Early help
Providing early help is more effective in promoting the welfare of children than reacting later. Early help means providing support as soon as the problem emerges at any point in a child’s life.
Working Together to Safeguard Children (2023) [external link] emphasises the importance of having clear thresholds for action which are understood by all practitioners and applied consistently. By ensuring a shared understanding of local thresholds for intervention, children and young people should receive the right help at the right time. Local authorities should have a comprehensive range of effective, evidence based services in place to assess needs at an early stage and should work with organisations and agencies to develop joined-up early help services based on a clear understanding of local needs.
The Early Help Assessment is the single assessment used by multi-agency partnerships which includes; Schools, Colleges, Health, Childcare settings, voluntary sector and across all Children’s Social Care teams. The Early Help Assessment provides a standard and coordinated approach for practitioners across agencies and services and is designed to ensure that children, young people and their families receive the right support at an early stage to reduce the chance of escalation to a specialist services
Early help assessments should be evidence based, be clear about the action to be taken and services should be provided with a focus on improving outcomes.
Local Safeguarding Partnerships are required to publish a threshold document that includes the process for the Early Help Assessment [external link] and the type and level of early help services to be provided.
Darlington Safeguarding Partnership Multi-Agency Threshold Tool [PDF Document] sets out local definitions of the levels of need. The threshold tool is the criteria used for taking action and providing help across the full continuum.
A lead practitioner should undertake the assessment, provide help to the child and family, act as an advocate on their behalf and co-ordinate the delivery of support services. A GP, family support worker, school nurse, teacher, health visitor or special educational needs co-ordinator can undertake the lead practitioner role.
For an early help assessment to be effective:
- it should be undertaken with the agreement of the child and parents or carers, involving the child and family as well as the practitioners who are working with them. It should take into account the child’s wishes and feelings where possible.
- practitioners should discuss concerns they may have about a child or family with a social worker in the local authority.
Details of how to submit a referral for Early Help is available on the Darlington Borough Council Website.
For further guidance see Darlington Early Help Strategy 2017-2020 [PDF document]
Social Worker’s role in assessment
Social workers should have the relevant knowledge and skills and should have time to complete assessments and have access to high quality practice supervision.
Social workers and practice supervisors should always reflect the latest research on the impact of abuse and neglect and relevant findings from Child Safeguarding Practice Reviews when analysing the risk to the child and the level of need.
High quality assessments:
- are child centred and where there is a conflict of interest decisions should be made in the child’s best interests
- are rooted in child development, age appropriate and informed by evidence
- are focussed on actions and outcomes for children
- are holistic in approach, addressing child’s needs within their family and ant risks the child faces within their community
- ensure equality of opportunity
- involve children ensuring that their voice is heard and provide appropriate support to enable this where the child has specific communication needs
- involve families
- build on strengths as well as identifying difficulties
- are integrated in approach
- are multi-agency and multi-disciplinary
- are a continuing process
- lead to action including the provision of services
- are transparent and open to challenge