Early Help in County Durham is not a single service but a way of ‘thinking’ and ‘working’ through a collaborative approach between communities, families and services. Early Help is the term used by agencies in County Durham to describe our approach to providing support to vulnerable children, young people and families as soon as problems start to emerge or when there is a strong likelihood that problems will emerge in the future.
An effective Early Help System brings together a family’s own support network as well as the support from local partners including universal services e.g. GP, Family Health Services, Education, Voluntary and Community Sector and where appropriate more targeted services such as Drug and Alcohol, Domestic Abuse, Housing, One Point Services etc. to provide resilience, prevent difficulties from escalating leading to better outcomes for families that are sustained.
You can find out more about the vision for Early Help in County Durham by reading the key document called “Strategic Partnership Approach to Early Help for Children, Young People and Families” which is also available in the Resource Library.
An animation has been developed with Durham Children, Young People, Parent and Carers explaining what Early Help in Durham looks like, feel free to share with the families you are supporting
Durham’s Early Help System
Durham’s Prevention and Early Help Partnership have developed a Workforce Development offer available to all partners working with Durham’s children, young people and families.
An effective Early Help System brings together a family’s own support network as well as the support from local partners including universal services e.g. GP, Family Health Services, Education, Voluntary and Community Sector and where appropriate more targeted services such as Drug and Alcohol, Domestic Abuse, Housing, One Point Services etc. to provide resilience, prevent difficulties from escalating leading to better outcomes for families that are sustained. You can find out more about the vision for Early Help in County Durham by reading the key document called “Strategic Partnership Approach to Early Help for Children, Young People and Families” which is also available in the Resource Library. Professionals Making a Request for (additional) Early Help There will be the facility for you to create an account which will allow you to save and return to an incomplete Early Help Form before submitting should you require this. You only need to create an account once. For further guidance on how to do this please go to ‘How to Create an Account' Or When a request for Early Help is made by a professional, an Early Help Triage Worker will speak to you about your worries for the family. The Early Help Triage Worker may ask you some further questions to really understand the family's needs. It is therefore important that the professional requesting Early Help knows the children and family well. Together you will decide on the best way to support the family. There will be an expectation that if you have identified needs that your service is unable to meet particularly if it is a worry about education, that before requesting Early Help you have had a conversation with the child's educational setting to find out what they are doing to address these worries or make them aware of your worries. Depending on the worries and what is working well for the family the Early Help Triage Worker, with you, will agree the best course of action. This maybe providing information, advice and guidance, signposting you to support available in the voluntary and community sector, redirecting you to a partner organisation, connecting you with your named Early Help Advisor who can support you in 'holding' the family and where appropriate convening a Team Around the Family (TAF), or if needs are complex, require an intensive level of support a referral to the One Point Service will be suggested. There will be times however where the best course of action is to discuss your worries with a range of partners at a Locality Early Help Conversation. Locality Early Help Conversations take place fortnightly in each of the 7 One Point Team Areas. They are attended by a range of 'Core Members' who are partner representatives from a range of services across the Early Help System e.g. Health, One Point, Education, Voluntary and Community Sector, CAMHS, SEND and Inclusion. For your information the Terms of Reference of Locality Early Help Conversations can be found here - Link to Terms of Reference. You will be invited by the Early Help Triage Worker to a 15/20 minute conversation to discuss the worries and what is working well for the family with the Core Members. Together, with you, a decision will be made as to which professional and/or service is best to be the family's key contact person that will co-ordinate support. Core Members at the Locality Early Help Conversation will share with you, if appropriate and relevant, information they have on their systems to help make an informed decision. Core Members, where appropriate will also commit offers of support/resource so that you leave the conversation with a set of agreed actions to support the family. This will involve you needing to speak to the family and share with them the range of support that has been offered/suggested. If you would like support in doing this the Early Help Advisor can help you. It is important that you leave the Locality Early Help Conversations clearly understanding what has been agreed and a copy of the actions will be automatically sent to you within 24 hours of the conversation. We ask that you are prompt when dialling into your agreed time for the Locality Early Help Conversation to prevent delay for others. If you are unable to attend your local Locality Early Help Conversation you will be offered a time for a neighbouring conversation or be asked if you would rather be deferred to the next one. Click the video to watch a 'dummy' example of a Locality Early Help Conversation What is Early Help?
How professionals can make a request for (additional) Early Help for families
What to expect when you request (additional) Early Help.
Locality Early Help Conversations
Prevention and Early Help Forums
Prevention and Early Help Forums provide an opportunity for practitioners and managers from across the Early Help System to come together to identify and address emerging needs in communities ensuring that children and families receive the best support possible. They also provide opportunities to network and share good practice. If you are a professional supporting Durham children and families and would like to find out more please email strongerfamilies@durham.gov.uk
Related Documents
Click below to see a list of documents currently in the Resource Library relating to Early Help.