The FPM is a model for building inter-agency partnerships and working effectively with children, adolescents and their families. It focuses on a process for building working relationships with families and therefore has the potential to build the capability of practitioners who work with families.

Authors Helen Wilson and Annette Huntington say is not a new initiative but adds value to existing services and programmes.

"There is a growing body of evidence that this approach benefits both the practice of front-line workers and the lives of families. Studies have shown that it improves parental self-esteem, mother/child interaction and child behaviour, and decreases parental stress," said Helen Wilson.

The model is a comprehensive and integrated way of working with families, and has been developed during the last 20 years by Hilton Davies and his team from Guy's Mental Health NHS Trust in the UK. It was initially set up to work with parents of children with physical or intellectual disabilities.

The report focuses on the role of family services and the ways they can work, individually and collaboratively, to improve the situation for vulnerable families in ways that do not further disempower and marginalise them. It acknowledges that training on this approach would take time, money and commitment from government, stakeholders and practitioners.

"We think the Family Partnership Model has the potential to eliminate barriers between agencies and organisations, building trust and encouraging communication across sectors," said Annette Huntington.

The authors believe better support services that can recognise family difficulties before they escalate, and practitioners who work together where problems are complex, can be cost effective and beneficial for children and their families.

"This model supports the Families Commission's drive for greater cooperation among services to achieve effective family service delivery," said Dr Jan Pryor, Chief Commissioner.

"It would be useful to evaluate this model's effectiveness on inter-agency collaboration and its contribution to service delivery to families in future," she said.

For a copy of the report email