertfordshire County Council’s method which takes a whole family view on child protection, providing help and support from different professionals working as one team. It will be rolled out initially in North Warwickshire with specialist practitioners embedded in 
frontline children and families teams for the first time in the county. Existing and new practitioners in the pilot teams have also been given training to upskill and broaden their specialisms. If Warwickshire Family Safeguarding proves successful in North Warwickshire, it will be made available countywide.  

Councillor Jeff Morgan, Portfolio Holder for Children and Families said: “Having a children and families service that has experts in a broad range of family issues, means that we can better support families in Warwickshire. The approach is all about providing the right support, early on and at the right time to prevent issues from escalating. 

“By giving families the right support, we can work with them to build relationships and help them to identify their strengths as a family. Ultimately, we want Warwickshire Family Safeguarding to reduce the number of children in care and we are optimistic that we will be able to achieve this.  

“By taking this whole family approach and providing the right support, we hope that families will feel willing to engage and feel open to explore opportunities for change.” 

A launch event was held on 10 November at St Michael’s Children’s Centre in Bedworth for the new Warwickshire Family Safeguarding practitioners to come together, to develop their relationships with one another, share their knowledge and skills and focus on the next 18 months moving forward.  

The Warwickshire Family Safeguarding pilot is being embedded in teams across North Warwickshire until March 2023. Prior to the pilot ending, WCC will evaluate the success of the programme through feedback from families and whether or not there has been a reduction of children needing child protection plans, children in care and children in need. 

Warwickshire Family Safeguarding supports the Child Friendly Warwickshire programme which is bringing the county together in a collective effort to ensure all children and young people have a voice that is heard, that they are safe, happy and healthy and that they are equipped with the skills to have the best lives they can. 

If you want to be a part of making a difference to the lives of children and families across Warwickshire, view current vacancies at www.warwickshire.gov.uk/workforus. 

For more information on Warwickshire’s children and families service, visit www.warwickshire.gov.uk/childrenandfamilies.