WP3294 - 0-19 Early Help Central and South

Tender description

The Council is challenged to improve outcomes for children, reducing the numbers of vulnerable children coming into care, and referrals and re-referrals coming into the social care system by strengthening its early intervention and prevention work with families within a context of reducing resources. The Council looks to seek views on plans to review current arrangements for Children's Centres to align and integrate services as part of the development of a Children's Services 0- 19 'Early Help Partnership' locality model. The proposals consulted upon aim to: o redefine current reach areas of Children's Centres to better align with 0-19 partnership locality areas and school cluster arrangements so that professionals can work better together to offer a whole family approach; o reduce the number of buildings that provide Children's Centre services in the newly defined Central and South area from three (Palfrey, Birchills and Alumwell) to one and to use the entire building at Birchills for childcare to help meet the shortage of early learning places and childcare in the surrounding area; o provide the delivery of a range of services in the east of the Borough through 'Outreach Services' using community based buildings, virtual hubs and interventions in the home. This will save building costs and give greater flexibility and access to services across a large geographical patch: the majority of current delivery is being accessed via outreach and home visits; o reduce management costs by bringing Children's Centres into 'Early Help Locality' arrangements; and o maintain a mixed provision model as informed by the 'Best Value' review of Children's Centre services, and, as a result, decommission the newly aligned Central and South locality as a 'whole family' 0 -19 Early Help locality servicethat incorporates the Children's Centre core offer.