Slough Borough Council - Strengthening Families

What is the Slough Strengthening Families Programme about?

Family life can be a challenge for parents and when faced with multiple problems it can be hard to know where to turn.

Strengthening Families is an early intervention programme carried out by Family Support Workers in the Early Help Hub which is part of the Early Years & Prevention directorate in Slough Borough Council. Strengthening Families is also actively supported by a range of partners.

The programme’s roots and framework of working are based on central government's ‘Troubled Families’ programme. This programme is known in Slough as Strengthening Families.

Strengthening Families works with families with children in the household and applies a ‘whole family approach’ taking into consideration the needs of the whole family. Support workers then work with the family in order to resolve all issues by delivering effective outcomes.

Our Family Support Workers in the Early Help Hub can offer support, advice and the conduct direct work needed in relation to issues concerning:

• Staying safe in the community: parents or children involved in crime or anti-social behaviour
• Getting a good education and skills for life: children who have not been attending school regularly
• Improving children’s life chances: children who need additional support, from the earliest years to adulthood
• Improving living standards: families experiencing or at risk of worklessness, homelessness or financial difficulties
• Staying safe in relationships: families affected by domestic abuse
• Living well, improving physical and mental health and wellbeing: parents and children with a range of health needs.

Family Support Workers will also work with other specialist services in Slough (if required) that can help meet the needs of the family.

Partnership agreement

Currently the Strengthening Families team is in the midst of forging new relationships with services and strengthening existing ones so that we are collectively working towards a systemic approach with our families.

We call this phase ‘Partnership Unity’

This new exciting team up with services will create a ‘Strengthening Families Community’ of services which unites services such as Young Peoples Service, Children’s Centres, Slough Children First, CAMHS, Public Health, Solutions4Health, Community Safety and many more into one cohesive collective way of working essentially a single delivery model.

We want all services to think ‘Strengthening Families’, we want them to think ‘whole family’ when a young person or child is referred to them so that they are thinking not just about the individual but about the whole family.

Our vision is for families to get the help they need, at the earliest time, earliest opportunity possible from a host of varied services all co-ordinated by one key worker applying the Strengthening Families framework of working.

In return we ask families to:

• accept and join in with the support being offered
• be honest about the problems you are facing so we can provide the right help and support
• make use of their own parental responsibilities and strengths.

How it works

The Strengthening Families process is as follows: 

• a family is in need of help and make a request for help
• their case is triaged and sent to the team who can best help
• a key worker is assigned to work with the family
• the key worker conducts a 'whole-family' assessment
• the key worker organises a meeting with services who can help to review the needs of the family and formulate an action plan.

The key worker and services could help to do any of the following:

• get your children attending school regularly
• access free childcare or nursery places
• set good routines and boundaries for your children
• deal with difficult behaviour
• get training and CV help so you’re ready to find a job
• resolve housing issues relating to arrears and debt management
• get you and your children involved in healthy, positive activities
• have good family relationships
• overcome issues around substance misuse
• be free from domestic abuse and violence.

If you want to find out more please email _StrengtheningFamilies@Slough.gov.uk.