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What is an Early Help Assessment?
May 07, 2024
16 minutes
1105 Viewers
The Early Help Assessment is an accessible tool to determine a family’s immediate and ongoing support needs. Early Help Assessment aims to achieve it with the family’s permission. Any organisation in the UK can utilise this resource. Also, organisations concerned with providing early intervention services will use Early Help Assessment. As a result, they will comprehend their tasks better.
Furthermore, they will meet the requirements of the children and young people in their care. Besides, professionals assess the situation of children or young people and their families. Thus, they use this tool.
Why Conduct an Early Help Assessment?
“Early Help” means getting the proper support as soon as workable. Firstly, it focuses on valuing the family’s knowledge and skills. In addition, it includes them in evaluating their strengths, needs, and desired changes. Secondly, an Early Help Assessment may give families the push they need to make positive changes.
The family and professionals work together to negotiate and finish each step of the assessment process. The process involves gathering information and developing a plan of action. Thirdly, family members submit info to several providers. An Early Help Assessment may consolidate all info into an easily shareable document. The input may come from a variety of professionals who have been working with a family. Finally, establishing who will be responsible for the required changes is much easier with an action plan.
Who Would Benefit From an Early Help Assessment?
Early Help Assessment primarily focuses on the outcomes for children. However, it applies to parents, children, or the whole family. For example, services may aid low-income families in providing a stable home life for their children. Besides, Early Help Assessment deals with situations. For example, a child may engage in potentially dangerous behaviour. In that case, the professionals will consult with the family to determine the issue’s root causes.
Early Help Assessment Tool
The Early Help Assessment Tool is a standard evaluation instrument for Early Help needs. It helps professionals assess the needs and strengths of the children and families. Also, Early Help Assessment Tool collects the resources from past consultations with
• children,
• their families,
• and professionals who worked with them.
Using the tool, you’ll listen to children and families to guide future decisions. Furthermore, you can support and redirect resources to avoid recurring issues. The Early Help Assessment Tool standardises assessing children’s needs. Therefore, children’s service providers may utilise it.
What Does Early Help Assessment Tool Do?
It empowers families to overcome child poverty and health disparities. Besides, it facilitates multi-agency collaboration to enhance children and family outcomes. The Early Help Assessment Tool is essential to providing integrated, child-centred frontline services. In addition, it’ll help identify additional requirements sooner, especially in universal services.
It aims to simplify the comprehensive evaluation of a child’s needs and strengths. Professionals may then agree on assistance with the child and family. In addition, the tool helps coordinated service providers enhance integrated functioning.
However, Early Help Assessment does not replace or postpone Child Protection Issues. In case of harm, always report children in danger. The most an Early Help Assessment Tool can do in Child Protection is illustrate
• what you know about a family’s children,
• what measures have you taken,
• who is assisting the family,
• and why the worry is a danger.
Information for Parents About How an Early Help Assessment Works
You’ll do an Early Help Assessment with a professional. After your initial meeting, the professional may recommend an Early Help Assessment. At first, the designated people will assess your family’s strengths, places for improvement, and concerns.
Then, they’ll determine your support needs. However, you and the professional will plan the future steps together. The Early Help Assessment determines your assistance needs and strategies for transformation. Supporting agencies may assist you. The early help access point will store
• your and your family’s names,
• dates of birth,
• addresses,
• contact information,
• and discussions.
It will save your data securely under GDPR. However, the law may oblige professionals to share information without your agreement in safeguarding or crime prevention cases.
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The Child’s Voice
To capture “the child’s voice”, incorporate your children in the assessment. All parties must comprehend and act on their opinions, desires, and feelings. In addition, it’s helpful to address family concerns when necessary. Your professional may request permission to talk with other family support experts. It helps them coordinate support and ensures you get the proper support at the right time.
Lead Professionals
Lead professionals update you and your family. In addition, they organise gatherings. For example, you’ll work with a Team Around Family meeting. So, the lead professional records talks and monitors your family’s plan. Early Help Assessment determines the family’s team. Professionals share Early Help Assessment documents with others concerned with your consent. They do it to support the process and ensure full service. So, they share it with health visitors, school pastoral workers, and financial help agencies.
Fraser Guidelines
Professionals use the Fraser Guidelines in helping young people who ask for aid. These criteria help determine if a young person is mature enough to
• make decisions,
• comprehend their consequences,
• and secure their personal information.
Team Around Family
Team Around Family meetings occur every 6-12 weeks after the Early Help Assessment. In Team Around Family, you, your family, and professionals will gather. Then, a GP, support worker, or teacher will check the action plan and discuss the next steps during the meeting. However, it’s necessary to feel that agencies are helping you. If you don’t, express your concerns. To maximise child outcomes, Team Around Family considers the complete family. Team Around family coordinates all family service support. Therefore, Team Around Family meetings should reflect that a child is part of a family.
You and other attendees will receive review notes after the Team Around Family meeting. The professionals can close the assessment when you and your family are better, and all planned actions are completed. Finally, a Team Around Family will conclude its reflections. The team will collect closure and evaluation forms with the assessment documentation.
Whole Family Assessment
Whole Family Assessment considers all family members’ needs and relationships. In addition, the assessment prioritises child safety and wellbeing.
Finally, professionals will explicitly state the desired outcomes to address concerns.
Types of Early Help
There are numerous approaches to Early Help. For example, they may involve home visitation programmes, school-based initiatives, and mentoring programmes. In addition, Early Help programmes should be a part of a continuum of care that enables professionals to address the many levels of need. For example, a family’s requirements might be more significant than anticipated. Therefore, Early Help Assessment must be comprehensive.
Home Visitation Programmes
These programmes are preventative measures that help expectant and new mothers. The initiative detects and cures cases of child maltreatment before they happen. In addition, there is a wide variety of services that agencies can incorporate into home visitation initiatives. Also, typical agenda items in these programmes include discussions on
• parenting,
• child psychology,
• and physical health.
School-Based Initiatives
These initiatives may involve
• one-on-one sessions,
• assessments in small groups (of five to eight students),
• and Emotional Health Workers.
In addition, school-based initiatives employ targeted and evidence-based approaches. Those approaches treat children with various challenges. Services for faculty and parents are also available.
For example, school-based programmes may deal with challenges due to
• anxiety
• depression
• self-harm,
• social difficulties,
• stress
• or a lack of motivation.
It helps students strengthen self-assurance, assertiveness, social abilities, and resiliency. School-aged children and young people with
• Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)
• or Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)
generally have several requirements to address through a programme.
Mentoring Programmes
Mentoring programmes help children, and young people avoid potentially harmful situations. In addition, young people develop the skills to bounce back from adversity. Mentoring programmes might range from adult volunteers to upper-level students. However, all help young people by pairing them with an older, more experienced person for guidance and support.
Mentoring programmes work with people of various ages. In addition, you may apply it to individuals or families who have experienced homelessness, abuse, or other forms of harm. For Early Help Assessment, these programmes improve mental health. In addition, they boost academic performance and focus on preventing juvenile crime. To be an expert in saving children from abuse, study our How to Save Children from Abuse | Interactive Training Course.
How to Make a Referral for Early Help?
There are different ways to make a referral for Early Help
New Early Help Assessment
A young person (over 16), a parent, a caretaker, or a professional can submit a Multi-Agency Referral Form. However, it would be best if you got in touch with the agency so they can appropriately process your request before completing the MARF. In addition, they will process your referral on social care software if you are a Council member with access to the Early Help Module.
Ongoing Early Help Assessment
You may be helping a family through an Early Help Assessment at your organisation. In addition, you would like to expand your assistance to include other Early Help services the council provides. Then, you can contact the agency number and fill out a Multi-Agency Referral Form.
On the other hand, a family may already have an Early Help Assessment plan for their children. However, it needs help as part of a whole-family strategy to address difficulties at an Early Help threshold. So then, Education Health and Care planning should put Early Help Assessment into their single planning process.
There may be two plans in place- the children’s own Education Health and Care plan and an Early Help Assessment plan. In this case, the Early Assessment Plan addresses the broader concerns affecting the child and their family. For the child’s sake, fine coordination between the plans must be acceptable to guarantee they work together. Even while schools will take on the Lead Practitioner role, they will still have access to the Early Help Assessment. To get help for an already established Early Help Assessment at your agency, specify that on the Multi-Agency Referral Form.
Early Help Assessment VS Common Assessment Framework
Common Assessment Framework determined and addressed Children’s unmet needs. That was before the introduction of the Early Help Assessment. Its job was to provide the most effective assistance for children. For example, an assessor used it to facilitate communication with the children and their parents or caregivers. By doing it, the assessor gained a thorough understanding of the problems.
Authorities initially intended to supplement the Common Assessment Framework with the Early Help Assessment. However, the Early Help Assessment was finally released as a separate document in September 2021. Its business is to enhance the availability and quality of services for you and your children. With your permission, employees from various companies may discuss and share your information.
The Early Help Assessment considers the family as a whole while doing an evaluation. In addition, it aids in determining the requirements of both children and adults. While the Early Help Assessment is based on the same concepts as the Common Assessment Framework, it is much easier to implement. Therefore, practitioners provide a more coordinated and cohesive response.
What are the Indicators of a Well-Executed Early Help Assessment?
An Early Help Assessment procedure should encourage the child and the parents to take an active role in the assessment process. Besides, they need to accept responsibility for the information they provide. In addition, an Early Help Assessment should encourage the young person and their carer to shape the conversation and find solutions actively.
Furthermore, it should be easily reachable. For example, you can complete the assessment reasonably and have ready access to the resources you’ll need. An early help assessment should be transparent. Additionally, a comprehensive Early Help Assessment will assess
♦ the individual strengths
♦ and needs of the children.
Indicators
Some of the indicators of a well-executed assessment include the following.
• The Early Help Assessment has assessed what it was designed to assess.
• The assessment is spot-on in identifying the child’s areas for improvement.
• The assessment allows everyone to be involved. In addition, it includes future practitioners who may be responsible for the child’s case to understand and use it.
• The Early Help Assessment use words and expressions of the children and their families. As a result, they get a voice in the process. It ensures that everyone has a fair shot at success.
• There is no discrimination or bias in the assessment. In addition, it valued and reflected the perspectives and experiences of the child and their parents.
• The assessment consists of credible information.
• The Early Help Assessment adheres to objectivity and standards for making and releasing public records.
• It identifies the strengths and needs explicitly to identify suitable action.
• The assessment focuses on what the child or young person and their parents want to achieve.
What is an Early Help Assessment Form?
An initial meeting happens between the child in need, their family, and professionals. In that meeting, they fill out the Early Help Assessment form. The form helps determine the level of assistance required. In addition, it derives personal information about the family. Furthermore, it seeks to collect concise and evidence-based information. You may find out more about the form from the image below.
Note: It needs to be a complete form. The entire document has many sections that may or may not include the following-
• Section A- The Child
• Section B- People in the Family
• Section C- Services Working With the Family
• Section D- Reason for Assessment
• Section E- Next Steps
• Section F- Author’s Details
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FAQs
Some questions regarding Early Help Assessment may arise frequently in your mind. Here, we tried to answer some of these questions.
1. How should I handle Early Help Assessment’s management processes, administration, etc., within organisations?
Organisations are responsible for creating their Early Help Assessment-related administration systems and processes. Furthermore, each organisation must adhere to the Early Help process by submitting a closure reporting form. You may have problems or questions about the procedures at your agency. Talk to your boss or the Early Help Assessment lead, or send an email to the Early Help inbox.
2. Is Training Needed to Complete an Early Help Assessment?
Filling out an Early Help Assessment does not necessitate any special education or expertise on your part. However, you may take our Safeguarding Children Course. It’ll help you understand better what to look out for safeguarding risks. In addition, you’ll learn how to deal with or assist with issues the risks may have caused.
Formal training might be unnecessary. However, before administering one, you must understand how an Early Help Assessment works. Before the evaluation, you should also be familiar with the children and the family.
3. How Do We (Practitioners) Handle the Risk Associated With a Refusal of Consent?
To mitigate danger, you should follow the protocols established by your organisation. According to the Department for Education, the Early Help Assessment is a voluntary method of reaching an agreement. In cases with no significant child welfare concerns, obtaining the family’s consent to any aspect of the procedure may be all that you can do. Nonetheless, it would help if you still recorded this inside your organisation.
4. In What Time Frame Can I Expect to Finish My Early Help Assessment?
• The complexity of the child’s or young person’s requirements
• and your information about the family
will determine the specifics of your approach. The assessment may take a little time to complete after you’ve talked to the child and their family. Besides, it may include a more extended connection with the family. However, within three weeks, you must submit a scanned copy of the signed Early Help Assessment document.
Summary
The Early Help Assessment is a simple way to find out what help a family needs immediately and in the future. It allows professionals to determine what each child and family needs and what they do well.
The early help access point will keep track of your and your family’s names, dates of birth, addresses, contact information, and conversations. In addition, the assessment puts the safety and wellbeing of the child first. Also, it looks at the needs and relationships of everyone in the family. Therefore, a well-done review pinpoints exactly where the child needs to improve.
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