Early Help
‘Early help’ describes any service that supports children and families as soon as problems emerge. All Early Help is voluntary – families do not have to participate if they don’t want to. The rationale is that the sooner a family receives the right support, the sooner they are able to improve their situation and prevent the need for prolonged support.
At Educate U we are fortunate enough to work closely with Kayleigh Maskell, our link worker from the Early Help Dedicated Schools Team.
Early help and early intervention are forms of support aimed at improving outcomes for children or preventing escalating need or risk. Because of this they are also some-times referred to as prevention or preventative services. These services are part of a “continuum of support” and provide help to families who do not, or no longer, meet the threshold for a statutory intervention.
Kayleigh has provided training for all staff and explained the role of early help and how she can support our families by signposting and supporting them directly with both parents and children on a 1:1 basis. Kayleigh detailed a fresh approach to early help and explained how it has developed over the years, to work holistically with everyone involved in a child’s life and how even just a small piece of support / input from one of her team can make a big change.
Early help and early intervention services can be provided at any stage in a child or young person's life, from the early years right through to adolescence. Services can be delivered to parents, children, or whole families.
Support starts with universal services, such as the school, the health service and the police. Families needing additional support will receive the next level.
A 'whole family' approach ensures that children's needs and welfare are being met and maintained as well as those of the family. This is done by working with the family, local communities and others already supporting them.
Early help also includes parents-to-be and very young children where:
- their needs are not being met by routine or 'universal' services
- they do not meet thresholds for statutory interventions.
There are four elements to early help:
- The Integrated Front Door (IFD, formerly MASH) aims to provide a single and consistent point of access to advice, guidance and decision-making about the right level of help needed to keep each child safe or achieve change.
- Early Help Hubs that ensure families passed on by the IFD are joined to the right kind of support quickly through a co-ordinated response with partners.
- A partnership of specialist keyworkers for families with multiple or com-plex needs who require coordinated multi-agency support. This aims to prevent the need for statutory social care intervention.
- Strong local partnerships to support families in their communities and make sure they have the capacity to deliver an early help response.
As our link worker Kayleigh has offered to meet with families at the school, if you would like her input or advice on any aspect of support around your family, please contact the schools Designated Safeguarding Lead, Emma Jenkinson or the Deputy DSL, Mark Brown.
Emma Jenkinson (DSL) emma@educateu.co.uk
Mark Brown (DDSL) ; mark@educateu.co.uk
