Early Help is about ensuring that children and families receive the support they need at the right time. Providing early help is more effective in promoting the welfare of children than reacting later. Early help means providing support as soon as a problem emerges, at any point in a child’s life, from the foundation years through to the teenage years.

Effective early help relies upon local agencies working together to:

• identify children and families who would benefit from early help;
• undertake an assessment of the need for early help; and
• provide targeted early help services to address the assessed needs of a child and their family which focuses on activity to significantly improve the outcomes for the child.

Working Together to Safeguard Children

Information about how Early Help is implemented in Buckinghamshire can be found on the BSCB (Buckinghamshire Safeguarding Children Board) website including details of the following :

• Threshold Document and Referral Flow-chart: these documents should be used to help you make a decision about what you should do next when you have concerns about a child.

• Threshold Guidance: this supports those working with children and families  to understand their needs and direct them to the right level of support using the thresholds

• Early Help Strategy: This explains how Early Help is implemented, using a co- ordinated, multi – agency approach.

Details about agencies available to support children and families can be found on the Buckinghamshire Family Information Service website