The Erith Family Hub has shown early promise in its first six months, supporting over 180 families and delivering more than 80 group sessions. However, the hub faces significant challenges in evidencing long-term outcomes, managing increasing demand within its current capacity, and effectively engaging with hard-to-reach groups.

Despite its successes, a key concern raised during Bexley's Children's Services and Education Overview and Scrutiny Committee meeting was that families are attending the hub in spite of the fact that it's a council service, not because of it. This suggests that the council's broader image may be a deterrent for some potential users, with Councillor Taylor noting that the issue is likely linked to the stigma associated with interacting with social services. The council is working to counter this by fostering a welcoming, stigma-free environment and reinforcing the message that we are Bexley Council and we are here to support you.

The hub's integrated approach, with services co-located and a strong emphasis on co-production, has been identified as a core strength. Staff reported that informal interactions and shared spaces have expedited decision-making and referrals, leading to a 35% improvement in communication and reduced referral and response times.

Feedback from parents has directly shaped service delivery, resulting in adjusted session times and the introduction of bilingual facilitators. The hub has also prioritised engaging fathers through the Making Fathers Heard project, a partnership with Act for Change aimed at strengthening father engagement across Bexley. However, fathers and non-resident parents currently represent less than 8% of programme attendees. Strategies to increase this engagement include developing targeted outreach programmes and culturally competent communication materials, co-designed with parent representatives and community partners.

Key challenges include the difficulty in measuring long-term outcomes beyond attendance figures. The hub is aiming to measure changes in child development, parental confidence, and reductions in crisis intervention. However, it is still too early to measure long-term family outcomes as the program is in its early stages. Current methods capture attendance and registration data, but robust outcome data relating to statutory thresholds and family resilience will be developed as the hub becomes more established. The hub is also exploring the development of a borough-wide integrated data platform or dashboard to enable real-time monitoring and shared outcomes tracking, which is intended to improve data sharing and analysis across agencies. This platform is being considered as part of the Families First program.

The Erith Family Hub is facing capacity constraints due to rising demand, particularly for under-5 and wellbeing programs. The physical environment is now reaching capacity, and while space is being utilised in another children's centre, future growth in demand may place additional demands on staff capacity. The next identified step is to Secure dedicated posts for community outreach and groups. The timeline for addressing this is not explicitly stated but is implied to be part of ongoing development and sustainability planning.

Financially, the hub has operated within existing resources. However, future sustainability and expansion will necessitate stable long-term funding, pooled budgets, and clear governance structures. A clear Family Hub Sustainability and Scale-Up Plan is being developed as a next step, which will include financial modelling, partnership agreements, and an implementation timeline through transformation. This plan is included within the Families First delivery program. Potential funding models under consideration include pooled budgets and joint commissioning with health and voluntary partners.

Further challenges include engaging 'hard-to-reach' groups such as fathers and non-resident parents, as well as families affected by imprisonment who may experience stigma or logistical barriers. The Making Fathers Heard project is one initiative to address this, aiming to develop a stronger, borough-wide early help offer that proactively engages underrepresented communities.

Data sharing and systems integration between different agencies remain a hurdle, with manual information sharing still occurring. The development of a borough-wide integrated data platform is suggested to address this, enabling real-time monitoring, shared outcomes tracking, and cross-agency learning.