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Co-design activity has continued throughout September. We have been gathering feedback from children, young people and families about what good support looks like and how services can work better together. Recent sessions have included young carers and families who have experienced targeted early help, child protection and social care services.
Learning from these sessions is being used to inform the development of Families First reforms, including assessment processes and service design.
We are also inviting parents, carers, family members and members of the public to share their views on support for children, young people and families in Sheffield with a consultation on "Have Your Say". Please share this with families you may be working with.
FFPP Partnership Event
Preparations continue for the Sheffield Partnership Event on 21 October, which will bring partners together to hear about progress to date and the next steps in Sheffield's Families First journey. This event will bring together three significant areas of reform and transformation across the city:
- Families First Partnership Programme (FFPP)
- SEND Reform
- Best Start for Life / Family Hubs
It will provide an opportunity for partners from across Sheffield to come together to hear about progress to date, understand current thinking and planning, and consider how these reforms will shape the support offered to children, young people and families'.
Event Details
Date: Wednesday 21st October 2026
Time: 9:30am - 12pm or 1pm - 3:30pm
Venue: The Hope Centre, Bernard Road, Sheffield, S2 5BQ
Please note that you only need to attend one session. The morning and afternoon sessions will cover the same content, so please book onto whichever works best for you.
Get involved
We are looking to establish a regular co-design focus group that will meet monthly to help shape and influence the development of Family Help and wider transformation activity. We are particularly keen to hear from parents, carers, young people and families who would like to share their experiences, ideas and feedback to help ensure services are designed with families, not just for them.
If you are working with any families who may be interested in getting involved, please encourage them to contact us via familiesfirst@sheffield.gov.uk for more information and to register their interest.
Their voices will play a valuable role in helping us create services that better meet the needs of children, young people and families across Sheffield.
Family Help Update
Drawing of a person with the words "Coordinated & Relational & Whole family support" around them
Development of the new Family Help Assessment has continued, alongside consultation with families to ensure the approach reflects their experiences and priorities. The aim is to create a flexible assessment that can grow with a family's needs, reducing duplication and helping families tell their story once.
Work is also underway to strengthen support for schools with the development of a new online advice session request form. The form has been designed so that information gathered at the advice stage can be used to inform a Family Help Assessment. This will help reduce duplication and create a smoother pathway between advice, guidance and targeted support.
Locality design work has continued to develop, with positive feedback received on proposed arrangements and further engagement planned with managers during September. Alongside this, partners are continuing discussions about the role of the Family Help Lead Practitioner and how best to coordinate support around families.
Work is progressing on proposals for a Navigator role within the Family Help model. A paper has recently been discussed at senior leadership level, with consideration being given to how the role aligns with existing support and navigation functions across the system, including SEND. Further work is underway to shape the role and its place within the wider Families First approach.
Looking ahead, the workstream will continue to refine the assessment, progress locality planning and work with partners to improve information sharing and visibility of support being provided across services.
Multi Agency Child Protections Teams (MACPT) Update
A new MACPT Referral to Outcome process map has been developed to support understanding of the child protection pathway. The process map sets out how concerns progress through consultation, decision-making, strategy discussions, Section 47 enquiries and outcomes, helping to clarify roles and responsibilities across agencies. The process map is still being finalised and continues to be developed with partners in multi agency workstream meetings.
 Sheffield MACPT Referral to Outcome Pathway
Work is also taking place to review staffing arrangements and prepare the workforce for the new model. Partners are looking at how meetings, decision-making and child protection work can be better coordinated across services while maintaining a strong focus on keeping children safe.
Over the coming months, work will focus on finalising staffing arrangements, strengthening multi-agency working and preparing for implementation. Recruitment is also progressing, with interviews for the new Health Representative role taking place this month. This will help strengthen health involvement within the MACPT and support a more joined-up approach to safeguarding children.
Family Group Decision Making (FGDM) Update
 Drawing of a car with the words "Trust, Empathy, Understanding" on the roof, and "Relationships are the primary vehicle for change" behind the car
Following the recent appointment of Simon Jones as Assistant Service Manager for Family Group Decision Making, work is continuing to develop Sheffield's approach to Family Group Decision Making (FGDM) as part of the Families First Partnership Programme.
Work is progressing around Family Network Support funding, which can help families overcome practical barriers identified through family-led planning and enable their networks to put solutions into action. Guidance and recording arrangements are being developed to support this.
Alongside this, outcome measures are being developed so that we can better understand the difference FGDM is making for children and families. Connected, a new approach focused on helping care-experienced young people identify, strengthen and sustain lifelong relationships, is also being developed.
Workforce development will be an important part of the next phase, including training and guidance around family network conversations, Family Network Meetings, Family Group Conferencing and Family Network Support funding. We will also be developing a network of FGDM champions across services and partners to support learning and help embed the approach in everyday practice.
The FGDM workstream will be re-established over the coming weeks, bringing together colleagues and partners to help shape and support the continued development of Sheffield Family Connect. Dates for the workstream will be circulated shortly.
Over the coming months, the focus will be on developing the model with our workforce and partners, strengthening practice guidance and training, and making family networks and family-led decision making an increasingly consistent part of how we work with children and families across Sheffield.
Staff Spotlight: Simon Jones, Assistant Service Manager, Family Group Decision Making
Simon has worked within Sheffield's Family Group Conference service for a number of years and is passionate about ensuring children and families are supported to draw on the strengths, relationships and resources within their wider family and networks.
A key focus of the role will be the development of Sheffield Family Connect. Simon explains "Sheffield Family Connect is our approach to embedding family-led decision making across the partnership. The aim is to make thinking about family and wider networks part of everyday practice, from early conversations with families through to more structured family planning and, where appropriate, independent Family Group Conferences.
At the heart of this approach is a simple principle: we mobilise before we escalate. This means asking early who matters to the child and family, who is already around them, and who could potentially help, supporting families to identify and mobilise their own networks alongside professional support."
Sheffield’s SEND Local Area Partnership
Sheffield’s SEND Local Area Partnership wants to keep you in touch with all the great work happening as part of Sheffield’s SEND transformation journey.
Please can we ask you and your colleagues to complete our survey (2 minutes) and tell us about SEND communications and engagement and what you might like from the partnership in the future:
We invited 3 Primary Schools across Sheffield to help design a new family friendly character to represent Sheffield’s Families First Partnership programme. We will be sharing the wining design and shortlisted entries soon.
New Information Sharing Duty
The Government has published new statutory guidance on the information sharing duty for agencies working with children, young people and families. The guidance aims to support earlier and more effective information sharing between services, helping professionals work together to improve outcomes and safeguard children.
The new duty aligns closely with the aims of Sheffield's Families First Partnership Programme and will support the development of more joined-up services across the partnership.
For further detail about the reforms, you can read the official FFPP guidance on Families First Partnership programme - GOV.UK
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