Partners from across the East Riding have worked together to look at how the new national Families First Partnership Programme can best be delivered in the East Riding.
Representatives from children's services, health, education, police, probation, the community and voluntary sector and public health are all working together to help families earlier, before problems grow.
The Families First Partnership Programme is being launched by the Department for Education, to deliver reforms to children's social care. It aims to rebalance children's social care, with a greater emphasis on earlier intervention and prevention to help all children get the best start in life. It also aims to create a more joined-up, family focused system that provides the right help at the right time.
Councillor Victoria Aitken, cabinet member for children, families and education said: "The Families First Partnership aims to do just that - put our families first.
"As a partnership we want families in the East Riding to be supported in a way that's right for them, with families at the heart of decision making. We want to support families before problems get too big, and provide that support locally, in communities. We want help to be easy to find, close to home and quick to access.
"Today's conference was the start of a journey for all of us, as together we develop how services support children and families, so that every child has the best start for life."
The Families First Partnership Programme has six key principles:
1. Whole family support - provide support to the whole family at the earliest opportunity
2. Co-design - co-design the transformation with children and families and partners
3. Localism - work as a community within communities, with teams working around the family in geographical areas
4. Continuous relationships - have continuous relationships with children and their families through their journey of support by reducing transition points
5. Single assessments and one plan - children and families only tell their story once
6. Differently qualified staff - develop roles of differently qualified staff, embracing their skills and experience to deliver front line interventions with families.
Changes to how children's social care is delivered will take place from April 2026.
Are you interested in joining our East Riding team to help support children and families? Find social work roles at eryc.link/socialcarejobs.
