Front page - Welcome
Welcome
Dear Partners,
November has been such a busy month across the Families First Partnership. Time has flown and it feels like only yesterday we were sending out last month's newsletter!
Events
Our Working Together in Early Help events took place at venues across the county and due to their popularity, we will be running another set of events in the early spring. In addition, our Share & Learn virtual event took place with a theme of positive wellbeing in Hertfordshire and was attended by around 50 partner agencies. A big thank you to all our speakers at these events.
Our Families First Development team are always looking for opportunities to promote early help to families and we recently attended a great community event in Hoddesdon, which was hosted at Morrisons. It was really good to network with many of the local service providers and a great opportunity to promote support to families.
Do let us know if you have an event that you would like us to bring our Families First information stand to, by emailing:- familiesfirst.support@hertfordshire.gov.uk
Awards
The annual Children's Services awards are being held in December and we were delighted to nominate one of our regular chairs of our Families First Partnership groups, Rosemary Inskipp for the Partner of the Year Award. Rosemary's commitment to the Families First way of working along with being a consistent and pro-active chair of the Dacorum Families First Partnership group has been fantastic and we all wish her the best of luck with the nomination.
On the subject of Awards our next Families First Awards will be taking place on Wednesday 10th May 2023 and we are currently working on some new categories for 2023. Although it seems a long way off, it's not too early to start thinking about who you would like to nominate for a well-deserved award. More information will be coming in the new year.
We hope you enjoy reading this edition and don't forget to take a look at our learning and development pages and vacancy page and please encourage your teams to sign up to receive their own copy!
As always, please do let us have your comments and suggestions for what you would like included in future editions by emailing familiesfirst.support@hertfordshire.gov.uk.
Kind regards
The Development Team
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The latest news
A Carers Strategy for Hertfordshire 2022-25
A new Carers Strategy for Hertfordshire has been published. This aims to support carers’ wellbeing to help them to balance caring with their own needs. For the first time a single Strategy for Adult Carers and Young Carers has been developed to ensure support continues smoothly as young people reach adulthood.
The four objectives, based on carers’ own priorities, embedded in this Strategy are: be informed; life beyond caring; maintaining health and wellbeing; and receiving consistent, joined up services.
Hertfordshire County Council, Hertfordshire and West Essex Integrated Care Board (and previously Herts Valleys Clinical Commissioning Group and East & North Herts Clinical Commissioning Group) worked with carers to develop this Strategy. This reaffirms their joint commitment to partnership working between carers, health and social care providers and other agencies.
We have a strong voluntary and community sector in Hertfordshire which works effectively in partnership with statutory organisations. By identifying carers earlier and ensuring they are put in touch with voluntary sector and community sources of support, we can prevent carers falling into crisis and ease the demand on statutory sector resources.
Different caring experiences have been considered when developing this Strategy to ensure that it is inclusive of the evolving needs of all carers who live in or provide care in Hertfordshire.
View the Carers Strategy at www.hertfordshire.gov.uk/carersstrategy
Supporting with the Cost of Living - what professionals need to know
Webinar on 06 December, 12-1pm
Whether you interact with the public in your day job or as a volunteer, we understand how important it is that you can direct residents to trusted sources of help and advice in Hertfordshire when needed.
This webinar will help you identify when a resident may need support, be able to signpost them to a trusted source of advice, and know when and how to refer someone who may need more in-depth support from one of our specialist services in the County. You'll hear from services including Citizens Advice, the Money Advice Unit, Age UK and other professionals in Hertfordshire offering support to residents facing an increased cost of living.
Please note that this webinar will be recorded and published online so that other professionals that were unable to attend can still receive this information.
Please share this email through your networks so we can ensure all professionals will have access to this webinar. If you are interested in joining this webinar, please sign up using the link below.
Supporting with the Cost of Living - what professionals need to know
Key links to help manage the cost of living
We have continued to add to this article so that partners have a quick link through to the support being offered for families in Hertfordshire.
Hertfordshire County Council have set up a central webpage that offers advice and practical help to manage finances and make savings and contains many useful links to help you support families.
Hertfordshire has become one of the first regions in the UK to partner with Energy Saving Trust to provide an energy efficiency app to residents and help them make energy savings. The App can be downloaded via the central page:-
In addition, HertsHelp - trained friendly advisors are on hand to offer confidential assistance and can put you in touch with helpful services and support locally - call 0300 123 4044, email info@hertshelp.net or visit www.hertshelp.net
Child Poverty Action Group is pleased to announce that thanks to The Indigo Trust they have been able to make their Fuel Rights Handbook free to access for all on their digital platform, AskCPAG.
Ask CPAG | Fuel Rights Handbook 20th edition
Heating our homes is more expensive than ever, so we and our partners have developed a network of Warm Spaces, which people can use to stay warm this winter.
Warm Herts - Warm Spaces | Hertfordshire County Council
Broxbourne Council has produced a simple Cost of Living guide for residents - download here
The Citizens Advice East Herts have produced a Cost Saving tips booklet - download here
Hertfordshire’s Plan for Children and Young People - Update
Hertfordshire’s Plan for Children and Young People 2021-26 outlines our ambitions for children, young people and their families over a five-year period, contributing to Hertfordshire’s Corporate Plan. Our vision for Hertfordshire is to give every child, young person and their family the opportunity to live happy and fulfilling lives,
We have now refreshed the annual priorities for 2022-23 and published our first performance report showing how we are progressing in delivering our ambitions.
You can view the updated documents at www.hertfordshire.gov.uk/planforcyp where you can also view a short animation of what the plan means for children and young people in Hertfordshire.
News from Services for Young People, November 2022
Young people receive awards for their determination, resilience, compassion, confidence and motivation
Services for Young People (SfYP) celebrated the outstanding achievements of 146 young people from across Hertfordshire at their Young People’s Awards events during National Youth Work Week 2022.
The awards events take place every year during National Youth Work Week and are an opportunity to recognise and celebrate the achievements of some of the young people who have been supported by SfYP over the year. The events highlight the positive impact that SfYP Youth Workers and Advisers have in enabling young people to overcome barriers and fulfil their potential.
Bishop’s Stortford Young People’s Centre reopens after major renovation
An event to celebrate the refurbishment and reopening of Bishop’s Stortford Young People’s Centre took place on Wednesday 2nd November.
Throughout the refurbishment SfYP maintained and enhanced the building’s unique historical features, while creating a modern venue that can now fully support the needs of local young people today and for generations to come. Following in depth consultations with young people and several years of planning, the interior has been substantially remodelled and is now light and airy with purpose-built spaces.
Services for Young People increases its support for care experienced young people across Hertfordshire
This autumn sees the launch of SfYP’s new Care Experienced Young People’s Hubs, monthly drop-in sessions for care experienced young people where they can get support from Advisers and Youth Workers at one of SfYP’s young people’s centres.
SfYP helps care experienced young people aged 16 to 24 to become more independent and confident in all areas of their life, helping them identify their goals and, with support, focus on how to achieve them. Care Experienced Young People's Hubs are relaxed environments where care experienced young people can get impartial one-to-one support from qualified Advisers and Youth Workers to help them progress successfully into adulthood.
Announcement from For Baby’s Sake Hertfordshire
You will all know Hertfordshire is very special to The For Baby’s Sake Trust as our longest and biggest initiative with £3.1m of investment and over 200 families provided with intensive support. However, the Trust has made the strategic decision to not sustain the countywide For Baby’s Sake team after April 2023, due to the absence of any financial support continuing from Hertfordshire County Council or their partner agencies.
Our current caseloads are full and due to the need to reduce pressure after current funding ceases at the end of March 2023, sadly we will not be able to accept any new referrals.
We will seek to complete the programme with the 60 families who are engaging with us currently, with the continued support of our team and local partners.
We will be mobilising our current Hertfordshire team to deliver a national For Baby’s Sake CONNECT model as capacity in the team becomes available due to Hertfordshire families completing the programme.
We recognise HCC’s need to make tough decisions in an extraordinary economic environment and the door will always be open for discussion with HCC and partner agencies about accepting new Hertfordshire referrals into For Baby’s Sake through the CONNECT model with funding under a shared cost model with local public sector funding.
Amanda McIntyre
CEO, The For Baby’s Sake Trust
amandamcintyre@forbabyssake.org.uk
15 November 2022
Importance of the 2 year development review
Hertfordshire Community Trust along with Public Health Nursing and Community Paediatricians have put together this promotional video clip to highlight the importance of the 2-2.5 year health review.
Where possible we would ask professionals to promote this to their families and on their social media channels.
The video can be played below and this link can be used for promotion : https://youtu.be/nCgpFvk57Yg
Winter HAPpy camps are back!
Hertfordshire County Council has joined forces with the Herts Sports Partnership and the Hertfordshire Community Foundation, to organise the Holiday Activity and Food (HAF) programme for the school holidays every Easter, Summer and Christmas until 2024.
In Hertfordshire the programme is called HAPpy - Holiday Activity Programme - and aims to counter the triple inequalities facing Hertfordshire’s most disadvantaged young people – holiday hunger, physical inactivity and social isolation. This holiday provision is for school aged children from Reception to year 11 (inclusive) who receive benefits-related free school meals.
Booking codes for Winter HAPpy camps will be shared with schools from Monday 2nd November, with camp registration going live on Monday 21st November. HSP’s Holiday Gap Team are working with camp providers to create approximately 9,000 places this winter.
Find out more here: HAPpy Activity Camps - Herts Sports Partnership (sportinherts.org.uk)
January programme for HENRY
The HENRY Healthy Families Programme (0-5 years service) in partnership with Beezee Bodies (5-15 service) run the following programme:-
The HENRY Healthy Families: Right from the Start programme is running locally. Join the thousands of families across the country who have benefited from the support and tips it provides for young families.
Research shows that the key ingredients to ensuring babies and young children have a healthy start in life are:
- Parenting confidence
- Physical activity for little ones
- What children and families eat
- Family lifestyle habits
- Enjoying life as a family
The programme covers these 5 themes across 8 weeks and provides everything you need to help get your little one off to a great start.
You can download the January calendar here and view the HENRY leaflet - these can be shared shared with any family you think may benefit for a free 8 week programme with us.
You can make a quick referral for a client via the Beezee Bodies website and there's also the email address for general enquiries info@beezeebodies.co.uk
Learning & development
Workforce Shadowing
The vision for Families First training and development is to create a skilled, confident and resilient multi-agency workforce that supports whole family working.
Workforce shadowing provides a great opportunity to find out more about other services, what they do and how they might be able to support you in your work. It also enhances communication across agencies and helps strengthen and develop professional relationships, building local networks.
If you would like to organise a workforce shadowing placement for either yourself or a team member please complete the form below stating the service you would like to shadow and the preferred district and we will match you to a shadowing opportunity.
The following services have offered to host shadowing opportunities in either in person or virtually:-
- Citizens Advice (Brox/St Albans/North Herts)
- CGL
- Domestic Abuse Support
- Families First Panels Team
- Family Support Service, Family Centre
- Herts Mind Network
- Herts Sports Partnership
- MIND in Mid Herts
- ASB Team, District Council, Three Rivers
- Housing Support, District Council
- Intensive Family Support Team (IFST)
- Local School Partnerships
- Police
- Public Health Nursing
- Specialist Adolescent Services Hertfordshire (SASH)
- Services for Young People
- Supporting Families Practice Team
Additionally, if you would like to add your service to the above list, again please email us with your contact details, service and district.
Familesfirst.support@hertfordshire.gov.uk
Please take a look at the page, bookmark and share with teams, where appropriate.
Workforce development (hertfordshire.gov.uk)
HSCP Learning & Development Programme
HSCP provide a wide variety of learning programmes and workshops across Hertfordshire to develop skills for safeguarding children, young people and adults.
We use this page to give you some quick links through to the HSCP learning programmes:-
Neglect Campaign - FREE Sessions
The Hertfordshire Neglect Matters campaign, which aims to prevent child neglect, would like to invite you to a free webinar. Neglect Matters is a joint campaign with the NSPCC, with support from Hertfordshire Safeguarding Children Partnership, which aims to encourage families to seek help and raise awareness among communities and professionals about the early signs of child neglect and how to help families who are struggling.
Below are the dates, topics and times of each session, three of which are twilight sessions to enable school workers to attend. All sessions will be held via MS Teams.
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05/12/2022
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Neglect - Spotting the signs of child neglect & building the confidence to report concerns
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1:15 to 2pm
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13/12/2022
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Childline
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4pm to 4:45pm
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20/12/2022
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Fathers
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TBC
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10/01/2023
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Opportunities for working with Minority Ethnic/Communities
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TBC
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17/01/2023
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Mindfulness
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TBC
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24/01/2023
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Adolescent Neglect
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TBC
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Audience: All professionals working with children/families, including Community/ Voluntary Sector
- Neglect - Spotting the signs of child neglect & building the confidence to report concerns: 5 December 2022 1:15pm to 2pm
Do you feel confident enough to trust your instincts and senses if you witness signs of neglect? Do you know how to act on these concerns and report possible signs of child abuse?
The session is suitable for anyone wanting a basic introduction to child neglect, aimed at:
- Increasing your knowledge about neglect, why it happens and the impact it has on children
- Will help build your confidence to recognise the signs of possible neglect and how to report concerns either through your professional/volunteering channels, the NSPCC helpline, or if the concern is urgent, the police.
- Childline: 13 December 2022 4pm to 4:45pm
On average, a child contacts Childline every 25 seconds, and with over 200,000 counselling sessions with children and young people in 2021/2022, the service is here to help anyone under 19yrs in the UK with any issue they are going through.
Mental or emotional health remains the top concern for children and young people contacting Childline. But there was a total of 14,354 counselling sessions about abuse or neglect in 2021/22.
We know that 1 in 10 children in the UK have been neglected and that neglect is more common than any other type of abuse. Neglect, for example, is the most discussed abuse-related concern by adults contacting the NSPCC helpline.
This session will explore the ways Childline adapted during the pandemic and the resources Childline has available to young people and children that you might like to signpost to during your work with their families and communities.
For bookings, please visit the HSCP website
News from Step2Skills
Further FREE workshops announced by Step2Skills following sell out of current events!
Step2Skills is pleased to bring along another four workshops this November and December, which are free of charge for residents!
Join us online and face-to-face on these 2 hour workshops; Understanding Assertiveness – Choose from either 30th November or 7th December, from 10am to 12pm.
Intro to Microsoft Excel – A 2 session online workshop, 8th December at 10am (total 4 hours across the 2 weeks)
Festive Table Décor – Sewing – Choose from either 5th December over in Borehamwood, or 19th December online.
Spaces still available on our free workshop, Introduction to Writing Song Lyrics on Monday 12th December, 10am to 12pm.
Browse and book the full range of courses and workshops at www.step2skills.org.uk
January timetable of Step2Skills adult learning opportunities out now!
Step2Skills is pleased to unveil the January timetable of adult learning opportunities
Spaces won’t hang around for long so please visit www.step2skills.org.uk today to book your place.
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Supported Employment services: Welcome to Rockit Event Production
With Sunset Studios coming to Hertfordshire, Step2Skills are keen to have as many employers in the media, events and production industries on board to offer work tasters, work experience and their expertise to support our learners and participants.
We want Herts residents to have the skills needed to fulfil the job roles that will be available and so we are delighted to welcome on board Rockit Event Production Ltd to support the Step2Skills Employment Support services.
Additionally, after our meeting, Rockit signed up to the Disability Confident Scheme straight away and are now DCS Level 1 Committed!
So far, Rockit have offered some great shadowing opportunities (recording, sound and lighting at live events and site work) and work experiences in their warehouse including cables prep, setting up the studio and studio prep work. We look forward to continuing this great work with them!
If you’re a Hertfordshire business who would like to sign up to support Step2Skills, please email the team at step2skills@hertfordshire.gov.uk.
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Building Better Opportunities: Over 2,250 lives changed in Hertfordshire
Step2Skills are very proud to have helped over 2,250 people in Hertfordshire with the Building Better Opportunities employment support service, which was made possible by the joint funding from ESF and National Lottery Community Fund.
As we prepare to wrap up this particular project, it's quotes like this which remind us what an incredible life-transforming opportunity this has been for those supported by our team of mentors and BBO partner organisations.
While this project is ending, Step2Skills does have other employment support services available to help Hertfordshire residents into employment, education or training – to find out more, visit our website, www.step2skills.org.uk.
A collection of training courses and workshops offered by SPACE
SPACE is a Hertfordshire based charity supporting families with neurodiverse children and young people; those who are Autistic and/or have Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) or related conditions.
They are currently running a number of workshops which can be viewed here:-
Training, Courses and Workshops | Eventbrite
Free Suicide prevention training
Our Public Health team have commissioned Samaritans to deliver suicide prevention training. The course is aimed at frontline professionals and volunteers whose role may bring them into direct contact with people experiencing suicidal thoughts. The three-hour session is delivered via Zoom and will equip participants with practical skills to have a supportive, controlled, and effective conversations, assess and respond to risk and signpost to relevant support services. Please book a place using the links below or email SuicidePreventionHerts@hertfordshire.gov.uk for more information:
Next available dates:-
- Wednesday 30th November, 2pm
- Saturday 3rd December, 10am
- Thursday 8th December, 9.30am
- Thursday 15th December, 9.30am
- Tuesday 17th January, 6pm
- Thursday 26th January, 2pm
Book your place here: Hertfordshire County Council | Eventbrite
My Baby’s Brain & Teen Brain Training dates
My Teen Brain Training Dates for Professionals Working with Teens - 2022/23
My Teen Brain focuses on a key stage of brain development and shows how changes in the adolescent brain, in conjunction with experience and environment, can affect emotions, relationships, behaviours, sleep and attitudes to risk.
The initiative aims to raise awareness and provide practical information and strategies to professionals. This training along with a range of resources, will enable you to support young people through this time of change.
Professionals working with young adolescents (10-15) and/or their families are invited to attend a free one-day multi-agency training which will look at changes to the adolescent brain, risks and behaviours and how the learning can help a strength-based approach to practice.
THIS FULL DAY TRAINING HAS BEEN ADAPTED TO BE DELIVERD LIVE ONLINE
Dates available are:
- Thursday 12th January 10am-3pm
- Wednesday 8th February 10am-3pm
- Tuesday 14th March 10am-3pm
If you are interested in the course please email EHCommissioning@hertfordshire.gov.uk
More Information on the changes that take place in the teen brain is available on our dedicated website www.hertfordshire.gov.uk/myteenbrain.
My Baby's Brain
You can now book onto upcoming My Baby’s Brain (MBB) training. MBB introduces practitioners, who work with children aged 0-3, to the key principals of neuroscience and how they can help parents, children and babies form strong attachments that will encourage healthy development.
My Baby’s Brain has been running in Hertfordshire since 2011. In that time, the challenges that families face have evolved, particularly because of the current pandemic. To ensure parents continue to be supported at the earliest opportunity, Early Help Commissioning have worked with partners KCA to refresh My Baby’s Brain training to allow for a greater depth of learning for professionals with additional focus on resilience and managing toxic stress.
For more information and helpful resources, please see My baby's brain | Hertfordshire County Council.