IPC completed an evaluation of the Family Assessment and Support Service (FASS) in Newport. This innovative service is part of a broader Partnership delivery model between Newport City Council and Barnardo’s aiming to provide the right help at the right time across a continuum of family support. The FASS ‘element’ to this Partnership service provides intensive assessment and support to families on the brink of care or where the plan is for a child’s rehabilitation home.
The evaluation identified that the service is providing highly evidence-based and effective support to children and families on the brink of care and enabling a very high proportion to remain living safely at home. FASS is also a very cost effective model compared with similar projects reported in other parts of the UK. This short report sets out to explore exactly how and why this is so.