Synergy - Enquiry

Early help means working with you and your family so that small problems don’t get bigger.

You may be pregnant, you may have small children, children at school or even teenagers. Early Help is for everyone.

How do I get Early Help?

Talk to a professional who knows your family the best. It could be school, someone at your child’s nursery, your health visitor, your GP, or any professional who supports your family.

Tell them what’s working well and what you are worried about. You may have an idea about what you need, and what you think will help your family and this will be the starting point. They will talk to you to understand what is happening and what help you and your family need.

If you are not currently working with any professionals just pop into a Family Hub and ask about Early Help

An Early Help Assessment is a way of noting down, together with a professional that knows your family, what is going well in your, what the worries are and what needs to happen to help things get better. Together you will agree on the best way to make this happen.

You might need help in one or more of the following areas:

School, education or training
Home and life relationships
Health and emotional wellbeing
Work, finances or housing
Domestic violence or abuse
Crime or anti-social behaviour

If you have worries about your family, then ask a doctor, teacher, health visitor or any professional working with your family, to complete an Early Help assessment.

You and the professional that knows you will talk about what is going well in your family, what the worries are, and what needs to happen to improve the situation. This will be written into the Early Help Assessment form.

The professional working with you will get a team of people together, to find out how they can all support you, who will do what and by when.

A lead professional will make sure that everyone working with you, has actions and timescales to complete by, together you will regularly review your early help assessment to make sure that things are improving for your family.

The whole process will take a little time, but we will only do it with your permission.

You will need an Early Help Assessment in order to get help from a Targeted Early Help Support Practitioner (previously known as a Family Support Worker)

Early Help is everyone's responsibility so, if your child is of school age speak to their teacher.

If they attend a nursery speak to their key worker, you can also speak to a childcare professional such as a Childminder or Early Years Practitioner. Midwives, Health Visitors, GPs and Hospital Staff can complete an Early Help Assessment.

Family Hub Staff can also support you. To find out more about Early Help Assessments ring Families Information Service on 0800 0345340 and select option 2.

Phone lines are open Monday - Thursday from 9am - 5pm and until 4:30pm on Fridays

What is Early Help?

What is an Early Help Assessment?

How an Early Help Assessment works

What if I am not working with a professional?

Early Help for Professionals Only

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