A series of new ‘family hubs’ have been launched across Leeds, including one at Dewsbury Road Community Hub & Library, to bring together a wide range of services for people to access help more easily.
Leeds City Council has launched seven new hubs to host key support organisations under one roof, aiming to simplify the process for families to reach out for early help on a range of issues.
The family hubs build on the success of the council’s community hubs and will be based within these at the following locations:
- Dewsbury Road
- Rothwell
- Armley
- Horsforth
- Deacon House
- Compton Centre
- Chapeltown Children’s Centre
The new revamp allows the hubs to provide a single point of contact for families with children from birth up to the age of 18, to access guidance and advice on matters such as mental health, domestic abuse and substance use, one-to-one interventions and parenting groups.
They also provide support up to the age of 25 for young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND).
The new system will allow professionals to link up and work together more effectively in helping to overcome any difficulties families may be facing.
Each hub will have a hub manager, social workers, senior family help practitioners and family help workers who can deliver one-to-one support along with signposting to other services.
As well as creating a more streamlined service for both families and professionals, the innovative transformation has also enabled efficiency savings within the authority of £750,000.
It also adds to the successful cluster arrangements – where partner organisations work together with schools to support vulnerable families – as well as the existing early help hubs, to further bolster support provided across the city.
The family hubs were recently launched with an event in Leeds Civic Hall, where 200 people from across the sector gathered to celebrate the significant milestone in family support provision.
Councillor Helen Hayden, Leeds City Council’s executive member for children and families, said:
“This is an exciting development across the partnership to provide a more joined-up approach for children and families in need of extra help.
“Leeds has a continuous commitment to delivering early help provision, recognising the need to support families early in the life of the problem.
“These new highly efficient hubs will improve the quality of practice and experience of children and families and enable people to have the right conversations with the right services at the right time.
“Each hub has tailored support offers designed to meet the needs of that area and strengthens our ambition to support families, empower individuals and foster connections to create a brighter future for every family in Leeds.”
Anyone can contact the family hub network – both members of the public and professionals – via a phone number and an email address, to be directed to the appropriate contacts.
For more information visit www.leeds.gov.uk/children-and-families, phone 0113 535 0185, or email family.hubs@leeds.gov.uk.
Dewsbury Road Community Hub & Library is located at 190 Dewsbury Road, Beeston, LS11 6PF.
This post is based on a press release issued by Leeds City Council
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