Early Help
The Early Help Assessment (EHA) is a standardised approach to assessing children and young people’s needs and deciding how they should be met. The EHA is a key element of our strategy to delivering more effective early intervention and prevention and is a tool for the identification and initial assessment of children and young people considered to be in need of additional support.
Once completed the EHA will serve as a useful way to share information and to track and review a child or young person’s progress. At the point when a EHA is completed by a practitioner they are also encouraged to consider and identify any future likely or predictable difficulties a child may face, for example the transition to secondary school. The EHA form should be used by practitioners in all agencies who work with unborn babies, babies, children, young people and their families and have been trained in its use.
The following documents are available to download in Word just remember to save in a secure area.
Early Help Pre-assessment checklist
This form is to be used if you are undecided as to whether a full EHA should be completed for a child or young person. If you answer no to two or more questions it is recommended a full EHA should be completed.
Early Help Assessment Form
This is the main form to be used when assessing the needs of a child or young person
Early Help Assessment Delivery Plan and Review
The delivery plan and review forms are to be used at the Team Around the Child meetings (TAC).
Early Help Consent Form
This form is to be used to gain consent from the parents/carers to transfer the EHA from one organisation to another. For example, when a child changes schools.
Central Bedfordshire's Early Help Offer identifies the need for help for children and families as soon as problems start to emerge, or when there is a strong likelihood that problems will emerge in the future. The Early Help Offer is not just for very young children as problems may also emerge at any point throughout childhood and adolescence. The Early Help Offer includes universal and targeted services designed to reduce or prevent specific problems from escalating or becoming entrenched.
Information on CAF/EHA Training can be found here.
Ofsted's Report - Early help: whose responsibility? Can be viewed via the link.