New plans announced to develop Family Hubs

Children in Devon and their families will see a new model of support services, in line with national Government guidance.

First introduced in the late 1990s, Children’s Centres in Devon have supported thousands of young children and their parents, with targeted early years support and other services. But last year, the Government proposed a new initiative, and it’s now working with local authorities across the UK to roll out their ‘Start for Life’ programme and develop Family Hub programmes.

We want to start a transition from Children’s Centres to Family Hubs in Devon. So, we’ll work with partners and stakeholders to shape the model, which is likely to take 12 months, with a view to developing a county-wide Family Hubs programme to begin in 2025.

In the meantime, Children’s Centres will continue to support families, as usual.

The Government says that Family Hubs will improve families’ access to services, describing them as “…a local innovation, developed to meet local needs and better support families.”

They’ll do that by developing and growing partnerships with existing voluntary groups and charities that already support parents of young children in local communities.

We already work very closely with the charity Action for Children, and they will help us and other councils in Plymouth and Torbay to develop Family Hubs across Devon. You can read more about it in the story on our news page.