Intensive Intervention Teams (IITs)

Specialist support alongside Family Help

Intensive Intervention Teams (IITs) provide specialist advice and practical support for children and families receiving Family Help.

Who is in the team?

The teams bring together parenting, family meeting and intensive family support expertise. They work alongside the family’s existing worker to coordinate support, strengthen family relationships and help children remain safely within their families wherever possible.

What support do the teams provide?

Parenting support

Parenting practitioners help parents and carers feel more confident, build stronger relationships with their children and respond to their needs.

They can work with the family’s main worker and with parenting services in the community. This includes working with Family Hubs to offer parenting programmes and support closer to where families live.

Support is based on what each family needs and is linked to their Family Help plan.

Family meetings

Family meeting practitioners bring children, families and people they trust together to talk about what is going well, what they are worried about and what could help.

They help families use the strengths and support they already have around them. Together, the family and professionals can agree practical ways to help the child and make things better.

Family together support

Family together workers give extra practical and emotional support when a family is going through a very difficult time. This may be when relationships are breaking down or there is a risk that a child may not be able to stay at home.

They work alongside the child’s Family Help practitioner and other people supporting the family. The aim is to help families make positive changes and, where it is safe, help children stay with their family.

Specialist advice and joint working

Families may need help with more than one part of their lives. The team works with the family’s main worker and other services so that support is joined up and everyone understands the Family Help plan.

This can include working with specialist services that can help with adult mental health, recovery, employment, benefits, learning and skills, housing and other needs.

By working together, services can look at the needs of the whole family and make it easier for families to get the right help at the right time.