A programme, called New Beginnings, founded by a Lancaster University Lecturer, has been flagged as a beacon for best practice following publication today of a major review of children’s social care.

Dr Jadwiga Leigh, a Senior Lecturer in Social Work at the University, who started the programme, now a charity, in 2018, says the approach is radically different from the traditional model of child social services.

The New Beginnings Foundation, featured as a case study for the social care review, helps parents first, so they can then meet the needs of their children.

Josh MacAlister, the chair of the government-commissioned Independent Review of Children’s Social Care, chose to include New Beginnings in the final report, as an exemplary model of parental representation and support.

Dr Leigh said: “New Beginnings takes a different approach. The team of qualified social workers work closely with families so that parents can make the changes they want to make for their children, their hard work is noticed by professionals and they remain as a family unit.

“The community project was created in collaboration with Stockport local authority and our statistics show it works very well but it will not survive without consistent funding.”

Parents participate in intensive one-on-one counselling sessions and group therapy, as well as lessons on self-care, cooking, welfare rights and housing.

Social workers are given the time to develop relationships with the families they help. Parents are helped to address and overcome the trauma experienced in their own lives, as this is often what lies behind the trouble that has led them to social services.

Dr Leigh worked with Stockport Council to help develop the pilot scheme which is reported to have saved money on services such as housing, drugs and alcohol treatment, and foster care.

The independent review said: “This moment is a once in a generation opportunity to reset children’s social care.

“What we need is a system that provides intensive help to families in crisis, acts decisively in response to abuse, unlocks the potential of wider family networks to raise children, puts lifelong loving relationships at the heart of the care system and lays the foundations for a good life for those who have been in care.

“What we have currently is a system increasingly skewed to crisis intervention, with outcomes for children that continue to be unacceptably poor and costs that continue to rise. For these reasons, a radical reset is now unavoidable.

“Achieving this reset starts with recognising that it is loving relationships that hold the solutions for children and families overcoming adversity.”

Professor Karen Broadhurst, who Directs the Centre for Child and Family Justice Research Centre at Lancaster University, served as an independent expert on the Evidence Group for the Independent Review of Children’s Social Care.

She said: “There are many very positive elements to the review. In particular, emphasis on compassionate and engaged family help. I am delighted that New Beginnings has been highlighted given its success in helping parents to keep children in their care. This is the kind of service that needs to be expanded.”

Professor Broadhurst also added: "The Review’s vision for a major reset of children’s social care paints an exciting vision for far closer collaborative working with families. However, this vision needs major investment to succeed. Where will investment come from? In addition, we can no longer hide from glaring inequalities within and between regions – this needs to be centre stage in any reset of support to families – housing, income, local economies and amenities, transport all matter to families facing a cost of living crisis."

The Review also featured a number of publications from members of the Centre for Child and Family Justice Research, co-hosted by Lancaster University's Departments of Sociology and Law, including Professor Judith Harwin and Lisa Morris, Research Fellows Claire Mason and Bachar Alrouh, as well as doctoral student Jennifer Cooper.