DELIVERING YORK’S EARLY HELP PRIORITIES AND NEXT STEPS– 2014-16
York‟s Early Help Strategy for Children and Families outlines our ambition for early help services, explains the strategic framework
within which services have been designed, and sets out our next steps for 2014-16. The strategy document is available on the
YorOK and Safeguarding websites, www.yor-ok.org.uk and www.yor-ok.org.uk/SaferChildrenYork
The strategy will be delivered through this Early Help Action Plan which has been produced jointly by the YorOK Children's Trust
Board and the City of York Safeguarding Children Board. It sets out our priority areas for action, states who is responsible for
delivering agreed actions and how progress will be monitored and when actions will be completed.
If you have any queries, or would like to discuss this Action Plan, please contact Judy Kent, Children‟s Trust Unit Manager on
01904 554039 or email [email protected]
Note:
YorOK – YorOK Children‟s Trust Partnership Board
IWIG - Integrated Working Implementation Group, sub group of
the YorOK Board
YorOK Sub Groups – These have a focus on specific groups of
children, e.g. looked after children; disabled children
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CYSCB – City of York Safeguarding Children Board
P&ISG – Performance & Improvement Sub Group of the
Safeguarding Board
YEP – York Education Partnership
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DRAFT EARLY HELP ACTION PL AN
Actions
Priority: Improving the quality of practice
Introduce the „flagging‟ of concerns on the early help child
index. This will enable practitioners to record that they
have a non-safeguarding concern about a child. Consent
from the family will not be required; no details of the
concern will be recorded. Each „flag‟ will prompt a review
of the child‟s circumstances by the Advice Team and as a
minimum standard, follow up action will be taken if three
flags are logged.
Note: Developed, implemented & promotion ongoing.
Improve the quality of referrals to the Front Door:
 Widely publicise the YorOK Threshold guidance;
 Widely publicise thresholds for children‟s social care
services;
 Embed thresholds into Integrated Working and
Safeguarding training and workforce development.
Note: Ongoing through IW training, bulletin and link work.
Will need constant attention; CYSCB Action to review
thresholds
All calls to the Front Door that do not meet the threshold
for social work services are routinely passed to the Advice
Team / Family Information Service for the active
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Accountable (bold) &
Monitoring
Lead
Timescale
Judy Kent
Approved by YorOK
3 March 2014 &
CYSCB by 30 April
2014
Implemented June
2014
YorOK Board
IWIG
End April 2014
Safeguarding Board
CYSCB / York
Education Partnership
June 2015
AD Children’s Social
Care
IWIG
Alan Hodgson
Dot Evans
Alan Hodgson &
Dee Cooley
Helen Healey,
Donna Barnes, Jo
Gommerson., Alan
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consideration of an early help response.
Note: Work in progress. Meeting planned to review
workflow.
Improve the quality of assessments in respect of:
 Ensuring the voice of the child „shines through‟ each
assessment;
 Placing the child at the heart of holistic family based
assessments;
 Involving fathers in assessments.
Improvements in assessment proactive to be supported
through routine audit processes and workforce
development activity. See below.
Note: Highlighted in QA audit & votc audit. Training
modules revised to incorporate. Ongoing work with Paula
Richardson and Childs voice workstream and revised
training offer to come out soon.
Adapt audit templates to incorporate the above.
Specifically monitor and report on these areas.
Note: Done and ongoing monitoring
Provide learning & development opportunities to support
and improve early help assessment practice, this based on
known good practice and research that produces positive
outcomes
Note: New training offer in place; being launched as 2015
ear of Assessment
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Hodgson
All agencies
September 2015
Support led by:
Alan Hodgson &
Advice Team & Joe
Cocker &
Safeguarding Unit
Alan Hodgson
&Advice Team /
Joe Cocker &
Safeguarding Unit
Alan Hodgson &
Advice Team
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Safeguarding Board
IWIG / P&ISG
Completed June
2014
Safeguarding Board
IWIG / P&ISG
June 2014
YorOK Board
IWIG / P&ISG
Action
Priority: Improving quality assurance
A copy of every early help assessment is sent to the
Children‟s Advice team (with the consent of the child /
family)
Note: Message delivered through link work and bulletin
and through daily dialogue with practitioners. Improving but
still work to do.
Undertake periodic, routine audits of early help
assessments.
Note: Framework in place and working well. Will inform
training. Still work to do on feedback mechanisms
Include early help assessments within ongoing case file
audit activity led through the Safeguarding Unit.
Note: requested a while back but needs pursuing.
Feed back findings and recommendations from audits to
individuals involved and to relevant agencies & partnership
Boards.
Note: process in place
Improve how we communicate the findings of audits to
the individuals involved and to the wider partnership
workforce in order that we realise the full benefits of
these processes.
Note: Debated at IWIG. Approach agreed. To be
imple mented.
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Lead
Timescale
Monitoring
Judy Kent
Approval by YorOK
3 March 2014 &
CYSCB by 30 April
2014.
June 2014
YorOK Board
IWIG
Quarterly
YorOK Board
IWIG / P&ISG
Joe Cocker
Monthly
Safeguarding Board
P&ISG / IW IG
Alan Hodgson &
Joe Cocker
Quarterly
Safeguarding Board
IWIG / P&ISG
Alan Hodgson &
Joe Cocker
Quarterly
Update at March 15
meeting
Safeguarding Board
IWIG / P&ISG
Implementation: All
agencies
Alan Hodgson,
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Actions
Priority: Improved, integrated performance monitoring
Clarify which types of assessments are „early help
assessments‟, eg CAF, Family Focus, Early Support etc.
Note: Completed.
Capture the full range of early help assessments on the
eTrak database.
Note: System / tool in place and actively pursuing all
assessments used in City to determine “feha compliancy”.
If not compliant we log as “other service involvement”
Record on eTrak when all early help assessments are
undertaken and when the provision of early help ends.
Note: process in place but needs constant attention and
reminders through link work and bulletin.
Lead
Timescale
Monitoring
Judy Kent
End May 2014
YorOK Board
IWIG
Judy Kent
From May 2014
YorOK Board
IWIG
Alan Hodgson
From May 2014
YorOK Board
IWIG
Routinely monitor early help and safeguarding
performance and outcomes data in respect of all children.
Note: processes in place
EH: Judy Kent
Safeguarding: Eoin
Rush
Monitor outcomes relating to groups of vulnerable children,
for example children who are at risk of sexual exploitation
and children in receipt of free school meals.
Note: not sure, can we discuss? Storyboards?
EH: Judy Kent
Safeguarding: Eoin
Rush
From April 2014
Monitor the implementation and development of the early
help „infrastructure‟ (eg number of assessments, lead
practitioners, link visits undertaken, training courses
Judy Kent
April 2014 onwards
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Process in place
? practice
From April 2014
YorOK Board
& Safeguarding Board
YorOK Sub Groups /
P&ISG
YorOK Board
& Safeguarding Board
YorOK Sub Groups /
P&ISG
YorOK Board
IWIG
offered / attended etc)
Note: embedded performance scorecard; management
tool in use and information actively gathered
Keep under review those cases which flow up and down
the system and the „step up, step down‟ system.
Note: we should be in a better position to deliver this when
Etrak‟s many techie issues are resolved
April 2014 onwards
Safeguarding Board
P&ISG
Actions
Lead
Priority: Improve communications
Develop a comprehensive list of electronic communication Judy Kent
channels across the children‟s partnership, including:
 Websites
 mailing lists
 YorOK and other newsletters
Note: not sure, can we discuss?
Promote a higher level of sign up to the YorOK Newsletter Judy Kent
across the children‟s partnership.
Note: Numbers increasing: promoted through link work and
bulletin
Timescale
Monitoring
April 2014
YorOK Board
IWIG
April 2014
YorOK Board
IWIG
Action
Priority: Workforce development
Work alongside the Workforce Development Unit to
progress options of delivering learning and development
through e-Learning.
Timescale
Monitoring
March Monitor 2015
Dot Evans
Lead
Judy Kent
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YorOK Board
IWIG
Note: scoping underway as part of work on revised training
offer
Introduce a cascade model of disseminating key
messages and practice implications of our early help
strategy and integrated working practices. This to ensure
that every team / service has an identified early help
workplace champion / local expert.
Note: Through link work and bulletin
Provide learning and development on:
 Assessing early needs
 Producing a good quality assessment of need
 Outcomes focused planning
 How to evidence that a intervention has made a
positive difference
Note: Included in revised training offer
Provide information and support for practitioners to enable
full an effective engagement within local Early Help
arrangements through:
 YorOK Newsletter
 Refreshed and re-launched YorOK online introduction
to Early Help package
Note: newsletter distributed; On line YorOK EH self
assessment still available and being updated.
Help people to learn more about the roles of others to
improve understanding of own and others‟ contribution to
early help assessment and provision for individual and
groups of vulnerable children.
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Judy Kent
September 2014
YorOK Board
IWIG
Judy Kent
September 2014
YorOK Board
IWIG /
Judy Kent
May 2014
YorOK Board
IWIG
Alan Hodgson / Joe
Cocker
March 2015
YorOK Board
IWIG
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Note: scoping underway as part of work on revised
training offer butt undertaken as part of link work role
currently
Continue to improve how we identify and analyse YorOK
workforce development needs;
Note: IW IG is key forum for feeding in identified needs and
follow up action. WDU Workforce Adviser is a member of
IWIG.
Working alongside regional colleagues to provide quality,
cost effective training packages
Note: scoping underway as part of work on revised
training offer
Continue to explore ways of measuring the impact of
workforce development activity on improved outcomes for
children and young people.
Note: not sure, can we discuss?
Review the Integrated working package for practitioners to
take account of changes, standards and aspirations
embodied in our early Help Strategy and action plan.
Note: Revised training offer in place
Provide learning and development sessions for managers
across the children‟s partnership to explore the
implications of leadership and management arising from
our early Help Strategy and action plan.
Note: Incorporated in revised training offer.
March Monitor 2015
Judy Kent
December 2014
YorOK Board
IWIG
Chris Shipley
March 2015
YorOK Board
IWIG
Judy Kent
December 2014
YorOK Board
IWIG
Alan Hodgson
May 2014
YorOK Board
IWIG
Alan Hodgson
September 2014
YorOK Board
IWIG
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Action
Priority: Strengthening commissioning
Produce strong profiles of need, these informing outcomes
based planning, decision making and commissioning. This
also supports the Joint Strategic Needs Assessment
process.
Note: Further progress needed. Capacity issues in
Advice team. Note lnk to new School Cluster support
arrangement sin context of EH.
Specifically develop the capability of the Children‟s Advice
Team to systematically capture and record the needs of
children and parents who have identified early help needs
and who receive early help, to directly inform
commissioning decisions.
Note: As above
Lead
Timescale
Monitoring
Judy Kent
August 2014
YorOK Board
YorOK Sub Groups /
P&ISG
Judy Kent
June 2014
YorOK Board
Action
Lead
Priority: Moving towards a locality model for early help arrangements
Establish 3 Early Help hubs across the City
Judy Kent
Note: Completed; functioning well with some excellent
feedback already
Identify named Advice Workers to lead and support each
Alan Hodgson
hub
Note: Completed; functioning well with some excellent
feedback already
Establish purpose and remit of locality hubs, e.g.:
Judy Kent
March Monitor 2015
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Timescale
Monitoring
July 2014
YorOK Board
IWIG
YorOK Board
IWIG
July 2014
YorOK Board

Improve local intelligence – about individual and groups
of children about whom there are concerns;
 Identify gaps in early provision - this to inform
commissioning
 Strengthen information sharing
 Support strong partnership working
 Build from effective local arrangements
Note: infrastructure in place; ongoing development
work in place.
Identify key services & individuals involved in leading and
providing early help in each cluster.
Note: infrastructure in place ; ongoing development
work in place.
Identify processes and systems in each locality that enable
the delivery of responsive and effective early help
arrangements: where these already exist (e.g. panels;
York 300; established forums and school clusters) and
where there are gaps.
Note: infrastructure in place ; ongoing development
work in place.
Pilot processes / panels / systems etc as deemed
appropriate.
Note: still work to do. Next priority?
Keep progress under review and report on progress & next
steps to YorOK & Safeguarding Boards
Note: still work to do. Next priority?
March Monitor 2015
IWIG
Judy Kent
July 2014
YorOK Board
IWIG
Alan Hodgson
July 2014
YorOK Board
IWIG
Judy Kent
End of 2014
YorOK Board
IWIG
Judy Kent
From July 2014
YorOK Board
IWIG
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Note:
Name
Judy Kent
Alan Hodgson
Dot Evans
Dee Cooley
Suzanne Hibbert
Di Jerwood
Joe Cocker
Eoin Rush
Chris Shipley
March Monitor 2015
Role
Head of Children‟s Trust Unit / Early Intervention
Practice manage, Children‟s Advice team
Head of Service, Children‟s Safeguarding
Safeguarding Advisor (Children's Workforce)
Service Manager - CIN and Assessment
Service Manager - CIN and Assessment
Safeguarding Manager
Assistant Director, Children‟s Specialist Services
Workforce Development Advisor
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