Report on the introduction of the Integrated Family Support Team and the Early Intervention and Prevention Service to Newport Council and their impact upon working practices and culture within Children's Services

As part of the introduction of the Integrated Family Support Service (IFSS) followed by the Families First (FF) initiative within Newport City Council Children's Services, the Council set up the Integrated Family Support Team (IFST) and the Early Intervention and Prevention Service (EIPS). This has enabled the Council to have a 'Tier 3' intervention service (IFST) and a 'Tier 2'prevention service (EIPS). Both IFST and EIPS work with a number of different council services as well as other voluntary and statutory agencies. One of the aims of these initiatives was to encourage interprofessional working (IPW) and to move to an integrated, coordinated approach to both preventive family and child protection services, so that families do not receive services from a number of different agencies via several different practitioners/key workers who may not appear to be aware of each other, or the services provided. As a result, the main focus of this evaluation was the extent to which, and in what ways, IPW had been affected or encouraged, whether the working culture of the IFST and EIPS had changed and the extent to which this was recognised by other agencies likely to work with them. Also of interest was the establishment of a 'gatekeeping' function between tier 2 and tier 3 interventions which is performed by a panel, known as the 'Team Around the Family' (TAF) panel. Should EIPS consider that a family's needs are too complex for their continued involvement, the family is referred to the TAF. The panel is made up of a lead professional and representatives of relevant other agencies. It can recommend a range of interventions, including a referral to the social work Duty and Assessment Team.