What is Early Help?
Early Help is about providing support to potentially vulnerable children, young people and their families as soon as problems begin to emerge, or when there is a strong likelihood that problems will start in the future. It is also about providing support at any and every stage of a child's life: pre-birth, during pregnancy, childhood or adolescence. In Gloucestershire, we believe that families are best supported by practitioners who are already working with them, as well as other organisations and services within their local community. These organisations include health services, schools, learning providers, councils, charities and voluntary groups, children and family centers, the police, housing providers and many others.
Early Help is an umbrella term that describes the work of many agencies engaged with children and families and focuses on how we can help people to do things for themselves and build on strengths within families. If we can get this right early on, at the right time, we get the opportunity to help people with areas of their life they may be struggling with, which sets people up for a better long-term future. It is also about providing support at any and every stage of a child’s life: pre-birth, during pregnancy, childhood and/or early adulthood. Early help is voluntary and with consent. Before support is undertaken, informed consent will need to be gained from the young person and family.
Informed consent means the young person and family are able to fully understand the reasons for consent. Children, young people and families with additional needs will be supported through the use of the Graduated Pathway of Early Help and Support.
A Parent helpline line is currently being run by Family Information Service - please call 0800 5420202.