Social work bosses are convinced that an early intervention team doing vital groundwork with Dumfries and Galloway families will pay off in the long term.
In November 2020 the council set up a family support team, which now comprises two senior social workers and 13 support staff working closely with families.
The team deals primarily with early intervention cases for children and there is optimism that this foundational work will result in better life outcomes for kids at risk.
At the council’s social work committee last week, councillors discussed a report on the family support team and its effectiveness.
Nith Councillor John Campbell said: “I think this is quite a good news story. It seems to be working pretty well.
“When you look at some of the case studies, it’s quite pleasing to see that we’re helping these people at such an early stage.”
Dee and Glenkens Councillor Jane Maitland asked: “How are we going to measure outcomes from this amount of resource that is being placed with the families?
“I think it’s absolutely the right thing to do, but in terms of watching the public pound it’s really important to be able to say ‘we’re having this impact and families are definitely moving forward’.”
Council social work manager Sarah McGarva explained that the funding and family support staff resources are split between referrals for families that don’t have another social worker involved, and some that do.
She said that the family support team are helping clients develop solid support networks so that those people can step in and provide assistance, thereby reducing the need for repeated social work referrals in future.
Lillian Cringles said that a “very close review” will be done with child protection and kids that end up on the register.
She said: “In the past, children have ended up on the register and had we got there at an earlier stage, we would have had a much more robust care package.”
She added: “We’re confident that if we can get in early and work with the numbers reflected in this report we will see the longer term benefit.”
