Early help supports children of all ages. It improves resilience and outcomes or reduces the chance of a problem getting worse. It is not a single service. It is a system of support delivered by local authorities and partners.
Source: Working Together To Safeguard Children 2023
What happens next
When a child displays emerging needs, services already involved should:
- undertake an assessment
- develop an outcome plan
- identify support within the community or through a specific intervention
Assessment and referral
Your Family's Strengths and Needs
Advice and guidance
Contact an Early Help Champion
Child development
| Strengths |
Needs |
- Majority of developmental milestones have been met
- Maintains appropriate relationships
- Emotional resilience
- Adequate to good self-presentation and hygiene skills
- No substance misuse
- Can articulate hopes and wishes for the future
|
- Not meeting developmental milestones
- Delayed communication/language development
- Some difficulty in age related emotional regulation
- Displaying signs of disruptive or challenging behaviour either at home, in school or at another setting
- Attendance dips below 90% without medical reason
- Experiences weight gain or loss that impacts on the child’s health
- Early signs of unhealthy relationships and boundaries
- Difficulty in separation from primary care giver
- Associations with negative peer groups
- Underage experimentation with drugs and alcohol
- Displays some insecurities around self-confidence / self-esteem
- Unhealthy use of social media/internet
- Young carer
- Quantity and quality of food is variable and inconsistent
|
Parenting capacity
| Strengths |
Needs |
- Child is supervised, sometimes by extended family
- Some positive stimulation and new experiences
- Parents will ensure that health concerns are acted upon
- No parental substance misuse
- Free from domestic abuse or mental health difficulties impacting on child
- Parenting capacity and resilience, where a child has a disability, is good and they access specialist provisions and have access to the community
- There is conflict between parent and child. However, the resolutions are well managed within the home
|
- Poor supervision
- Occasional missed health appointment
- Lack of emotional warmth from one or more parent/carer
- Parents are not engaging with education provisions resulting in poor attendance and/or attainment.
- Low level parental conflict
- Parental ill health that is managed by the extended family
- Displaying symptoms of Post-natal depression
- Arguments between parent and child leading to intense emotional regulation, i.e. screaming/shouting and/or threatening behaviour
|
Family and environment
| Strengths |
Needs |
- There is an extended support network of family and friends
- No financial concerns
- Parents have access to childcare – free hours of childcare
- There are some housing concerns but no disrepair
|
- Young person has experienced bereavement
- Victim of bullying, can be online
- Have been affected by crime or anti-social behaviour (targeted)
- Lack of employment but looking for work
- Family members not on the correct benefits
- Have been affected by crime or anti-social behaviour (not targeted)
- Does not engaging in community activities
- Family is isolated, new to the area, have no friends or family locally
- Family is isolated due to English being a second language
|
