A new approach to supporting children and families is being piloted in Croydon, bringing council services and partners together to provide families with the right help at the right time.
Croydon Council has launched its new Families First Partnership pilot, part of the Department for Education’s programme to deliver the biggest reforms to children’s social care and support in more than a decade.
The pilot was launched at an event at Braithwaite Hall, bringing Council staff and partners together to hear more about the new approach and how organisations will work together to support children and families.
The event featured guest speaker Matt Brown, who co-founded She Is Not Your Rehab with his wife Sarah Brown. Their global movement works to prevent violence and abuse by helping people address trauma, build healthier relationships and create safer families and communities.
Families First Partnership is focused on providing earlier, more joined-up support to families, helping to prevent problems from escalating and ensuring children and families receive consistent support from professionals they know and trust.
In Croydon, the Council is initially testing the new approach with families living in the CR2 area of South Croydon before it is introduced across the borough by the end of March 2027.
Two dedicated teams based at Woodlands Family Hub will work with up to 90 families, with each family supported by a lead practitioner. The teams will work closely with schools and professionals across social care, health, education, police, youth justice and the voluntary and community sector to provide support focused on the needs of children and their families.
A key part of the approach will be giving families a stronger voice in decisions about the support they receive and making greater use of their wider family and community networks to find solutions that work for them.
The pilot forms part of the Council’s wider Helping Families Thrive programme, which is changing how children’s services work to improve support for families, manage demand and ensure services are sustainable for the future.
Executive Mayor of Croydon Jason Perry said: “Every child deserves the opportunity to thrive, and we want families in Croydon to be able to get the right support at the right time.
“Families First is about putting children and families at the heart of the way we work. By bringing services and our partners together, providing help earlier and making it easier for professionals to share information and work as one team, we can give families more consistent and effective support.
“We are starting in South Croydon so that we can learn what works well and use those lessons as we introduce this approach across the borough. Our ambition is to provide high-quality services that build on families’ strengths, prevent difficulties from escalating and help every child and young person achieve their potential.”
