London Borough of Newham has launched their new Family Support and Safeguarding Service, integrating assessment and long-term safeguarding and support for the benefit of children and families
Head of Service Sandra Reddie (pictured) is excited about leading the new service after an interesting journey with Newham over the past few years.
“I joined Newham as a Service Manager at what was then a difficult time for the local authority, but I had heard positive things about the direction of travel and was up for a challenge. My early career was a long stint in Bradford so I was no stranger to deprived inner city, diverse areas and knew this is where I can make the biggest difference to families. It was a good call - our leadership has always believed in me and I progressed to Head of Service in 2023. I’m really proud of what we’ve achieved here and looking forward to taking on the new service and the next chapter of my Newham story.”
The new integrated service looks to further embed Newham’s Circles of Support practice model, taking account of recommendations from Stable Homes Built on Love, such as multidisciplinary teams rather than separation for with families with differing needs, and work that is embedded in neighbourhoods. Sandra sees the new service as an opportunity to build on successes and the progress Newham Children’s Services has made:
“Bringing [assessment and longer term] services together is a natural progression for us and our relational model. I have great faith in leadership and in our practice model and its evolution. Maf (Khan, Director of Safeguarding) and Laura (Eden, DCS) are supportive and respect my opinions, as I do with the practitioners in my service – we have a positive culture here.”
“We have autonomy at our own levels to support families as we see best and we still learn and grow together as a team. That’s what Circles of Support is all about; co-production, working relationally and restoratively, and focusing on a collective journey to reach the best outcome for each and every child and family. The continuity and stability provided by the new service is designed to take this approach to another level.”
Many local authorities are considering moving towards integrated, multidisciplinary services. Sandra spoke about the benefits of this and why Newham have decided to make the change:
“Our families have told us that having to tell their story multiple times is frustrating. I have always sympathised with this, and to be at a point in my career where I can create change here is really satisfying. For me, a single social worker assessing and supporting longer term makes most sense for children and families as they will build trust, form a genuine relationship and be able to make the best, most informed decisions. I think this change is overdue [nationally]. Lasting relationships and consistency can only lead to better outcomes for the children’s lives we are trying to improve.”
The formation and implementation of the new service has posed some practical challenges, but Sandra sees any risk to be small compared to the positive change for children and families, and to the benefits of the increasingly stable workforce she will continue building:
“Like any change, there is some risk involved and we’ve had to work really hard to make [this change] a reality – but the hard work is done and we’re really excited for the new service to move forward. We’re lucky to have so many dedicated professionals already at Newham, and I’m looking to further complement the service with workers who are fully behind this way of working and who want to create lasting change for the families they’ll help. I think we’ll see further increased stability in the longer term but the proof will be in the pudding!”