Apply to become a families first for children pathfinder area
Support for local authorities applying to become a wave 2 area on the families first for children (FFC) pathfinder programme.
Applies to England
The families first for children pathfinder is now closed for applications.
A list of local areas participating in the pathfinder is available.
The FFC pathfinder forms part of the government’s children’s social care implementation strategy, Stable homes, built on love.
The programme gives local areas the opportunity to work with central government to transform family help and children’s social care to ensure that children and families are supported and protected.
Wave 2 of the programme will run from April 2024 to March 2025.
Detailed information about the FFC pathfinder programme and family networks pilot (FNP) is available.
Eligibility criteria
To be eligible, local authorities must:
- be one of the top 153 upper tier local authorities
- have an Ofsted rating of requires improvement or above on the last day of the application window
- have multi-agency support with applications countersigned by local statutory safeguarding partners (police force and integrated care board)
- not have a section 114 notice in place on the last day of the application window
- not already be participating in the FNP
- not exceed the upper limit of their grant funding band (details in application guide)
How to apply
The application guide sets out details surrounding the application process and the full assessment criteria.
Read the and the before starting an application.
Local authorities can apply using the and the .
Email a Word copy of your completed application form and an Excel copy of your costed plan to FFC.PATHFINDER@education.gov.uk by 11:59pm on Monday 6 November.
Updates to this page
Last updated 10 November 2023 + show all updates
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Updated to reflect that applications have closed.
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First published.