Early Help is the support that can be offered to a child, young person and/or family in the early stages of an issue, or when a continuing issue doesn't meet the threshold of other services such as social services or CAMHS. It is a measure to identify needs and prevent an issue escalating.
There are different forms of Early Help. We can provide Early Help at school in the form of support, signposting and interventions. If there is more than one need, and a possibility for external agencies to be involved we can either complete an Early Help Assessment in school or complete a Family Connect Form which is shared with the Early Help Support Team (EHST) in our locality.
Regardless of who manages the assessment, it is a great way to get the support your child/family needs.
You can seek Early Help support yourself by asking at school (Miss Popsys) or by referring yourself to the EHST (see self-referral link below). Alternatively school may suggest Early Help if we identify issues/needs such as poor attendance, safeguarding concerns, parental needs or your child needing support.
Early Help can help with a number of issues such as youth support, mental health and wellbeing, housing advice, domestic abuse, SEND, parenting support, money and debt, food and energy, bereavement, training and work and much more.