NSCP Early Help Strategy Action Plan Summary Briefing

NSCP Early Help Strategy & Action Plan Summary Briefing for Children’s Partnership Workforce 30/10/2020 15/12/2021 1

Partnership Mission Statement For the children and young people of Northamptonshire to be as safe as they can be from harm, exploitation and neglect. Key Priorities: • Priority One : Taking positive action early enough to protect children • Priority Two : To support children, young people and families who are at risk of exploitation • Priority Three : To work effectively as a partnership and support our staff 15/12/2021 2

What is Early Help? “Early help means ‘providing support as soon as the problem emerges, at any point in the child’s life from the foundation years through to the teenage years. ” Working Together (2018) • This strategy expects Early Help in Northamptonshire to be offered to all children and young people who need it. This ranges from the antenatal period to adolescents age 19 years (and up to 25 for children and young people with SEND). 15/12/2021 3

Early help is a collaboration not a service. In its simplest terms everyone is involved in the delivery of early help. This includes families, communities, voluntary groups, “universal” provision, schools, health and targeted support. 15/12/2021 4

Key Messages • The purpose of early help is, through prompt and targeted interventions, to prevent issues and problems becoming acute, chronic and costly to the child, young person, the family and the wider community. • Early help may be provided through an increase in the levels of universal services, or services provided or commissioned in clusters; this includes family support provided by schools and third sector services. Families are best supported by those who already work with them organising additional support with local partners as needed. 15/12/2021 5

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What is our partnership vision for Early Help in Northamptonshire? 15/12/2021 7

Our early help vision is based on the Early Help System Guide (2020) published by MHCLG and our shared focus in Northamptonshire is on better outcomes for children and families. 15/12/2021 8

What is the Early Help Offer? • Where a practitioner feels that a child or young person may need additional support (beyond that available from a single agency) there will be the opportunity to have a quality conversation with practitioners from other agencies to: clarify the nature of the concerns; identify the needs of the child / young person; and agree the appropriate response and how it will be coordinated. • The best time is early in the life of the problem, when it is felt that the child’s needs are not being met and something else is needed to improve their outcomes. 15/12/2021 9

As children’s needs are met and concerns are reduced, we continue to have quality conversations in order to provide appropriate support for the child and their family until that support is no longer required. 15/12/2021 10

Headlines of Early Help Action Plan Year One 2020 - 2021 1. Refresh and agree partnership Early Help Strategy, implement, monitor and review 2. Refresh Neglect Strategy, implement, monitor and review use of Graded Care Profile as partnership tool 3. Develop the role of the Early Help Coordinators to be the link in developing locality Early Help Forums 15/12/2021 11

4. Refresh Signs of Safety Briefings to partners and ensure So. S framework in place for all meetings with professionals and investigate use of Signs of Wellbeing across partnership to complement So. S in CFN. 5. Support the testing of the Daventry Early Intervention Hub with the intention of evaluating and potential roll out across the county. 6. Develop multi-agency arrangements to triage young people with complex needs who do not meet threshold for statutory involvement but who may be at risk in the community (contextual safeguarding) or exploitation. 7. Ensure existing RISE/Missing offer extended and includes preventative work with young people at risk of exploitation as well as those known to have been exploited. 8. Review the first year of operation of the Strong Start service which offers a programme to meet emerging needs across the county to include safe child, healthy child. 9. Public health funding to support development of Pause Northamptonshire and a mentoring scheme for young people 15/12/2021 12

• N. B – This is an overarching Early Help Strategy for the NSCP and it would be expected that more detailed Operational Actions will also be in place in individual organisations. 15/12/2021 13