Council opening hours throughout Christmas
Some Westmorland and Furness Council offices will be closed over the Christmas and New Year Bank Holidays. Read the full list of Council opening hours during the festive period.
Early help
This page introduces Early Help, explaining how families can access support at an early stage to prevent small challenges from becoming bigger problems, and outlining the services available to promote children’s wellbeing.
Early help and early intervention are types of support to:
- improve outcomes for children and young people
- prevent increasing need or risk.
Working Together describes Early Help as, ‘Support for children of all ages that improves a family’s resilience and outcomes or reduces the chance of a problem getting worse.’
It is a system of support carried out by local authorities (LAs) and their partners.
Early Help Assessment (EHA)
An Early Help Assessment (EHA) should be completed with you and your child to identify:
- what is working well?
- what the worries are?
- what wellbeing would look like?
Doing an EHA will give a response from different agencies. A date will be set for a Team Around the Family (TAF) meeting, to:
- identify a coordinator
- agree the plan
- identify which agency will work to achieve each of the wellbeing goals
A clear plan is then developed – it focusses on what success will look like for your child/children.
An EHA can be carried out with any child or young person from pre-birth up to age of 19 years (or 25 years if they have a learning difficulty or disability).
Please note: An EHA must not be confused with an Educational, Health and Care Needs Assessment (EHCNA), which is an assessment for children and young people with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND).
For further information
There is a named Early Help Officer (EHO) for every Team around the School.
Visit the Westmorland and Furness Safeguarding Children Partnership (WFSCP) website
Contact the Cumbria Early Help Team, Advice and Guidance Team on: 0300 373 2723
Getting a professional involved
You no longer need to complete an Early Help referral to request professional involvement to support special educational needs (SEN), or for an EHCNA request.