AQW 7246/22-27

Ms Kate Nicholl
Alliance Party
South Belfast

Tabled Date: 22/02/2024
Answered On Date: 07/03/2024
Priority Written: No

Question:
To ask the Minister of Health to detail plans for the expansion of Family Support Hubs.

Answer:

There are 29 Family Support Hubs in operation across Northern Ireland. The Family Support Hubs have provided 100% geographical coverage since 2016, enabling children and their families to access early intervention services across Northern Ireland.

The number of families referred to Family Support Hubs has continued to rise year on year. In 2022/2023, 9147 families were referred to Hubs across the region.

Hubs do not have a service development role nor do they directly provide services to families. They are a signposting and referral service which promote and coordinate an interagency response to support vulnerable families who do not meet the threshold for statutory social services.

The Department has established a Children’s Services Reform Process to reform Children’s Services. One of the workstreams from this process will be looking specifically at the area of family support. This will include the Family Support Hubs. Potential expansion of the capacity, role and remit of Family Support Hubs may be considered within that workstream. The outcomes of this work will inform future commissioning.