Family Help teams
Creating Family Help Teams
We know that building strong relationships with families is what makes a difference. That means families should be able to tell their story once, and the number of handovers between practitioners should be kept to a minimum.
The Family help pilot
As a result, we are launching an Eastbourne-based pilot of the Family Help model in January 2026.
Family Help teams will be focussed on the family’s strengths and are designed to reduce duplication of assessments, as well as providing more seamless support.
If you’re a professional working with a family who has already been allocated a worker based in Eastbourne, you should call the Family Help Team when you, or the family, need to make contact.
The new Family Help team includes early intervention teams, who work with families with emerging problems, and social work teams. In Eastbourne, Family Help teams have replaced Duty and Assessment, Youth Support and Family Support.
Following consultation with professionals, we will also be piloting a Family Help Youth Support Team to provide specialist support to young people who are at particularly high risk.
What next?
During the pilot, we will assess and evaluate the new approach through feedback from children, families, staff, and partners.
Adjustments will be implemented to ensure the safety of children and families while delivering the highest quality relationship-based support and social work.
Roll out is planned towards the end of 2026.