Family Hubs are places where families can access integrated early help services, and the government is committed to supporting local authorities to roll them out.
In November 2021, the DfE launched the £12m Family Hubs Transformation Fund to support at least 12 local authorities. As part of the Budget, the Government announced £301.75m to fund a network of Family Hubs, Start for Life and family help services, including breastfeeding services, parenting programmes and parent-infant mental health support.
What is a Family Hub?
Family Hubs come in a variety of forms, and is it important that they are designed to fit to requirements of each local area and partners. Common principles underpinning the model include:
An understanding of the importance of Early Help and prevention
A whole-family approach, focusing on disadvantaged and vulnerable children
Support for children aged 0-19 (and up to 25 for SEND), but with particular focus on early years to give infants the best start in life and ensure they are school-ready
Integrated services, including health visiting, maternity, and children's services
A central access point connected to all other delivery sites in the area
Involvement from the third sector and wider community
Our support for Family Hubs
Mutual Ventures can support local authorities to explore, design and implement Family Hubs in your area. We will work with you to develop a model that responds to your unique circumstances, bringing along colleagues in primary care and the third sector, and creating a roadmap for preparing services.
Download a leaflet outlining MV’s offer.
For a practical view of implementing Family Hubs and an insight into different stages of the process, you can view our recent webinar, Putting Family Hubs at the Centre of your Early Help Offer. This includes examples of best practice from Westminster, Bristol and Coventry.
To discuss ideas and to learn how we can help you contact David Fairhurst david@mutualventures.co.uk
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