Families First for Children Pathfinder: Early Findings
The Families First for Children Pathfinder was established by the Department for Education (DfE) to test the deliverability of key recommendations from some of the most significant reforms to how children and families are supported and protected. It was designed to improve support and protection for children and families through earlier intervention, stronger multi-agency collaboration, and a more integrated approach to service delivery.
The programme was implemented in ten local areas that were split into two Waves. The Wave 1 LAs- selected by the DfE as examples of areas with strong practice, commitment to
partnership working, and capacity to co-design and deliver the reforms- were announced in July 2023, with implementation initiated from December 2023. The Wave 2 local areas, selected through an application process, were announced in April 2024, and implementation was initiated from July 2024.
This report captures the early findings from the Implementation and Process Evaluation, which included case study analysis in six of the ten local areas selected for the FFCP implementation.
