Decision details

The report seeks approval to recruit five agency Family Workers to increase capacity in the targeted early help district teams on temporary contracts to 31 December 2022.

RESOLVED - That: five agency Family Workers be recruited in the targeted early help district teams to 31 December 2022

Option 1 - Do Nothing - Doing nothing would mean that caseloads in the targeted Early Help district teams would remain very high, preventing them from delivering the necessary quality of support to children and families, and increasing the likelihood that needs will escalate into social care or that there will be future referrals. This will prevent the new model from reducing service demand and supporting budget savings in future years. It also increases the risk of staffing going sick or leaving the service.
Option 2 - Recruit an additional five agency Family Workers in the targeted early help district teams to 31 December 2022. Increasing capacity in the teams will assist in reducing caseloads in the teams in order to ensure that that there is capacity to effectively meet the needs of children and families. This will reduce the likelihood of needs escalating to require children’s social care involvement or of families being re-referred for targeted support. It will deliver additional capacity during a period in which the legacy of Covid-19 and the rising cost of living has increased families’ needs for support, and enable the permanent staffing structure to be reviewed alongside implementation of the Demand Management Strategy to reduce the number of children and families requiring support from Children’s Services.

Option 1 - Do Nothing

The proposal was discussed at Children's Services Directorate Management Team