‘Safeguarding Families Together’ is benefitting families across Dorset Council

Families are benefitting from the Safeguarding Families Together (SFT) program which seeks to reduce the number of children in need of child protection or going into care, a formative evaluation conducted by the University of Bedfordshire has recently found.

The SFT program which piloted in November 2022 and runs in the localities of Chesil, Dorchester and West, uses multi-disciplinary teams that have both specialist adult practitioners and Children’s Services social workers to provide a whole family working approach.

SFT aims to improve the health and wellbeing of parents and carers within Dorset by addressing three key factors: Mental Health, Substance misuse and Domestic Abuse. 

The team provides wraparound support to a family so they can focus on positive changes to behaviour which provide a safer environment for their children with service users reporting better health and overall improved emotional wellbeing.

This approach to whole family working has been implemented in other local authorities and there is compelling evidence to suggest it supports better outcomes for families, improves recruitment and retention of social workers and delivers cost reductions.

The programme has been received well by those who took part with parents suggesting that it should be promoted widely as a different way of working in partnership with parents. One parent stated that Dorset Council should “Promote the SFT service amongst local communities, communicating the benefits of working together with the SFT team so people realise that they’re not just there to take your kids away...it’s not like it used to be... ‘we can actually help you’”.

The SFT pilot has now be extended for a further year (2024-2025) and this also includes a roll out across 6 months in the localities of North, East and Purbeck from October 2024 although funding past March 2025 is yet to be confirmed.

The Formative Evaluation was planned and undertaken during the period of September 2023 – December 2023 and included researchers from the University of Bedfordshire spending time in Dorset, interviewing families and practitioners. This has enabled the voice of Dorset families to be represented in the evaluation findings. 

One parent reflected on how she sensed that the SFT approach was ‘holistic’ and that there was an acknowledgement of the complexity and the inter-relationships between her experiences of domestic abuse and poor mental health and the impact on her children: “It seems like they’re looking at the whole, how everything interrelates, so the domestic abuse and then the mental health and then your children are part of that but not everything’s separate? So maybe that’s what this new project is doing is it’s enabling almost, yes, that word “holistic” to look at everything and around?”

Another described how their increased understanding of the impact of substance use had reduced their alcohol and drug use, resulting in improved physical energy levels and emotional wellbeing: “[We] just had a chat and went through everything as to why [drugs and the alcohol use was problematic], and then she spoke to me from the safety point of view. She just went through all the effects that it can have on yourself, children, your genuine life, and then it can lead you to knowing the wrong people, all of that.... Then we set up a plan for me to stop. Went through the symptoms of when you’re giving something up. I cut down to cut out.... She only gave me the information on what I needed to know for what I was using at the time, and I found her so supportive and helpful. She went above and beyond as well, and I really found her really helpful and encouraging”.

The final report was shared in March 2024 and evidenced that SFT had been successfully implemented in the pilot areas. Key findings from the report are: 
•    Successful implementation
•    Shared aims and hopes for longer term preventive impact
•    Creation of a new shared value-based language across professional groups and with families 
•    Improved information sharing and understanding of disciplinary perspectives for professionals.
•    Provision of a more holistic, accessible and responsive service for parents
•    High demand, recruitment challenges, social work caseloads and statutory deadlines create logistical barriers. 
•    Opportunities to expand geographically and towards a wider partnership,

Theresa Leavy, Executive Director of Children’s Services, said: “We want Dorset to be the best place to be a child and we make sure we do our very best to help keep families together, even when they are going through tough times.

“The Safeguarding Families Together programme wraps around the whole family and supports them using motivational interviewing, which is a counselling approach designed to help people find the motivation to make a positive behaviour change. 

“I am incredibly pleased that it has shown positive impact on our families and that we are able to extend it to cover the whole of the Dorset Council area”.   

The Report can be found at (Public Pack)Agenda Document for Health and Wellbeing Board, 26/06/2024 14:00 (dorsetcouncil.gov.uk)