The Medway Early Help Strategy 2021-24 sets out Medway’s partnership approach to early help.

 

What is Early Help?

Early Help is the term used by agencies in Medway to describe support to potentially vulnerable children, young people and their families as soon as problems start to emerge. Although research shows that the most impact can be made during a child’s early years, early help is not just for very young children because problems can emerge at any point throughout childhood and adolescence. Children and families are therefore entitled to early help when they need additional support. The purpose of early help is to prevent issues and problems from escalating by building resilience. This is achieved through prompt and targeted interventions to families by those who know them best.

In summary early help is a shared responsibility and not a distinct service. 

“Early Help is everyone’s responsibility”

How do we do it?

Most children’s needs are met by their family or universal services which are available to everyone. These are provided as a right to all children, young people, and their families. However, some children require support in addition to that provided by universal services to ensure their education, health, social and developmental needs are met. For these children, support may be provided by a single agency, or by several different agencies working together, with a lead practitioner co-ordinating the work.

“The right conversations, with the right people at the right time”

 

When you think ‘Early help’ what do you consider?

It is really important that you think ‘partnership’ working and you consider what support is around the children; first and foremost, their family, wider family, partner agencies, universal services, and specialist services.

We need to consider and understand what level of support a family need and who is the appropriate lead for a family? This may be a community partner, or it may also be a Family Solutions practitioner.

As a professional, you could be asked to be a lead practitioner, contribute to an  Early Help Assessment/Plan and attend an Early Help Review.

 

What is an Early Help Assessment

The Early Help Assessment is the process for carrying out a holistic assessment, to understand the strengths and needs, based on discussions with the child or young person, their family and relevant partner agencies involved with the family, as appropriate. The assessment focus is to support children, young people, and families with additional needs through - early identification, swift intervention, and a planned, co-ordinated response. It is used across the levels of need including Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND).

The Early Help Assessment aims to identify the support needed; empower children, young people and their families; and provide a timely, seamless service if needs escalate. The Early Help Assessment supports families through early help to escalating complex needs and urgent needs requiring a statutory response from children’s social care.

If you are identified as the appropriate lead delivering Early Help, you will work closely with families to ensure:

• the family’s needs are identified.
• a plan is put in place to reach the family’s goals and outcomes.
• the family get the support they need.

If you are a lead practitioner, you will be required to complete an intervention plan with the family and include any other partner agencies who are,  or could support the family.

Intervention plans are used across Early Help Partner Agencies including Medway Childrens Services, Early Help Offer-Family Solutions.

They are designed to be timely but also ensure families access the support and services they need to address concerns which may require more than a single universal offer but do not have the level of complexity to require an Early Help Assessment (See below).

Intervention plans support an agency or practitioner to explore strengths and concerns with a family and their professional network. The plans identify outcomes for the family to achieve within 6-8 weeks. The emphasis is therefore on providing brief and focused intervention to be reviewed every six weeks with the family and all relevant partner agencies involved.

 

Review meetings

If you are practitioner working with a family, where Family Solutions are undertaking interventions or you are a Lead Practitioner, you will be expected to attend or undertake reviews of the intervention plan. All review meetings should include the family and all partner agencies involved.

If you are a partner agency working with the family and are invited to the plan/review meetings, you will need to:

• attend meetings when needed – or provide an update/report.
• bring all relevant information with you
• carry out actions to help support the family
• support the family to meet their outcomes.

Review meetings are held every 6 weeks and your involvement will depend on each family’s case.

 

Professional support

Early Help Co-ordinators and Early Help Partnership Officers are available to support Lead Practitioners and partner agencies in their delivery of Early Help. This is to ensure families who need help and support receive it in a timely way from the right partner agencies.

Early Help Co-ordinators and Partnership Officers offer support that helps partner agencies/lead practitioners:

• Engage with children and families who practitioners maybe finding it difficult to engage with.
• Practitioners who are starting an Early Help Intervention Plan or moving towards a review.
• Identify which services could be included in an intervention plan/ review meeting.
• Supporting forging  links with external partners who are working with children and their families such as police, NHS and the Department of Work and Pensions.
• Support with the use of Mosaic – system for recording interventions with children and their families.

 

Early Help Co-ordinators and Partnership Officers:

Area 1 : Gillingham :

Helen Laming - Early Help Co-ordinator helen.laming@medway.gov.uk

Debbie Klucznik- Eary Help Partnership Officer  debbie.klucznik@edway.gov.uk

Area 2 : Luton and Rainham

Tascita Hinckson – Early Help Co-ordinator tascita.hinckson@medway.gov.uk

Tracey Reynolds - Early Help Partnership Officer – tracey.reynolds@medway.gov.uk

Area 3 : Strood

Hayley Galletly - Early Help Co-ordinator – hayley.galletly@medway.gov.uk

Lorraine Hunt- Early Help Partnership Officer – lorraine.hunt@medway.gov.uk

Area 4 : Chatham

Lisa Green - Early Help Co-ordinator – lisa.green@medway.gov.uk

 

Early Help Partnership Officer – TBC