Supporting Families Systemic Practice Model Pilot Study

Coram has been commissioned to lead the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) and Department for Education (DfE) Supporting Families Programme Systemic Practice Pilot Study.

About the study

A consortium led by Coram and the Institute of Family Therapy (IFT) will deliver a trial of systemically informed keyworker practice in six local authorities until the end of 2025. This will include training in systemic practice by IFT, funding to hire a systemic practitioner and on-going support via a virtual systemic practice hub hosted by IFT. A further six local authorities will act as a control group and not embed systemic practice. These local authorities will be provided with financial and technical support to collect data throughout the pilot and with training in systemic practice after the pilot has ended in late 2025.

Coram is partnering with Ecorys and Clarissa White Research to deliver the randomised controlled trial. Local authorities taking part in the pilot study will be informed in April, with the preliminary set-up starting in May before the pilot begins in September 2024, running until December 2025.

The findings will inform the development of the Supporting Families programme delivery and wider Early Help policy, including the Government’s reform of children’s social care and its strategy: Stable Homes, Built on Love.

Next steps

Local authorities can apply to take part in the pilot by completing an online Expression of Interest (EOI) found here.

Guidance on the pilot and how to complete the EOI can be found here.