For families who need some extra support, knowing where to turn or having to navigate complicated systems can be daunting. That’s why there’s a focus across Cornwall’s Children and Family Services on innovative, integrated care that gets families help quickly when they need it most.
The local authority’s Supporting Change in Partnership (SCIP) service is a prime example. It offers families with disabled children targeted, 16-week interventions from skilled specialist workers, without the need for a social work assessment – which, in turn, reduces social work caseloads. The service, which has been running since 2016, has been so successful that its team is about to increase by a third.
The children that SCIP works with have a range of disabilities and behaviours that can be challenging. “We work in partnership with families, helping them to understand and predict what their child might be communicating through their behaviours. SCIP sets out to build on the skills and resilience that already exists in families,” says Crin Whelan, disabled children’s early help service manager. “We work directly with children to give them new strategies and to help them better understand themselves. SCIP creates goals focusing on what the child and family want to achieve and set out to do this together.”
Whelan remembers one teenage boy who had become so isolated that he was unable to leave his bedroom. By the end of the 16 weeks, his worker was able to take him on a train to buy a pair of shoes. “That was his goal, and the work it took to get there was absolutely phenomenal,” she says.
Parents say SCIP is transformative. “It has helped at our most challenging times to give us the tools, hope, strength and guidance when we were at a loss of what to do to support our child,” says one. “We would not be the family we are today without the support we have received.”
And children are effusive, too. “I know now how to make friends and I have loads,” reports one. Another says of his worker: “They’ve changed my life. It’s easier now and things aren’t getting worse any more.”
And this from yet another: “I have no idea what has changed but something has. I feel better inside now. I like that Mum and Dad can now talk to me about how I’m feeling.”
The council’s portage service, which works with very young children with disabilities and provides practical and emotional support to parents, is also highly valued by families. “The care and support given was second to none,” says one parent. “Portage has helped my son to achieve and grow, all at his own pace.”
Another crucial part of Cornwall’s system is the early help hub, an integrated “front door” that is shared with other agencies, such as child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS), as well as the voluntary sector. It ensures that when a parent, professional or agency has concerns about a child, but the threshold for social work involvement is not necessarily met, families are swiftly directed to the service that best meets their needs.
“Not many local authorities have that level of investment in advice and guidance at the front door,” says Rebecca Sargent, head of service for Children and Families, Multi-agency Referral Unit, Early Help Hub and Partnerships. “It means decisions are made earlier, and families get help quicker.”
As council’s multi-agency referral unit (MARU) is under the same leadership, if a referral comes into the early help hub where it seems a child is at risk, it can be passed on seamlessly. And it works in the other direction, too, Sargent says. If the MARU gets a referral that doesn’t warrant an investigation, but where a family may need some targeted support work or another service, the case will be picked up by early help. “What we try to do is help families get the right help at the right time, with a proportionate approach,” she says.
It’s a forward thinking philosophy that makes Cornwall a rewarding place to work in children’s services, and with its beautiful beaches and coastline, and a huge range of outdoor activities to explore, there is plenty to enjoy outside work too.
When it comes to universal services, Cornwall’s 23 family hubs are designed as flexible, inviting spaces that provide services at the heart of communities, from the very beginning of residents’ parenting journeys, all the way through family life.
That means that you might find Start for Life professionals such as health visitors and midwives in a hub, alongside services offered by the voluntary community sector – everything from prenatal checks to group work and more targeted services, as well as a space that parents can just drop in to.
“We’ve really invested in trying to make that welcoming feel when families first arrive, and thinking about how that fits right the way, across all ages,” says Helen Salmon, early help service manager. “In some of our hubs, we’ve got some fabulous outdoor spaces, so you might find families just coming to spend time outdoors in a safe space. And our groups for things like breastfeeding, peer support and infant feeding are lovely places for parents to come together and form new friendships.
“The start for life offer has really added value to our hubs. We’re really getting the right things to families at the earliest point we can.”
But work on the integration that makes Cornwall’s services so successful never stands still. “We’re permanently looking for ways to keep driving that forward,” Salmon says. “And for me, that’s what makes it really exciting.”
Find out more about Cornwall Council’s social work teams, the jobs they offer and how you could become part of their success story
