Early Help is a response offered by all services in Milton Keynes who are in contact with children, young people and families when an unmet need is identified as outlined in Working Together to Safeguard Children 2018, which emphasises the crucial role of effective Early Help being a collective responsibility of all agencies to identify, assess and provide effective Early Help services

 What does the Early Help Assessment do?

• Assesses what support families need: The Lead Professional will complete an assessment with the family to understand what is going well, what people are worried about, and what support the family needs to achieve their goals.
• Creates a plan and checking how well it is working: The Lead Professional will support the family to create a plan that works for them so the family has the support and help they need. Everyone will check that the plan is working so we know that we will get to our goal. 
• Effective early help: This relies upon local organisations and agencies working together to identify children and families who would benefit from support, undertaking an assessment of the need and providing targeted services to address the needs of a child and their family. Effective early help relies upon local agencies working together to:

• Identify children and families who would benefit from early help
• Make an assessment of the need for early help
• Provide targeted early help services to address the assessed needs of a child and their family.
• Help focus on activity to significantly improve the outcomes for the child. If those needs turn to risks, then these assessments can also help to demonstrate the need for statutory intervention when early support has not improved outcomes for the child.

• Team around the Family or TAF: This is an effective method of partner working. It is a good opportunity for all practitioners, along with parents, children and young people to discuss the situation. This can include strengths, needs, issues, options for resolutions, plans for support and services. Discussions will also include how to progress with these.

EARLY HELP ADVISORS

Three Early Help Advisors are available to help with your Early Help Assessment/TAF queries. They will help you embed TAF in your school, college or nursery. The advisors offer a hands on approach for partners. They also provide bespoke support to help with the TAF process. They will help you improve the quality of your assessments and action plans. Early Help advisors work within MASH and are easily accessible via their own dedicated email EHA@milton-keynes.gov.uk and via the MASH Team on 01908 253169

Remember Early Help is everyone’s responsibility.