Families & Community Support Service

The Families & Community Support Service (FCSS) provides a first-response service for vulnerable adults, children, and families seeking to access social care within the provisions of the Children and Families Act 2014 and the Care Act 2014 in the community.

At Families & Community Support Service, we provide independent and high-quality advice, advocacy, information, and support on matters relating to health, social welfare, and social care to strengthen integration between health, social care, and community-based services, ensuring residents are provided with the right help as quickly as possible. We help and support vulnerable adult children and families who, because of disability, mental health illness, social exclusion, and other challenges, find it difficult to express their views or get the support they need. We aim to empower people to have a voice and make a real difference to their lives. We do this by speaking for them when they cannot and supporting them to speak for themselves when they can do so.

We promote Equality, Diversity and Inclusion through Advocacy and empowerment for and on behalf of vulnerable individuals and families suffering or likely to be at risk of suffering discrimination in our community, especially on the grounds of race, age, disability, gender or sexual orientation, e.g., LGBTQ+. We aim to increase the confidence of individuals and families by empowering and supporting them to achieve and sustain equality and empowerment.

1. We contribute to the delivery of an effective, efficient, and safe helpline for the residents

2. We provide advocacy, advice, information, and support to residents on wider support and services available in the borough, enabling them to remain as independent as possible for as long as possible.

3. As a first response service, we carry out initial assessment and develop close joint working or in partnership with health-related agencies, for example, Social Prescribers, the police, GPs, and Intermediate Care, the third sector, local housing providers, and other agencies, on behalf of vulnerable individuals and families in the community.