Briefly describe the initiative/ project/service; please include your aims and objectives

Thriving Families is transforming child protection in Manchester by embedding multi-disciplinary, trauma-informed support into statutory services.

Operating across three localities (North, Central, South), this co-produced model integrates and embeds mental health, domestic abuse, alcohol and substance misuse specialists and family help practitioners directly into Children’s Social Services. Thriving Families has delivered measurable improvements in family resilience, child safety, and public sector efficiency. By prioritizing family voice and taking a whole-family approach, Thriving Families has achieved a 53% reduction in Child Protection status, improved mental wellbeing for 78% of families, and generated £1.36 in savings for every £1 invested. This is innovation in action. Transforming culture, breaking down silos, and empowering families to lead sustainable change.

What is Thriving Families?

Thriving Families is an innovative service. Each Thriving Families team is made up of a Social Work team manager, a mental health practitioner, an alcohol and substance misuse practitioner, a domestic abuse perpetrator worker and survivor worker, two family support practitioners, and supported by a specialist business support. The team works directly within Children’s Services. Instead of families having to navigate multiple disconnected services or wait for referrals, this approach creates a single, cohesive team around the family. The real impact is timely, sequenced support that responds to families’ needs when they need it most. The model was co-produced with voluntary, community, and social enterprise (VCFSE) partners— Manchester Mind, Change Grow Live, and Talk Listen Change—bringing deep expertise and cultural understanding to statutory practice.

Each locality has a dedicated Thriving Families team, managed by a Social Work manager to maintain statutory oversight, while workers are matrix-managed by their specialist fields.

This structure ensures:

• Whole-family focus: Provide tailored, person-centred support for adults to enable sustainable changes, addressing interconnected challenges rather than isolated issues. This makes a real difference and creating lasting change for children and the whole family.
• Integrated partnership working: Professionals from statutory services and the VCFSE sector collaborate as one service. Colocated with Children’s Services, reduces duplication, improves communication and strengthens our trauma-informed approach. With a CP Chair commenting, “I like that you review families regularly and their progress and next steps at various stages during your intervention.”
• Empowerment and sustainability: Families co-create plans that build on their strengths and protective factors, fostering resilience and long-term coping strategies.

Context and Focus

Families on Child Protection Plans, with concerns around Emotional Abuse or Neglect, often face multiple, complex needs, such as domestic abuse, mental health challenges, and alcohol and substance misuse. Historically, support has often been fragmented—families are told to access different services, repeat their stories, expected to make multiple significant changes within a timely manner, under the scrutiny of social service. This disjointed approach often led to poor engagement and limited progress. Thriving Families prioritizes families with primary-age children (5+) on CP plans as these was a gap in provision identified for this cohort.

The most prevalent presenting needs in the Thriving families cohort were, Mental Health (71%); Domestic Abuse (63%); Emotional Abuse (56%); Neglect (48%); Substance misuse (38%) Drug misuse (35%). Thriving Families addresses this gap by embedding a multi-disciplinary team within statutory services, shifting from “doing to” families to “doing with” them. Direct work focuses on early, targeted interventions that strengthen family functioning and reduce the need for long-term statutory involvement. Families report feeling supported and understood, with achievable steps toward sustainable change.

Aims and Objectives

Thriving Families exemplifies innovation in public service delivery by transforming how agencies collaborate. It is more than a service—it’s a cultural shift in child protection. By breaking down silos and embedding multi-agency expertise, it ensures timely, holistic, and effective support. Its objectives are to:

1. Prevent family breakdown, reduce the need for children to enter care, supporting reunification where safe.
2. Promote sustained change through strength-based, trauma-informed practice.
3. Increase involvement of fathers and wider family networks in planning and support.
4. Reduce fragmentation by providing coordinated support so families don’t have to repeat their stories.
5. Improve outcomes for children, prioritizing families with primary-age children on CP Plans.
6. Build trust and accessibility through partnerships with charities, community organizations

 

What are the key achievements?

Improving Outcomes for Families

Thriving Families has delivered transformational change for families by addressing complex challenges, creating meaningful change. Since launching, it has received referrals from 248 families (677 children), demonstrating strong demand for this support offer. Starting as a test-and-learn approach in one locality, the model was refined and successfully scaled across all three localities.

This iterative approach has strengthened engagement, with disengagement rates reduced from 54% in the early phase to 17% in the latest quarter. The service embeds evidence-informed tools within a joint Thriving Families assessment, enabling robust measures of progress and outcomes.

Across a cohort of 115 families, adults receiving direct support have shown improvements in key areas captured with these tools:

• Mental Health, the Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Wellbeing Scale (WEMWBS)
• Drugs and Alcohol, the Treatment Outcome Profile (TOP)
• Domestic Abuse, the Severity of Domestic Abuse Grid (SOAG)
• Family Help, the Department of Education Supporting Families Outcomes Framework
• Mental Health – Significant and Sustained Change
• 78% of families improved mental wellbeing, with average scores improving from 37 (probable clinical depression) to 44 (possible/mild depression).

Parents report gaining practical coping strategies for sustained change. With a parent sharing: “the worker has done so much already for me in ways of understanding the feelings and giving me coping mechanisms and I love the fight or flight booklet she gave me”

Domestic Abuse – Increasing involvement of fathers

Working with high-risk families to reduce harm and promote healthy relationships.

• 40–54% of families experienced resolution or significant de-escalation of domestic abuse. Thriving Families engaged fathers—often difficult to engage in Children Services— were supported to recognize risks and join behaviour change programmes, leading to healthier co-parenting relationships and step down to Child in Need One parent (a perpetrator) reflected: “I’ve thought about situations and how to react differently… The intervention has allowed me to stop and think about things; how will it impact the children and pause. The breathing exercises have helped me with this.”

Substance Misuse – Creating sustained change and dramatic reductions in use:

• Alcohol use down 56%, cannabis use down 32%.
• Quality of life and psychological health improved for over one-third of families.

A parent shared: “[the worker] was able to provide advice which I find myself referring back to and using every day. He…helped me reevaluate my life goals and push me towards a huge turnover in my lifestyle…giving me confidence in speaking to professionals and accessing help if I need it.”

Support for Families – Closing Gaps and Delivering Real Change

At the start of our interventions, the most pressing needs identified were Family Relationships (73%), Mental & Physical Health (65%), Education (58%). By closure, Thriving Families had connected and supported families to actively access services aligned to their priorities. A crucial part of this approach is ensuring families are fully involved in decisions that affect them and the support they receive. This family-led model empowers families, builds trust, and creates solutions that work for them. Specifically, among families engaged with the team, 68% received Family Relationship support, 77% accessed Mental & Physical Health support, 73% accessed Education support, which saw persistent school absence reduced by 49%, and severe absence dropped by 60%.

These improvements demonstrate that Thriving Families ensures families receive the right help at the right time, with a CP Chair saying: “Its unique and different to other interventions given the wrap around service you provide… [parents] like that you all work together and discuss progress, areas of work etc and feels well supported and understood. She felt the ‘right’ support was in place for her and her family.”

Safeguarding – Preventing Family Breakdown

Thriving Families interventions have a direct impact on child protection outcomes. A Child Protection Chair noted: “Significant changes in parenting style led to mother and daughter being reunited.”

• 53% of children stepped down from Child Protection to Child in Need, compared to 20% in families who did not take up the support offer- showing this joined-up support changes long-term outcomes for children.

Financial and System Impact

For every £1 invested, Thriving Families delivers £1.36 in savings across local authority, health, criminal justice, and housing sectors, with a payback period of two years. This demonstrates that intensive, tailored interventions not only transform lives but also deliver exceptional value for public services, increasing efficiency and productivity. As a social worker put it, “[Thriving Families] provide peace of mind… that the plans are being achieved”

How Innovative is your initiative?

Around 25% of families present with the trio of vulnerabilities—mental health, domestic abuse, and substance misuse. Many face overlapping challenges:

• 87% of families had parents struggling with mental health and drug misuse.
• 83% had parents facing mental health challenges and alcohol misuse.
• 81% experienced emotional and domestic abuse in the home.

These complex needs demand a coordinated response. Co-designed with social work teams and VCFSE partners, offers a person-centred, reflective approach that prioritizes family voice and consent. This partnership has driven cultural change within Children’s Services, replacing siloed interventions.

Two Key Innovations Driving Culture Change

1. Family Formulation: Sequenced, Collaborative Planning Social workers present family strengths and challenges, while specialists provide insight and ask clarifying questions during fortnightly sessions chaired by the Thriving Families Team Manager. This process identifies nuances in needs and ensures interventions are sequenced—delivered in the right order, at the right time, based on family priorities. This collaborative approach creates a tailored, trauma-informed plan. As one social work manager noted: “Their knowledge and understanding far superior to the intervention that SW are able to offer…parents have commented that this work is good.” A CP Chair added: “the different approach of having specific services work with the family supports the family to make changes in a more meaningful way.”
2. Family-led Scaling: Measuring What Matters to Families Thriving Families begins engagement with families, using a Family-led Scaling tool, co-designed with social work teams and VCFSE partners, it builds on the expertise and experience of VCFSE partners around strength-based, person-centred, trauma-informed working.. This tool looks at 10 domains—such as relationships, living situation, community and self-care— and helps families identify their priorities for change. All domains improved post-intervention, with standout gains in parenting and relationships. This process shapes sequencing and fosters engagement by giving families ownership of progress. This helps create culture change in Children Services, with CP Chairs commenting “Excellent feedback regarding the worker who has been able to engage parents who have presented as opposed to working with CS” “All the work done with families from one service is really beneficial particularly when trying to engage perpetrators of DV.” And families stating: “[The Thriving Families worker] listened to us and was our voice in meetings”.

Pushing Boundaries – Giving Families Real Choice

Thriving Families replaces top-down models with parent-led planning. Parents decide where they need support, creating plans that reflect their priorities. This has transformed engagement. With CP Chairs saying, “the success of this intervention is that it is parent led and definitely promotes “doing with” as oppose to “doing to”.

Challenging the Status Quo – From Fragmented to Integrated Support Previously, families faced a maze of disconnected services, repeated assessments, and multiple professionals, often losing trust in the system. Thriving Families dismantles these barriers through co-location and continuous communication between specialists. This trauma-informed, one-team approach transforms the experience for families. As on parent put it: “Thriving Families have been a godsend…they made a scary, overwhelming situation with social services seem like you have someone there for you and your kids, not to judge [but] to help…I don’t think I could have picked myself from where I was… without them.”

Taking Risks – Sequencing Support for Lasting Change Instead of overwhelming families with multiple interventions at once, Thriving Families sequences support based on family priorities. This innovative approach empowers families to choose when and how to tackle challenges, making change achievable and lasting. VCFSE partners share: “The sequencing of support is what makes this project different…families have told us being able to safely explore the traumas they have had in their lives and how it is affecting how they live and parent now has really helped. When…children tell us their home feels happier and parents feel stronger and calmer, then we know the project is doing what it intended to”

Doing Something New – Reaching Families Others Couldn’t Thriving Families brings VCFSE partners into the heart of statutory services, engaging parents who previously resisted help and working with perpetrators below thresholds for specialist support. Step-down plans connect families to community services, ensuring continuity and trust. This has lead to measurable outcomes such as step-downs from Child Protection plans and increased engagement with wider services. One social worker noted: “This has allowed effective work to happen and encouraged mum to access other support”

What are the key learning points?

Potential for Adoption Thriving Families has embedded a strong learning culture, refining criteria and engagement strategies to maximize impact. A key cultural shift is prioritizing family consent, ensuring readiness and willingness to engage. Initially launched as a Test & Learn, Thriving Families has now been successfully replicated across three localities. This phased approach allowed us to establish the right culture, refine practices, and target families where intervention delivers the greatest benefit. Each locality adapted the model to reflect community assets and address gaps in provision, ensuring flexibility and relevance to local needs.

Current focus includes:
 • Families with recent Child Protection Plans (not expected to step down at the next conference).

• Families in Pre-Proceedings (before week 12).
• Cases where the primary need on Child Protection Plan is neglect or emotional abuse, with concerns within the past year around domestic abuse, mental health, substance and alcohol misuse, and family support.
• Family support should not be offered as a standalone; but have joint working through CIN.
• At least one primary school-aged child must live in the home. Ideal referral point: At Section 47 stage, before escalation to Initial Child Protection Conference. Criteria will be reviewed regularly by Children Services in line with referral trends. This will allow the service to flex on age and status, exploring
• Children subject to Interim Care Orders or Interim Supervision Orders at home, where there is a realistic chance of remaining at home.
• Children on Section 20 (where a local authority provides accommodation for children) due to concerns in relation to Neglect or Emotional Harm where the plan is rehabilitation to parents.
• Some high-risk Child in Need families may be considered where trajectory is escalation to Child Protection Conference.

Learning from Challenges and Successes

Thriving Families has demonstrated resilience and adaptability by evolving from a risk-focused approach within Children Services to a citizen-centred model with Thriving Families. Strong collaborative partnerships have driven progress in IT, data sharing, and staffing, resulting in the development of a shared case-management workflow that enhances coordination and efficiency. The team’s ability to navigate statutory timeframes while delivering tailored interventions demonstrates flexibility and problemsolving. Quarterly thematic audits across all localities provide deeper insight into sequencing interventions, informing strategic decisions and improving practice.

Partner feedback reflects this adaptability:

“A brave, innovative, and compassionate approach to working with people that need it most. Learning to flex approaches, when working with different team cultures and values is a challenge, yet the project has adapted (and continues to do so) and responds to new ways of working, to better meet the need of the families we strive to support and build trust with.”

Replicability and Scalability

Thriving Families started as a Test & Learn initiative in a single locality, allowing us to establish the right culture and refine practices before expanding to other localities. Each locality tailored its approach to reflect community assets, ensuring flexibility and relevance. A recent evaluation showed further learning for scaling and replicating wider. Strengths and gaps of the model:

• Worries around mental health, substance misuse, and family relationships respond well to intensive, tailored interventions (e.g., therapy, parenting support, specialist workers).
• These needs are within the family’s control and can show measurable improvement within the Thriving Families timeframe.
• Highly effective for behavioural and relational change, but systemic barriers can limit progress. Structural poverty-related needs (housing, financial stability) require external resources and longer-term solutions.

Recommended actions for scaling:

• Build stronger partnerships with housing and financial inclusion services.
• Extend timelines or provide follow-up for families with entrenched poverty-related needs.
• Advocate for policy changes on housing and cost-of-living pressures.

Insights for Wider Adoption and Culture Shift

Consent and engagement remain foundational to success:

• Empower choice: Prioritise family consent, involving the families in the decisions that affect them. Ensuring families feel ownership of the process and have change readiness.
• Collaborative preparation: Practitioners connect with families ahead of Family Formulation to listen to their views. Throughout the process, work with families to understand their priorities and co-create plans that reflect their aspirations, building on strengths.
• Focus on readiness: Prioritise families prepared to engage, as readiness strongly correlates with improved outcomes. Families not ready often experience repeat CP plans

Additional Comments

The strong relationships, shared values Thriving Families have built, has created an approach, rooted in compassion, collaboration, and a deep commitment to making a difference for families. What makes Thriving Families stand out is their passion, enthusiasm, and consistently high standards in supporting families. The team remains unwavering in their belief that a whole-family approach is key to making meaningful difference for families across Manchester.