Draft Version V 9 101215
Poole Children’s
Services
Early Help Strategy
2015-2017
“The right help at the right time”
1 (15)
Draft Version V 9 101215
Contents
1.
Definition of Early Help
2.
Our vision for Early Help
3.
Purpose Statement
4.
Meeting Our Priorities
5.
Key principles
6.
The Need for Early Help in Poole
7.
Poole Levels of Need
8.
Delivering Early Help at Every Level of Need
9.
Early Help Assessment Framework
10.
Families with Futures and Troubled Families
11.
Governance, Planning and Commissioning of Early help Services.
12.
Priorities to Achieve a Comprehensive Early Help Offer
2 (15)
Draft Version V 9 101215
1. Definition of Early Help
Early help is about identifying problems at an early stage and providing purposeful
and effective help as soon as possible to prevent those problems escalating and
becoming more complex to resolve. Early help can be offered to children and young
people aged 0-19 years, to families and parents or to vulnerable groups.



So that problems don’t arise in the first place (prevention)
So that problems are dealt with early so that risks and impacts are reduced (early
intervention/secondary prevention)
So that we support children, young people and families when they are more
vulnerable and have more complex or longer-lasting needs
2. Our Vision for Early Help
Children, Young People, Parents and Families and their local communities will have
the skills and resources themselves to cope with adversity and problems.
Children, Young People, Parents and Families can easily access services that meet
their needs at the right time and in the right way to achieve good outcomes and best
value for money.
Services will be coherent, integrated, targeted at those in most need and focused on
improving outcomes and reducing the need for more specialist high cost services.
3. Purpose Statement
The overall objective of early help is to intervene as early as possible to best meet
the needs of children, young people and families and to prevent escalation of
problems and demands on high cost specialist services.
4. Meeting Our Priorities
The Early Help Strategy and Early Help Improvement plan explains how Poole
Council working with Children’s Trust partners will achieve the priority within Poole’s
Corporate Strategy;
‘Ensure all children and young people have the chance to achieve their full
potential’
And the priorities laid out in the Poole Children’s Services Strategic Plan, specifically;
Deliver excellent safeguarding and early intervention to keep children safe and
promote their welfare
Ensure that children, young people and families receive effective early help
and early intervention to improve their resilience and improve outcomes.
3 (15)
Draft Version V 9 101215
5. Key Principles
Principles underpinning our Early Help Strategy:
This strategy is a partnership document as its delivery depends on successful
working, not only with statutory agencies such as Police and Health but also a range
of other agencies and providers including: schools, other council services, Early
Years providers, Further Education and the voluntary and community sector.
Our vision is based on the following principles:

We will support the capacity of our universal services to respond to emerging
problems and deal with them without requiring escalation to more targeted
services.

We will make it easy for families, young people and those who work with
them, to access information, advice and support.

We will identify problems at an early stage through an early help assessment,
and where concerns are identified we will ensure risks are identified and that
the family or young person receives the appropriate level of response.

Families, children and young people are central to defining and addressing
the problems they face and we will support them to have the skills and
resources to be self reliant and manage problems themselves.

We will focus on our early intervention offer to families from conception to
children age 5 years because we know this is the best time to make a
difference to the child’s outcomes in later life.

We recognise that families and vulnerable young people with complex needs
require a co-ordinated and intensive service response from staff skilled in
working with young people and families.
Success Factors
To fulfil our vision we must;

Use our understanding of children, young people and families’ experience of
what works to design services better.
4 (15)
Draft Version V 9 101215

At an early stage we will seek the consent of families and young people to
share information to help us meet their needs. We will put in place multiagency processes so this information can be shared appropriately and safely.

Use evidence based interventions and our services will demonstrate that they
are improving outcomes for children, young people and families and we will
put systems in place so we know the effectiveness of our early help
interventions across services.

Ensure an integrated approach across the local authority and partner
agencies including Health, Police, Housing, Adult Social Care and the
Voluntary and Community Sector.

Develop our workforce to be skilled to identify a range of problems early and
to intervene using effective delivery models and to understand when to
escalate to more specialist services.

Ensure that early help offer does not end when specialist services become
involved and that appropriate support is in place as families and young people
‘step down’ from specialist services.
6. The Need for Early Help in Poole
6.1. The Poole Children’s Trust understands the needs of the children young people
and families in Poole and sets its priorities through several different sources.
At a strategic level the Joint Strategic Needs analysis provides the overview of the
needs
of
the
population,
including
children
across
Poole.
(http://www.publichealthdorset.org.uk/understanding)
The JSNA tells us that while overall many children in Poole have good outcomes,
particular vulnerable groups and children in specific areas of Poole do not do as well
and will require targeted Early Help.
Alongside and informing the JSNA, specific needs analyses are undertaken around
vulnerable groups (eg. The recent Needs Analysis on Children with SEN and
Disability) or around emerging problems (eg. Deliberate Self Harm.)
In addition the Children’s Trust looks at the effectiveness of services and the impact
they are having on improving outcomes for young people. The views of young
people are vital to help understand what needs to change (eg. recent work with
young people on changing the service delivery model around emotional well being
and mental health)
Key messages about the need for Early Help are;


Poorer outcomes for children in specific areas of the town;
Turlin Moor, Bourne Valley and parts of the Town Centre.
5 (15)
Draft Version V 9 101215

Vulnerable children’s attainment gap, particularly at Key Stage 2.

High demand for child protection and child and adolescent mental health
services.

The growing black and ethnic minority population of the town.

Specific issues around risky behaviour for teenagers.

The profile of domestic abuse and the impact of this on children

The impact of parental mental health or drug and alcohol use

The impact of the lack of affordable housing and in work poverty.
7. The Poole Levels of Need
This diagram shows the Poole levels of need (level 1 Universal relates to all children
which is why the green ring continues while need increases)
Poole Levels of Need:
1. Level 1 - Universal Services. All children will receive Universal services
2. Level 2 - Universal Plus Services. Children and families who have additional
needs
6 (15)
Draft Version V 9 101215
3. Level 3 - Partnership Plus Services. Children and families who are vulnerable
and need a multi-agency response
4. Level 4 - Specialist/Statutory Services. Children and families with the highest
levels of complex need, including those at risk of significant harm (child protection)
Poole Levels of Need and Thresholds for Service are described in more detail in
Appendix 1.
8. Delivering Early Help at every level of need
Our aim is to make it easy for children, families, young people, and those who work
with them, to access information, advice and support. It is recognised that some
families’ needs can escalate and de-escalate - whether families receive services
from one or all four levels of service; the critical thing is the need to work and
integrate with partners across all levels of provision. Providing the right help at the
right time will both support families to be self-sufficient and support Poole to make
best use of its resources.
8.1.
Level 1: Universal Services
All children will have needs that are met by Universal services, such as children’s
centres, early years settings, child health services (via the child health programme),
positive activities for young people, general practitioners and schools.
Early Help at Universal Level
Universal services are the first port of call as families identify the need for help.
Children, young people and families must be able freely access information and
advice appropriate to their needs.
The Family Information Service (FIS) is a universally accessible free, confidential
and impartial information service for parents and carers of 0 to 19 year olds (24
years if their child is disabled). It provides comprehensive and up-to-date information
on local organisations, services, childcare, activities and events relating to children
and young people, their parents and carers as well as professionals working with
families
Universal services provide access to support whether this is via a school, Children’s
Centre, Early Years Setting, GP surgery, Health Visitor, the Quay Advice Centre, the
Family Information Service or other sites where services are based. These services
will signpost families to additional support if required and are always available for
families who are already receiving extra help.
7 (15)
Draft Version V 9 101215
Universal services will work closely with each other, have an understanding of the
role of other services and be able to identify when a child, young person or family
needs help or support
Universal services play a key role in building resilience, for example in ensuring
young children are school ready.
Health universal services; general practitioners, midwives and health visitors
working with children’s centres are crucial in that they provide the first point of
contact for new families with children’s services, they will identify those parents who
are vulnerable, identify risk and resilience factors and who requires early help.
For school-aged children, school staff and linked services ( in schools or in the
community) such as school nurses are also crucial in identifying vulnerability and the
need for early help.
Universal services staff must be able to access, advise and support from specialist and
targeted services, including the CONSULT offer from social care to help them decide
the appropriate action with a child or family.
8.2. Level 2: Universal Plus Services
Some children, young people and families will have additional and emerging needs
which they cannot resolve with the resources of their families, friends and
neighbours. They will either need an intervention from a targeted service or their
universal service will help them.
Early Help Offer at Universal Plus
Targeted early help services, such as support with parenting, or short break
opportunities for children with a disability can be easily accessed.
Staff in universal services will be able to meet needs by receiving advice and support
from specialist services.
Staff in universal services will have been trained in some brief interventions for
common child and family issues.
Accessing the right support at this stage will prevent individuals from becoming part
of an ongoing cycle of delivery and to avoid escalation of need which may result in
specialist/statutory services and interventions being needed. Children, young people
and families will access these services directly either by self-referral or via a referral
from a universal or other service.
An Early Help Assessment can be used if it is helpful but will not always be required.
8 (15)
Draft Version V 9 101215
8.3 Level 3 Partnership Plus Services
Children, young people and families at this level will have a number of additional
needs which will escalate without a coordinated service intervention.
Early help Offer at Partnership Plus
Families will have a holistic Early help Assessment to make sure they receive the
right service and service delivery will be coordinated by the appointment of a lead
practitioner.
Services will be targeted in approach, able to respond to the individual needs of the
family and provide evidence based interventions to meet their needs.
Services will be well-coordinated and the universal service involvement will be an
integral part of the families support.
Information will be shared to ensure the family do not have to share their story
multiple times and so the young person or family and all who work with them fully
understand the outcomes to be achieved.
Some families at Level 3 will be complex with areas of risk and concern. The family
and other agencies will be clear who is the accountable manager for oversight of risk
and concern. In some cases the Early Help Assessment may progress to a Social
Care Single Assessment.
8.4. Level 4: Specialist/Statutory Services
Children young people who require statutory intervention because they have
complex needs and are at risk of significant harm. This will include those children
requiring statutory child protection, at risk of custodial sentence or with severe
mental health problems which may require inpatient provision. All children’s services
staff should be clear on the thresholds for risk and concern and how to access help.
9 . Early Help Assessment Framework
When families are first in touch with Children’s Services and there are signs of
vulnerability or concern it is vital that a holistic Early Help assessment is carried out.
All services accessed at Partnership Plus will require that an Early Help assessment
be completed which will:



Assess the needs of the whole family (children, young people and parents)
Take steps to help them solve their problems themselves
Agree a plan with the family that ensures access to appropriate services with
families able to ‘step up’ to a more intensive service or ‘step down’ to a lower
level of support with ease. The plans will make expected outcomes clear
9 (15)
Draft Version V 9 101215

Be supported by reviews that measure outcomes and encourage greater family
and individual child and young person resilience.
We will ensure that the Early Help Assessments used are of the highest standards,
are used consistently and both improve and clearly measure the outcomes delivered
for families. There will be robust oversight of the assessment, planning and review
processes.
All family facing services in the local authority children’s services use the Poole Early
Help Assessment (PEHA) Framework.(other than social care who use the Single
Assessment framework)
Other services are being trained to use the PEHA or will use their own Early Help
Assessment Format.
There is also a quick and easy screening tool based on the Poole Early Help
Assessment that helps universal children’s services staff identify the range of needs
of a child or family and next steps.
An example of a blank Poole Early Help Assessment (PEHA) can be found here.
10. Families with Futures and ‘Troubled Families’
For phase 2 of the ‘Troubled Families’ programme (badged as ‘Families with
Futures’ in Poole) the aims of the programme have been mainstreamed into Poole’s
Early Help Offer of services. This means that;
All families that have been through the HUB and assessed as being at Level 3 will be
treated as being part of the programme. This means they will have a lead
practitioner, an early help plan and their outcomes will be monitored to ensure that
services are achieving sustained change with the family.
In practice most ‘Troubled Families’ cases will be within the Families First Service.
11. Governance, Planning and Commissioning of Early Help Services
This Early Help Strategy and linked Implementation plan is monitored and driven by
the Children’s Trust Board and the Children’s Services Improvement Board.
Performance targets and milestones are monitored and reported to these boards. In
addition key indicators are monitored by the Bournemouth and Poole Local
Safeguarding Children Board.
In response to identified need Poole local authority, neighbouring authorities and the
Clinical Commissioning Group commission a range of Early Help Services through
pan Dorset Joint Commissioning arrangements or through local Poole
commissioning. An example of this is evidence based Parent Support Programmes.
(see Poole Parenting Support Strategy)
10 (15)
Draft Version V 9 101215
Information about these services and how to access them can be found through The
Family Information Directory.
12. Priorities to achieve a comprehensive Early Help offer
While some of the building blocks are in place to deliver the continuum of Early Help
described in section 7 above the priorities for action are;
Priority 1
Early identification of need through early help family assessment
What will make a difference



Increasing numbers of early help assessments carried out by a range of
professionals, including health visitors.
A robust pathway for midwifery, health visiting and children’s centres to
identify vulnerable parents and children
Early identification of need by universal services
Priority 2
Improve outcome based planning and understanding of impact of
services
What will make a difference

Families and their children’s services worker understand the outcomes they
are trying to achieve

Robust systems are in place to measure and review outcomes and we can
track progress and understand the impact of service intervention across Early
Help (including outcomes for our Troubled Family cohort)
Priority 3
Families and young people have timely access to the right service,
and risks are identified and understood.
What will make a difference

The referral, advice and information HUB is developed to ensure families
receive the right Early help service

Universal and targeted staff are trained to identify need and risks and know
how to access advice and pathways to support.
11 (15)
Draft Version V 9 101215

Easy access to professional support within local communities for families and
young people.
Priority 4
Families with children under 5 receive effective early help
What will make a difference

Full implementation of the child health programme

Integrated pathways of support between health visiting, midwifery and
children’s centres
Priority 5
Families and young people aged 5-19 years receive effective early
help
What will make a difference

Partnership working with schools to identify vulnerable children and young
people and to develop schools based services.

Effective and coordinated school and community early help offer from
targeted and specialist children’s services (including primary mental health
workers, family outreach workers, school nurses, school attendance workers,
youth offending service, targeted youth workers, anti social behaviour team,
drug and alcohol service)

Young people can access support through a range of service responses,
including on line.
Priority 6
Families and Young People at Partnership Plus receive effective
interventions to meet their needs
What will make a difference

The service delivery model at level 3 is developed to have robust evidence
based intervention sets and robust pathways to support.

The service delivery model for young people with complex needs, engages
with young people, has effective interventions and robust management of risk
12 (15)
Draft Version V 9 101215
Priority 7
Children, young people and families have a continuum of support
for emotional wellbeing and mental health across all levels of need
What will make a difference

A whole system approach to improving emotional well being and mental
health services is in place through the pan Dorset Emotional Well being and
Mental Health Strategy.
Priority 8
Developing the children’s services workforce to ensure they can
confidently respond to need
What will make a difference

Staff are trained to carry out early help assessments, identify needs and
understand the range of potential solutions.

Training staff to carry out appropriate evidence based interventions, including
brief interventions at early contact.
Contact for this plan; Nick Wharam Strategic Planning and Commissioning Manager
[email protected] 01202 714765
13 (15)
Appendix 1: Poole Children & Young People’s Services - Levels of Need and Continuum of Support
September 2014 version
Must be read in conjunction with LSCB guidance
LEVEL 1
UNIVERSAL
LEVEL 2
UNIVERSAL PLUS
LEVEL 3
PARTNERSHIP PLUS
LEVEL 4
SPECIALIST / STATUTORY
Children with
UNIVERSAL needs
Children with
ADDITIONAL NEEDS
VULNERABLE Children
with high level additional needs requiring co-ordinated services
Children in need of PROTECTION who
require statutory services and/or local
authority care
All children and young people access UNIVERSAL services
IDENTIFICATION:
All children will have
needs that are met by
Universal services, such
as schools, children’s
centres,
early
years
settings,
child
health
services,
positive
activities for young people
and general practitioners.
Children at this level may
have one or two low level
needs or one very specific
need, but these can be
met by one agency or
referral to one other
agency.
RESPONSE:
Lead Practitioner and
assessment is not
required.
IDENTIFICATION:
Children, young people with
additional and emerging
needs which cannot be met
without the support of
additional services.
Provision of targeted or
additional support, usually
from more than one agency,
should prevent their needs
escalating to a higher level.
IDENTIFICATION:
IDENTIFICATION:
Children and young people at this level are vulnerable and are characterised
by the level and / or combination of needs within their families. They will have a
number of high level additional needs which may escalate without a coordinated service intervention.
Children requiring protection are at likely/actual
risk of significant harm, often associated with
concerns of immediate likely or ongoing physical
or sexual abuse or severe neglect.
Where the range of needs becomes more complex, children and young people
become increasingly vulnerable to poor outcomes and the intensity of service
intervention will need to reflect this. In these situations families will need
intensive or persistent services to address their needs and often this will involve
a range of services with specialist expertise.
They will have complex additional needs which
have a significant impact upon their safety and
wellbeing.
This will include children assessed as Children in Need (Section 17).
Children subject to a Child Protection Plan,
Children in Care and Care Leavers will have
needs at this level.
Many needs will be met by
staff in universal services
receiving advice and support
from specialist services.
The LSCB Early Help & Eligibility Criteria and Levels of Need document
provides illustrative examples of children with high level additional needs within
this level.
The LSCB Early Help & Eligibility Criteria and
Levels of Need document provides illustrative
examples of children in need of protection within
this level.
RESPONSE:
RESPONSE:
RESPONSE:
These children may require
a Lead Professional if coordinated support services
involving more than one
agency is required.
In these cases an Early Help Assessment/CAF is required and a Lead
Practitioner should be identified.
Referral to CYPSC for assessment via either the
Multi-Agency Referral Form or using the MultiAgency Referral front sheet and an Early Help
Assessment/CAF.
An Early Help Assessment /
CAF is not a requirement in
order to access appropriate
services, but might be
helpful if it is felt that the
child may have needs at a
higher level.
Screening tools such as the
‘wheels’ from the Poole
Early Help
Assessment
(PEHA) or pre-CAF checklist
provide a useful framework
for diagnosing needs.
Assessment should lead to a multi-agency support plan overseen by the Lead
Practitioner utilising Team Around the Child/Family meetings as needed.
Cases initially at this level should only be referred to CYPSC if:
1. An Early Help Assessment/CAF has been completed and Team Around
the Child/Family and Lead Practitioner approach has been tried, but there
has been deterioration and/or an event which has led to significant child
in need concerns
2. An Early Help Assessment/CAF has been completed and the needs/risks
are felt to be too great to be met via an integrated team around the child
approach’. At this level consent to refer is required unless the child is
considered to be at risk of significant harm
3. The issues are urgent or, in referrer’s professional opinion, the risks are
such that they cannot wait for an integrated Team Around the
Child/Family approach. The referrer must be able to articulate and
evidence the perceived risks and concerns
Cases referred to CYPSC at this level will be screened. If the referral criteria
are met, a Single Assessment and Intervention (S17) will be undertaken.
14 (15)
The provision of an Early Help Assessment/CAF
is not a pre-requisite if there are immediate
significant safeguarding concerns or direct
referral is from member of the public.
Referrals will be assessed using the Single
Assessment and Intervention under S17 or as a
S47 enquiry where significant harm is known or
suspected.
(See LSCB Bournemouth Dorset and Poole
Safeguarding Procedures)