Buckinghamshire Families First

Families First is a national programme that is changing how services work together to support children, young people and families.

The aim is to make sure families can access the right support at the right time, helping to prevent problems from becoming more serious and reducing the need for crisis intervention.

Families First brings together three key areas:

• Family Help: providing joined-up support for families when challenges begin to emerge
• Multi-Agency Child Protection Teams (MACPTs): strengthening how organisations work together to protect children who are at risk of significant harm
• Family Group Decision Making: helping families and wider family networks work together to find solutions and make plans for children

Buckinghamshire is working with partners across health, police, and children's social care to implement the Families First reforms.

The programme will build on existing strengths and develop new ways of working that put children, young people and families at the centre of decision-making.

Core Families First arrangements are expected to be in place by March 2027, with continued development beyond this date.

Families First aims to make accessing support simpler and more joined-up.

• Earlier help when it's needed: Instead of families struggling to find the right support or waiting until difficulties become more serious, services will work together to identify needs earlier and help families access support sooner.
• One coordinated plan: Where several services are involved, professionals will work together through a shared plan, reducing duplication and ensuring support is coordinated around the whole family.
• Tell your story once: Families should experience a more joined-up service, with a lead practitioner coordinating support and reducing the need to repeatedly explain their circumstances to different professionals.
• A whole-family approach: Services will focus on understanding a family's strengths as well as challenges, recognising that children's needs are often best addressed by working with the whole family and wider support network.
• Building resilience: The focus will be on helping families develop lasting solutions and resilience, rather than only responding when situations reach a crisis point.

Family Help will bring together targeted early help and Child in Need support into a single, more joined-up offer.

Plans currently being developed in Buckinghamshire include:

• a single Family Help assessment
• a single Family Help plan that can stay with a family as their needs change
• greater coordination between services
• stronger multi-agency working to ensure families receive the right support at the right time

Families First places greater emphasis on involving family networks at an earlier stage.

Buckinghamshire is building on its existing Family Group Conferencing service to introduce Family Group Decision Making more consistently across children's services.

This means:

• wider family members and support networks may be involved earlier
• families will be supported to develop their own family-led plans
• family network support packages may be available to provide practical or financial support where this helps families create safe and sustainable arrangements for children
• family-led decision making will become a key part of the support and safeguarding journey

Families First does not change safeguarding responsibilities or thresholds.

Where there are concerns that a child is suffering, or is at risk of suffering, significant harm, agencies will continue to take appropriate safeguarding action.

As part of the reforms, Buckinghamshire is developing Multi-Agency Child Protection Teams (MACPTs) to strengthen partnership working and improve decision-making for children who need protection. These teams will bring together expertise from key safeguarding partners to ensure children and families receive coordinated and effective support.

Families First is based on the principle that children and families achieve better outcomes when services work together.

Health services, police, children's social care and other partners will continue to share expertise, coordinate support and work alongside families to improve experiences and outcomes for children and young people.

Families First is a new way of bringing services together to support children and families earlier. It focuses on providing help sooner, strengthening support for families, and improving coordination between services. Existing safeguarding responsibilities and statutory duties remain unchanged.