Many families, at different times will need extra support for a variety of reasons. Most of the time this can be met through everyday services such as schools, nursery, pre-school or GPs but sometimes families might need extra support through a more coordinated approach.
Prevention, early help and support involves providing support to children and families at the earliest stage of need to stop problems from escalating and brings together professionals who work together with the whole family to try and improve outcomes for everyone.
This toolkit has been developed to support multi-agency professionals provide support to those families in need.
The prevention, and early help system is not a single service. It is a network of services, processes and interactions that aim to help residents at the earliest opportunity. Identifying needs, connecting to support, ensuring fair and consistent access to the right help.
Why is prevention, early help and support important?
Providing timely support is vital. Identifying and addressing a family’s needs early can increase protective factors that positively influence a child’s wellbeing, help families build resilience and confidence and reduce the need for more intensive support, and decrease risk factors that may be negatively impacting a child’s life.
Research suggest that early help and intervention can:
- protect children from harm
- help families early to prevent them from needing crisis services
- improve children’s long-term outcomes across all domains
- improve children’s home and family life and their daily lived experience
- support children to develop strengths and skills to prepare them for adulthood.
- reduce the need for a referral for statutory child protection services
Developing a common language
To be developed
How to access prevention, early help and support in Southwark
Many families, at different times will need extra support for a variety of reasons. Most of the time this can be met through everyday services such as schools, nursery, the voluntary and community sector, Best Start Family Hubs or GPs but sometimes families might need extra support to achieve a good start in life and achieve the right outcomes.
In Southwark prevention, early help and support is offered by a range of services in the community including:
- Nurseries, schools, colleges
- Best Start Family Hubs
- Health visitors and midwives
- Housing
- Mental health and wellbeing organisations
- Southwark Children and Families Service – Family Early Help (level 2 targeted early help)
If more targeted support is required Southwark Council provides effective, evidence-based services to meet the different levels of needs of children, young people and their families.
Prevention, early help and support System Tiers
How to identify levels of need
Services in Southwark work to provide a consistent and integrated offer of support from the council and our partners.
The London Safeguarding Children Procedures support our services to work consistently and fairly for our children, families, parents and carers. The procedures give more detailed advice about how local services should respond to levels of need, as soon as they occur
Southwark Safeguarding Partnership - Children Policies & Procedures
This document outlines how we respond to identified need: Threshold Document: Continuum of Help and Support
These levels of need should act as guidance only. They should be used in conjunction with the single agency or multiagency safeguarding children and adult procedures, best practice guidance and protocols for specific issues
The key pillars to how we work with children and families are driven by a set of shared practice principles:
Help at the earliest opportunity - A proactive approach, providing supporting to children, young people and families as soon as a challenge or need is identified to prevent problems from worsening- Whole Family approach - Supporting the entire family unit rather than just an individual, recognising that the well-being of each family member is interconnected
- Relational, trauma-informed and strengths-based practice - Focuses on developing meaningful, supportive relationships when working with families, focusing on what people can do with their skills and resources. Using an individual's strengths and support networks (families and communities) to help them overcome challenges and achieve goals/improved outcomes.
- Evidence informed approaches - Working with purpose to achieve the aspirations, goals and priorities of those that use our services. Using views and experiences of young people and families alongside best available, current research to guide what we do.
Whole Family approach
Families are dynamic, evolving and not linear. When we refer to a ‘family’, we mean anyone the service user identifies as their family or who is part of their wider family network. It is the responsibility of all services and agencies to ensure that including families is central to everything we do in our daily practice
Working in a ‘whole family’ way is about being family minded, supporting the entire family unit rather than just an individual, recognising that the well-being of each family member is interconnected.
The Whole-Family approach builds on the collective strengths of the family and their support network, developing the family's capacity to withstand and/or recover quickly from difficulties. It also promotes working with multi-agency partners, as well as family members and friends, where appropriate.
The key principles of whole family approach are:
- Think Family: the term ‘family’ extends beyond biological ties and includes the roles each member plays within the ’family’
- Holistic view: recognising that family members are interdependent and that the well-being of one affects the others
- Family-centred: working collaboratively with the family to identify their needs, strengths and goals
- Prevention focused: aims to provide timely support to prevent issues from escalating into a crisis
- Collaboration: promotes seamless collaboration between agencies and services to provide a complete picture of family’s needs and joined up support for the entire family
- Strengths-Based: Focuses on identifying and building on the family’s strengths and existing relationships
Relational and strengths-based practice
A relational and strengths-based practice approach is about developing meaningful, supportive relationships when working with families, focusing on what people can do with their skills and resources. It emphasises using an individual's strengths and support networks (families and communities) to help them overcome challenges and achieve goals/improved outcomes.
Families are more likely to engage and make positive changes when practitioners and services work with them rather than doing things ‘to’ them of ‘for’ them, it is about ensuring that the right help, advice, and support is provided at the right time.
Our strength-based practice:
- acknowledges what is going well as a foundation to building a rapport with the family
- encourages families to identify the support they require to address their needs, that is outcome and not services led
- focuses on individual s and family’s strengths as well as their social and community networksR
Resources
Department of Health and social care: Strengths-based approach: Practice Framework and Practice Handbook
Strengths-based approach: Practice Framework and Practice Handbook
Local Government Association: Integration and relational Practice introduction resource
https://www.local.gov.uk/sites/default/files/documents/Integration.pdf
Research in Practice: Practising relationship based social work
https://www.researchinpractice.org.uk/media/1gxpqtdg/kb-practising-relationship-based-social-work.pdf
Trauma informed practice
What is trauma?
Trauma results from an event, series of events, or set of circumstances that is experienced by an individual as harmful or life threatening. While unique to the individual, generally the experience of trauma can cause lasting adverse effects, limiting the ability to function and achieve mental, physical, social, emotional or spiritual well-being. Most of us will experience an event in our lives that could be considered traumatic.
What is Trauma informed practice?
Trauma informed practice is an approach which is grounded in the understanding that trauma exposure can impact an individual’s neurological, biological, psychological and social development. It encourages consideration to how trauma exposure can impact on a person’s ability to function and achieve mental, physical, social and emotional wellbeing.
Trauma informed practice encourages us to think about what we need to know to be able to respond to people affected by trauma, understanding the person and what is important to them.
Key principles of trauma-informed practice
There are 6 principles of trauma-informed practice:
Safety
The physical, psychological and emotional safety of service users and staff is prioritised
- people knowing they are safe or asking what they need to feel safe
- there being reasonable freedom from threat or harm
- attempting to prevent re-traumatisation
- putting policies, practices and safeguarding arrangements in place
Trustworthiness
Transparency exists in an organisation’s policies and procedures, with the objective of building trust among staff, service users and the wider community, by:
- the organisation and staff explaining what they are doing and why
- the organisation and staff doing what they say they will do
- expectations being made clear and the organisation and staff not overpromising
Choice
Service users are supported in shared decision-making, choice and goal setting to determine the plan of action they need to heal and move forward, by:
- ensuring service users and staff have a voice in the decision-making process of the organisation and its services
- listening to the needs and wishes of service users and staff
- explaining choices clearly and transparently
- acknowledging that people who have experienced or are experiencing trauma may feel a lack of safety or control over the course of their life which can cause difficulties in developing trusting relationships
Collaboration
The value of staff and service user experience is recognised in overcoming challenges and improving the system as a whole, by:
- using formal and informal peer support and mutual self-help
- the organisation asking service users and staff what they need and collaboratively considering how these needs can be met
- focussing on working alongside and actively involving service users in the delivery of services
Empowerment
Efforts are made to share power and give service users and staff a strong voice in decision-making, at both individual and organisational level, by:
- validating feelings and concerns of staff and service users
- listening to what a person wants and needs
- supporting people to make decisions and take action
- acknowledging that people who have experienced or are experiencing trauma may feel powerless to control what happens to them, isolated by their experiences and have feelings of low self-worth
Cultural consideration
Move past cultural stereotypes and biases based on, for example, gender, sexual orientation, age, religion, disability, geography, race or ethnicity by:
- offering access to gender responsive services
- leveraging the healing value of traditional cultural connections
- incorporating policies, protocols and processes that are responsive to the needs of individuals served
Resources
Developing and leading trauma informed practice – briefing paper from Research in Practice
Developing-and-leading-trauma-informed-practice.pdf
Video: Childhood trauma and the brain
A general introduction to what happens in the brain after children face traumatic experiences in childhood, like abuse and neglect.
Childhood Trauma and the Brain | UK Trauma Council
Link to learning
Trauma-informed practice
Thrive LDN offer free, online trauma practice training designed for anyone in a role supporting others, whether formal or informal. The training looks at how trauma influences and shapes the lives of those it touches. There are 3 levels of training available: Bronze, Silver and Gold
https://thriveldn.co.uk/communications/toolkits-and-resources/toolkit/trauma-informed-practice-training/
Southwark Safeguarding Children Partnership
Southwark Safeguarding Partnership -
Process for referring to Southwark Family Early Help
Family-Early-Help-Flowchart-for-primary-health-care-workers.pdf
Link to new Local assessment & support protocol
Note: not yet live to be added
Neglect
SSCP Neglect Strategy SSCP Neglect Strategy
SSCP Neglect toolkit SSCP Neglect toolkit
Briefing on trauma-informed practice
Developing-and-leading-trauma-informed-practice.pdf
Working definition of trauma informed practice
The office for health improvement and disparities provide the following guidance to staff
Working definition of trauma-informed practice - GOV.UK