Family Support
Most families come under pressure at some point, and most such pressure passes with practical help given early. The Children and Families Department of the Velocity Interoperability Network provides that help to families of the staff of member organisations and to families of citizens of the Velocity Interoperability Network, without charge and without a means test.
Family support is offered, not imposed. A family may ask for it and may decline it, and declining it is not itself a safeguarding concern. Support is recorded, but it is recorded separately from the safeguarding record and does not appear on it unless a concern is raised in the ordinary way. Five hundred and twelve cases were open at establishment, transferred from the interim arrangements of member organisations.
- 512
- Family support cases open at establishment
- 38
- Family workers across the six principal sites
- 184
- Short breaks arranged in the transition period
- 71
- Young carers known to the Department
What is available. The Department provides five kinds of support.
- A family worker
- A named worker who visits the household, usually weekly, and helps with the practical matters that make a difficult period worse: getting a child to an early years place, keeping appointments, dealing with a landlord or an employer, and putting the household in touch with the part of the Network that can settle a problem.
- Parenting programmes
- Group programmes for parents and carers of children of a given age, held over six or eight weeks at each site. They are open to any parent or carer in the Network, whether or not the Department is otherwise involved with the household.
- Short breaks
- Planned overnight or daytime care for a disabled child, given by an approved carer, so that the family can rest. Short breaks are arranged in advance and are not an emergency service.
- Support for young carers
- Help for a child who is looking after an adult or a brother or sister. The Department assesses what the child is carrying, arranges support to the adult so that the child carries less, and makes sure the child's own schooling and rest are protected.
- Help at a moment of crisis
- Short, intensive support at the point at which a household is close to breaking down: extra visits, practical assistance and, where it is needed and agreed, a period of planned care for a child under a written agreement with the parents.
Asking for support. Any family in the Network may ask, and no referral is required.
Step 1: Write to the Department
Say who is in the household, the ages of the children and what is making things difficult. You do not need to describe everything, and you do not need anyone to refer you; a family may ask for support itself.
Step 2: Speak to a family worker
A family worker replies within three working days and arranges to speak with you, at your home or elsewhere as you prefer. The conversation is to find out what would help, not to assess whether you deserve it.
Step 3: Agree what is to be done
You and the family worker write down what the household will do, what the Department will do and by when. The agreement is short, it is signed by both, and you keep a copy.
Step 4: Review after eight weeks
Support is reviewed after eight weeks and at intervals of eight weeks thereafter. A case is closed when the household says it no longer needs support, or when what was agreed has been done.
Step 5: Ask again if you need to
A household that has been supported before may ask again, and asking again is not held against it. Reopening a closed case does not require the whole procedure to be repeated.
Programmes from September 2026. The programmes below are open to any parent or carer in the Network. Places are limited and are offered in the order in which requests are received. Where a programme fills, the Department records the demand and repeats the programme in the following term.
| Programme | For | Format | Where and from when |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parenting under fives | Parents and carers of children under five | Group, 8 weekly sessions | Every site, from 5 October 2026 |
| Parenting a school-age child | Parents and carers of children aged 5 to 11 | Group, 6 weekly sessions | Every site, from 12 October 2026 |
| Living with a teenager | Parents and carers of children aged 12 to 17 | Group, 6 weekly sessions | Central, Northern and Harbour sites, from 19 October 2026 |
| Caring for a disabled child | Parents and carers of a disabled child of any age | Group, 8 weekly sessions | Central and Eastern sites, from 2 November 2026 |
| Young carers' group | Children aged 8 to 17 who care for another person | Group, fortnightly, continuing | Every site, from 21 September 2026 |
| New to the Network | Families who have arrived in the Network within the last year | Group, 4 weekly sessions | Every site, from 28 September 2026 |
What family support is not. It is not an emergency service. A family worker replies within three working days, which is the right speed for a household under pressure and the wrong speed for a child in danger. If a child is in immediate danger, contact the emergency point at your site, and then tell the Department. If you are worried about a child's safety rather than a family's circumstances, the procedure on the Safeguarding page applies.
Requests for support and enquiries about a programme may be sent to contact@children.gov.vin. Where a family needs an early years place, the register of providers is set out on the Early Years page; where a child cannot remain at home, the arrangements are set out on the Adoption and Fostering page.