What is Early Help? Information for practitioners
Actions
Early Help means acting to support a child, young person or their family early in the life of a problem, as soon as it emerges. It can be required at any stage in a child’s life from pre-birth to adulthood and applies to any problem or need that the family cannot deal with or meet on their own. It also applies to all children and young people, with any form of need.
Early Help is provided to prevent or reduce the need for specialist interventions unless they are absolutely the correct response to meet the need and resolve the problem
Early Help in Kensington and Chelsea thinks about the needs of the whole family. Through our Family Hub Model, we aim to work with families to understand their needs and ensure they receive the right support at the right time. Our partnership approach will ensure that families do not have to keep repeating their story. A lead practitioner will bring other professionals around the family as needed.
Early Help is a way of getting extra support when needed. Our integrated 0-19 service aims to help families when difficulties first begin so that we can support them with finding solutions quickly. We will provide support through a variety of community-based settings including children’s centres and schools as well as in the family home. Early help means responding promptly if a child is at immediate risk of harm (or has other significant or complex needs) as much as it means responding to a need which only requires advice or guidance.
Please download here the Early Help leaflet or the Early Help model of support guide
For more information, please have a look at sections below:
How can I refer a child to the Early Help Team?
Before making a referral, please ensure that the child or children and their family live in Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, you can do this by completing a postcode check available on GOV.UK.
To complete a referral, use the link below to visit the Social Care Portal where you will be asked to complete the Early Help Family Hub Referral form. Please take time to read the important information below prior to submitting a referral.
Please note, the Social Care Portal is a new digital solution which has replaced our previous referral document.
In the unlikely event that you experience any difficulties when trying to submit a referral, please get in touch with us directly by calling on 020 7598 4601 or 020 7361 4129.
Completing the Early Help Family Hub referral form
Before you start
Please ensure that you have obtained agreement from the parent(s) to make this referral. Only referrals for statutory school attendance concerns can be accepted without prior agreement from the parent(s).
For security reasons, we advise against using a public computer to complete the form, as it may expose your personal details or those of the person(s) you are referring.
Please be aware that if there is no activity on the form for more than 20 minutes, any progress will be lost and you will need to start the form again.
Some sections of the referral form are mandatory to complete. This is to ensure that we receive all the information we need for a referral to be processed.
If the referral is related to school attendance, you will be asked to attach a school attendance report in one of the following file formats: .doc, .docx, .pdf, .jpg, .png, .jpeg, .gif.
After completion
After completion, make sure to click the 'Submit' button. You will then have an opportunity to save, print and/or download a copy of the form.
To protect personal information, please click the 'Close' button and close the browser completely after printing the form.
An email notification with a copy of the submitted referral form will also be sent to the email address you provided in the referrer’s section. If you do not see the email in your inbox, please check your Junk/Spam mailbox.
What happens next
Family support referrals are processed and allocated to an early help practitioner within five working days. Your allocated practitioner will contact to discuss your referral.
Fill in the Early Help Referral Form
Children with special and complex needs
For children with special and complex needs please refer to the RBKC Local Offer an online directory of information and services to support children and young people (from 0 to 25 years) who have special educational needs and disabilities.