The latest news
Check out Hertfordshire's Spring 25 Parenting and Relationship Courses
Please download the latest Parenting and Relationship Support Offer Newsletter which will provide you with information and details on Parenting Courses and Relationship Support offer. Please can you ensure you cascade to your teams. If you have any questions please email CSStrategic.Partnerships@hertfordshire.gov.uk .
We have listed a few of the current courses below, but please visit the Hertfordshire Directory for the full listing.
In addition, you can find out further information below:-
Family Lives offer a variety of on-line workshops, courses and advice articles such as Understanding Children's Behaviour (online workshop), Understanding the importance of communicating with teens (article), parenting courses (online), Bullying on social media (article), and online forums for parents and carers to connect and share experiences. Download the Summer programme here.
Supporting Links
NEW course dates added for our popular Talking Families Course.
Online on Zoom, Thursdays, 9.45 to 11.15am, 5th, 12th, 19th, 26th June, 3rd & 10th July 2025
This course is FREE to parents with children 0-11years old, who live or go to school in Hertfordshire
The course covers:
- Manage challenging behaviour with consistency
• Encourage positive behaviour
• Build your child's self-esteem
• Set and maintain boundaries
• Respond to tantrums and difficult feelings in children
• Develop a strong parent/child relationship now and for the future
Parents can book by calling 07512 709 556 or email bookings@supportinglinks.co.uk (we will need to speak to you to confirm your booking) Please quote Course ID: 757
Professionals can refer parents through the same routes.
Free Relationship Support Courses for Hertfordshire Parents and Carers
Please share this information with parents/carers along with the flyer for the online Stronger Relationships
Online Course
Disagreements are a normal part of life. How you approach them can make all the difference to you, your co-parent, and your children.
Learn skills to navigate changes in your relationships, develop positive communication skills and learn practical steps that you can bring into your child's life to help them cope during and/or after a separation or divorce.
Stronger Relationships: A 6-week group based course for co-parents living together or apart that focuses on managing stress and enhancing communication.
Multiple group sessions are available to select one that suits you Register for a free account
Parenting When Separated: A 6-week group based course for separated parents that focuses on the emotional impact of separation and supporting communication between co-parents.
Upcoming course dates:
- Face to Face course at The Otley Family Centre, Otley Way, WD19 7TB
Every Friday between 6 Jun - 11 Jul 2025, 10am – 1pm
Parenting When Separated Referral Form (hertfordshire.gov.uk)
Co-Parenting with Care: A 6-week group-based online course for parents and carers of neurodiverse children seeking guidance, support, and strategies for co-parenting more consistently.
Upcoming course dates:
- Every Wednesday between 4 Jun - 9 Jul 2025, 9:30-11:30am
- Every Thursday between 10 Jun - 10 Jul 2025, 7-9pm
Co-Parenting with Care Referral Form
OnePlusOne’s digital interventions: 3 online courses aimed at new parents, intact parents and parents that are separated.
Arguing Better
For all parenting journeys
Disagreements are a normal part of life. How you approach them can make all the difference to you, your partner, and your children.
Me, You and Baby Too
For new parenting journeys
Learn how to navigate the changes that happen in a relationship when a baby arrives.
Getting It Right For Children
For all co-parenting journeys
Learn how to develop positive communication skills that enable you to parent co-operatively and work out solutions together.
The course can be completed at your own pace independently or with support from staff at your local Family Centre or Local School Partnership.
You can get started with this digital course as soon as you register for a free OnePlusOne account.
Early Help System Guide Survey
We have used the Early Help System Guide (EHSG) on an annual basis since it was introduced in 2022 to enable us to assess the maturity of our Early Help system. This has aways been an invaluable exercise and identifies both our strengths and areas for future developments. The key reason that this assessment is so helpful is because we always work in collaboration with all our partners to help our families to access good quality Early Help support. All responses to this assessment are noted and considered in our appraisal.
The EHSG includes a template with a set of questions that need to be given consideration as part of the assessment framework. The results of the assessment will be used by our Families First Partnership Board to prioritise further developments to our early help offer and to ensure that our Early Help Strategy is maintained. To help us with this assessment, we would be grateful if once again you can consider the questions in this survey.
Complete the survey
Please answer only the questions that you feel are relevant to your service and leave any that are not relevant blank.
All questions are optional. The closing date for completion is Friday 20 June 2025.
Capacity for new referrals - For Baby's Sake
For Babys Sake is Whole-family response to domestic abuse working individually with parents committed to co-parenting their unborn baby.
A Therapeutic programme delivered by highly skilled practitioners underpinned by a range of therapeutic models and in-depth, ongoing training.
Meaningful, trusting relationships consistently guarantee engagement and crucially, provide the framework for the deeper, therapeutic exploration that allows parents to understand the impact of their own parenting & childhood experiences
The quality of the relationship is the single most important factor for achieving successful outcomes and the Trauma-informed approach – encouraging unresolved trauma to be explored & processed to make sense of the emotions/feelings connected to the events within a ‘recovery framework’
Criteria
- Pregnancy, ideally 28 weeks or earlier
- Both parents willing to engage, although parents do NOT have to be together or in a relationship.
- There is DA in the relationship
- The mother resides in Hertfordshire.
For Baby's Sake currently has capacity for referrals in Hertfordshire and referral is by an online link,
Direct link to refer
Or any questions please contact Steve Gibbs 07702 537074
Referral can be self-referral or any professional working with the family.
Support for revision and exam related stress:
April's Stress Awareness month is now over, but stress can affect people all year around, especially at this time of year for young people with exams looming. Revision and exam time can feel overwhelming, but there are things young people can do before, during and after exams to help manage their worries. Find advice and signposting from Just Talk Herts at: Exam and Revision Stress
In addition and in partnership with HCC, Togetherall can support people aged 16+ with clinically moderated, peer-to-peer support, 24/7 and provides a safe space to share concerns and learn coping strategies. Togetherall work in partnership with universities across the UK to provide students with Free Togetherall access. Through their website, Togetherall offer the opportunity for people to explore the community, either sharing thoughts or reading thoughts of others, access to resources such as self-help courses to expert articles, anonymous engagement where open conversations can be shared as much or as little as wanted and 27/7 support. Best of all, it's free to join! Watch a short YouTube video for more information.
Suicide Prevention and Postvention readiness pack
HCC Mental Health and Children and Young People Team are excited to launch a new resource to provide our Hertfordshire Community settings with mental health, suicide prevention and postvention information and support.
On Suicide Prevention day 2024 we launched the Suicide Prevention and Postvention Readiness pack for Education settings in Hertfordshire. A resource to help ensure that all education settings have the timely information needed, developed in collaboration with system professionals to support and fill the gaps, to aid education settings support the wellbeing of their school community, staff and pupils. Providing details on the available services, information and guidance for mental health, suicide prevention, and postvention in one place to access. This pack is hosted on the Hertfordshire GRID for Learning.
Following this, we have become aware of the need to develop a community version of this pack, to support the wellbeing of extracurricular and enrichment activity organisations working with young people, for example youth groups, grass root clubs and sporting establishments with information and signposting.
Incidents of suicide attempts and deaths are not something we have to deal with often, but unfortunately are a reality that have a profound impact on those close to individuals, as well as the wider community. Finding the correct information for support in the midst of an incident can be difficult as it is often spread across multiple websites, emails, and leaflets, making it more challenging for group leads to access. The community pack has been put in place to improve the support available to individuals to support their wellbeing when they need it.
Download the community version of this pack here.
Find out about the new body image group from First Steps ED for boys and men.
First Steps ED have introduced a brand-new four-week group workshop for 12–17-year-olds to help address the distinctive challenges that males face with body image.
Developed by staff and volunteers with first hand experience, each week will look at a specific topic: masculinity and expectations; social media, gym culture and diet culture. Find out more: Workshops & Support Groups for Eating Disorders | First Steps ED:
Don't wait - find self-help or early help now!
First Steps ED offer various free early help support options for 5–18-year-olds in Hertfordshire with eating disorders/disordered eating. This includes group workshops, one-to-one sessions, and easy-to-access self-help guided resources. Children and young people don’t need to be physically unwell due to their eating behaviours to ask for support – it’s always best to ask for help as soon as possible. Eating disorders can happen to anyone at any time. First Steps ED support is on hand for anyone regardless of ability, background or identity.
Find out more on their website: Services & Support | First Steps ED
Important service update: Herts Haven Cafes
Please see the message below from Hertfordshire Mind Network regarding the Herts Haven Cafes for children and young people, ages 10-18:
There are planned changes within our provision of Herts Haven Cafés that provide open-access drop-in spaces for children and young people across Hertfordshire to access support for their emotional wellbeing.
We want to let you know that the Stevenage Herts Haven Café has closed now with no further cafes planned for the area. However, our cafes in Hemel Hempstead, Watford, and Ware remain open, with our Hemel Hempstead Café opening for an extra day each week on Wednesdays as well as Thursdays and Saturdays.
We are reaching out to those children and young people affected, to explain the situation and signpost them to suitable alternative support services.
If you have any concerns or questions please do not hesitate to contact us: You can call us on 0208 189 8400, email cyp@hertsmindnetwork.org, or visit www.withyouth.org
Drug & Alcohol E-Learning & Training
Public Health is working with Hertfordshire Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust’s (HPFT) Learning and Development team to develop an online Drug & Alcohol e-learning package. As well as being rolled out to staff across HPFT, this training will be available for free to all providers to access. The e-learning package will include:
- An overview and recognition of drug and alcohol addiction
- Developing confidence to work with people who use drug and alcohol
- Techniques to support individuals through the recovery process
We will share further information once the e-learning is available, we anticipate this to be in Autumn 2025.
In the meantime, CGL in conjunction with Public Health have produced a number of Drug & Alcohol bitesize videos covering the following topics:
- Why do people use drugs and alcohol
- Alcohol awareness
- Drug awareness
- Ketamine – What’s there to know?
- Cannabis – What’s there to know
- The impact of trauma and drugs and alcohol
- How to have a conversation with someone about their drug or alcohol use
You can access these videos via Drugs and alcohol (professional) | Hertfordshire County Council where a wealth of other D&A information is also available
In addition, the following dates are available from CGL for their online training for drug and alcohol awareness 2025/06, open to all professionals in Hertfordshire.
17/07/2025 (Q2)
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/1244829451399?aff=oddtdtcreator
20/11/2025 (Q3)
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/1244833834509?aff=oddtdtcreator
18/02/2026 (Q4)
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/1244834937809?aff=oddtdtcreator
Free and confidential Gambling Support
Health in Herts are running a campaign to help anyone affected by gambling, either if you are struggling personally or affected by someone else's gambling. They offer confidential support and useful resources available here:-
There is information on the support services in Hertfordshire, national support services and self help options.
Multi-agency practitioner survey
The Hertfordshire Safeguarding Children Partnership have released a multi-agency practitioner survey regarding our priorities for 2025/28.
We very much welcome your feedback and views to ensure that we are consistently working toward improving and developing our focus across the Partnership.
The survey should only take a couple of minutes of your time, and you can remain anonymous if you so wish.
Please share this survey widely with your teams and colleagues: https://surveys.hertfordshire.gov.uk/s/HSCPPriorities/
The survey will close on 6th June 2025.
Learning & development
Families First Dates for Your Diary!
There are many ways to stay updated with Families First News, including events, webinars, induction days, and partnership meetings. Discover what’s coming up here
Monthly Families First Keeping in Touch Sessions
These sessions are a short informal update on service news, training offers and parenting courses delivered by one of our service managers. Please email familiesfirst.support@hertfordshire.gov..uk if you would like an invitation to join.
- Thursday 5th June, 9am-9.30
Join a Families First Induction day - ideal for new starters
We host Families First online Induction days 4 times per year, where various early help services give a 20 minute whistle-stop tour of their service and are attended by new internal CS staff and external partners. The next dates are:-
- Wednesday 25 June 2025 via Teams
Please email: familiesfirst.support@hertfordshire.gov.uk if you have any questions on the above or would like an invite sent to you.
Families First quarterly district partnership meetings
In addition, many of you are regular attendees at our partnership meetings, which are a great way of keeping up to date with new services, updates and make connections. You can find out more about the groups here and email familiesfirst.support@hertfordshire.gov.uk if you would like to join.
HSCP Learning & Development Programme
HSCP provide a wide variety of learning programmes and workshops across Hertfordshire to develop skills for safeguarding children, young people and adults. We use this page to give you some quick links through to the HSCP learning programmes:-
Money Advice Unit Training Programme, Spring/Summer 2025
Please find attached the Money Advice Unit Training Programme and booking form for SPRING/SUMMER 2025.
All the courses are free of charge but please note we will only accept bookings from organisations in Hertfordshire. Due to demand, we only allow a maximum of two participants from each organisation per course.
Our courses are done both online and face to face. Please see programme to see which you would prefer to attend.
If you want to book for more than one person, please complete a separate booking form for each person.
Once you return the completed booking form(s) to us, the attendees will receive a booking confirmation email within 5 working days. Please check your junk folder as sometimes our emails go to the junk folder straight away.
You can also download the April 2025 Herts Adviser
Free professionals training - working with families to support healthy lifestyles
Beezee would like to invite ALL professionals working with families to Beezee Fussy Eating Professionals Training on Tuesday 3rd June 12pm – 1pm – online and free to join!
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This training is open to all Professionals working with children and their families in Hertfordshire.
Sign up today using this link https://hrt.maximusuk.co.uk/events/free-professional-training/ or click on the QR code on the attached flyer, and complete a short form.
The Teams meeting link and all login information will be sent to you thereafter.
ALSO, look out for our upcoming ‘Raising the Issue’ training in a few weeks’ time!
Download the poster here
Workforce Shadowing
The vision for Families First training and development is to create a skilled, confident and resilient multi-agency workforce that supports whole family working.
Workforce shadowing provides a great opportunity to find out more about other services, what they do and how they might be able to support you in your work. It also enhances communication across agencies and helps strengthen and develop professional relationships, building local networks.
If you would like to organise a workforce shadowing placement for either yourself or a team member please complete the form on this page stating the service you would like to shadow and the preferred district and we will match you to a shadowing opportunity.
The following services have offered to host shadowing opportunities in either in person or virtually:-
- Citizens Advice (Broxbourne/St Albans/North Herts)
- Childcare provision
- CGL (drug & alcohol support)
- District Council, ASB Team, Three Rivers
- District Council, Housing Support, Broxbourne
- Domestic Abuse Support
- DSPL (Delivering Special Provision Locally) - All areas
- Families First Panels Team
- Family Support Service, Family Centre
- Herts Mind Network
- Herts Sports Partnership
- Home-Start (Watford & Three Rivers)
- MIND in Mid Herts
- ASB Team, District Council, Three Rivers
- Housing Support, District Council
- Intensive Family Support Team (IFST)
- Local School Partnerships
- Police
- Public Health Nursing
- Re-Intergration, Virtual School
- Schools Early Years Provision
- Specialist Adolescent Services Hertfordshire (SASH)
- Services for Young People
- Supporting Families Practice Team
Additionally, if you would like to add your service to the above list, again please email us with your contact details, service and district.
Familesfirst.support@hertfordshire.gov.uk
Please take a look at the page, bookmark and share with teams, where appropriate.
Workforce development (hertfordshire.gov.uk)
Step2Skills
Step2Skills - Find on-line and in-person courses for May here and June here: courses running such as Level 1 - Preparing to work in schools, Improving your skills in Microsoft excel, Level 1 in garment construction, Social media for business, Explore your sewing machine, Assertiveness and communication skills, Introduction to Microsoft PowerPoint, Online job search and applications, Interview skills to name but a few.
My Teen Brain Online Training
Strategic Partnerships Commissioning (formerly known as Family & Health Services Commissioning) are pleased to announce the next My Teen Brain Online Training course on Tuesday 24th June 2025 and Wednesday 9th July 2025.
This 1-day CPD course, from 10am – 3pm is for Hertfordshire practitioners working with parents of teenagers and/or working with teenagers or young people in Hertfordshire. It provides an opportunity to understand teenage brain development and the adolescent developmental process and consider both risk and resilience. It includes ideas and strategies for professionals working with teenagers and their parents to help them cope with challenging feelings and behaviour and to support young people in an emotionally healthy context. The day brings together the latest understanding from neuroscience and developmental psychology and the principles of The Nurturing Programme from The Centre For Emotional Health.
Please find below the booking link for you to reserve your place on to one of our summer term courses. This training is a very popular and is beneficial to all practitioners who work with Hertfordshire children and families.
If you are interested in booking on to the course , please ensure that you ONLY reserve your place if you have the capacity to attend the training on your preferred day and for the entire duration of the session, which is from 10am – 3pm.
24th June My Teen Brain Online Training | Hertfordshire County Council
9th July - My Teen Brain Online Training | Hertfordshire County Council
If you would like further information about the course or alternative dates, please email CSStrategic.Partnerships@hertfordshire.gov.uk
Difference we're making
Families First - Performance Data Report
You may be interested to view our Families First Performance Data report for the period January 2024 - December 2024.
The report looks at Families First Assessments that took place within the period and highlights the presenting needs and outcomes broken down by district along with information about other support for families.
Children's Services Awards 2025
At the end of March, the HCC Children's Services Award 2025 were held. Well done to all those nominated and congratulations to all the winners.
The recent CS Awards was a night to remember for Supporting Families, with our members being shortlisted in an impressive six categories. The event was a testament to the dedication and excellence of our teams, and we couldn't be prouder of everyone's achievements.
Steve Whitlam, Community Development Manager at Broxbourne Borough Council and chair of our Broxbourne Families First Partnership Group was shortlisted for Partner of the Year and our Intensive Family Support Team member, Collette Garland was celebrated for securing the Collaborative Worker of the Year Award, a testament to her exceptional teamwork and dedication.
Our other shortlisted nominees included:
- Michelle James for Unsung Hero
- Fiona Convey for Most Creative Colleague
- Lauren Samson for Inclusion Champion
- Denise Masawi for Inclusion Champion
- The Action for Inclusion Project (Collette and Rebecca) for Team Action and Impact Award
- Ruth Coleman and Alison Cowie with The Bridge for Innovation of the Year Award
We were incredibly proud of everyone who was nominated, shortlisted, and won. The reactions in the room and the recognition of their hard work and the impact of our services were truly heartwarming.
The evening also marked a significant milestone for Serena Yearwood and Henry Lee-Brenchley, who were celebrated for their fantastic achievement of 20 years of service. Their dedication and commitment have been invaluable to our organisation.
This was a proud night for Supporting Families, and it was just a small spotlight on all the amazing work you do. Thank you to everyone for your continued dedication and excellence. Let's Continue to Make a Difference!
Easter Funday Celebration: A Joyful IFST family Gathering
On the sunny afternoon of April 17th, our IFST families came together to celebrate Easter with a wonderful funday event from 1 PM to 3 PM. The atmosphere was filled with laughter and excitement as families participated in a variety of activities.
The event featured an Easter egg hunt, where children eagerly searched for hidden Easter eggs, and egg and spoon races that brought out the competitive spirit in everyone. Football games provided a chance for some energetic play, while the arts and crafts station allowed creativity to flourish. Temporary tattoos added a fun touch, and the array of delicious cakes was a treat for all.
It was lovely to see families enjoying the outdoors, mingling with their peers, and creating lasting memories. The Easter funday was not just about the activities, but also about fostering a sense of community and togetherness. It was a wonderful opportunity for everyone to relax, have fun, and celebrate the joy of Easter.
Upcoming E-safety session:
Join us for an informative face-to-face session on internet safety at IFST St Albans and Dacorum. This workshop, is held in collaboration with Herts Police, will cover essential topics such as social media, internet safety, and digital communication. Whether you're new to these concepts or looking to refresh your knowledge, this session will provide valuable insights to help you navigate the digital world safely. Don't miss this opportunity to enhance your e-safety skills!
The e-safety workshop at IFST St Albans and Dacorum is scheduled for 7th May from 6:00 PM to 7:30 PM. Make sure to mark your calendar for this valuable session on internet safety! Please contact us to book on.
Families First Case Studies
Following on from a programme of Celebrating Excellence in Early Help sessions run in Children’s Services, which aimed to highlight the Families First approach and also included contributions from some of our partners, we are sharing some of the recent case below:
Case Study 1 - Intensive Family Support / Local Borough Council
Scene Setting
The Intensive Family Support team (IFST) began supporting this family of nine in Spring 2021.
As support got underway the third youngest child Tia* was diagnosed with a terminal brain tumour and the family are struggling coming to terms with Tia’s diagnosis and her life expectancy of one year. Tia is 11 years old.
On learning of Tia’s prognosis and following discussion with Keech Hospice an Occupational Therapist (OT) appointment was arranged for the family’s home. This assessment identified that the three-bedroom home was not suitable for end-of-life care and was not suitable for adaptation as the access was too narrow and steep for a ramp.
The Family Intervention Worker (FIW) made contact with the local Borough Council’s Aids and Adaptions Team for support.
READ MORE
Case Study 2 - Families First Assessment
Scene Setting
This case study provides some insight into the journey of Fran* and her family. Fran is an eight year old girl who worries about her mum, she knows mum is different when she is with her drinking friends. Fran’s Mum has a diagnosis of unstable personality disorder and has previously used drugs and alcohol as coping strategies, she has been in a cycle of poor mental health and whilst their wider family network have been supporting Fran and her mother they sought out some external support via a Families First Assessment.
READ MORE
Case Study 3 - Employment Adviser/IFST
Scene Setting:
This case study provides some insight into the support provided to Sanz* from one of our Employment Advisers. Our Intensive Family Support Teams include Employment Advisers who provide tailored support in areas such as employability; taking time to understand skills and experiences, any barriers or challenges preventing employment, identification of any training to support employability, preparation of supporting statements and CVs and job search support, including mock interviews.
Our Advisers can also provide guidance on how to navigate the benefits system, including benefit entitlements and claims, as well as how changes in circumstances impact benefits.
They work in parallel with Family Intervention Workers. This case study summarises support given to Sanz, the mother, to support with employability and benefits.
READ MORE
Case Study 4 - Local Schools Partnership
Case Study 5
This case study follows a mum who suffers from depression and anxiety. She was distrusting of professionals due to a negative experience with Children's Services in another local authority. Dad had recently moved out of the family home so she cares for her three children alone. Read more about the support the family received and the tools mum now takes forward in her parenting skills.
READ MORE
Please share anonymised case studies highlighting how early help and partnership working has provided support to local families with us at familiesfirst.support@hertfordshire.gov.uk. Please ensure you have consent from the family.