Early Help

Find out about our early help services which are available to children in families.

Welcome to the Torbay Early Help website, where you will find all you need to know about the approach to delivering Early Help to children, young people and their families in Torbay.

On this site you will find:

The guidance for practitioners on the Early Help Model itself
An “easy read” version of the Model
An “easy read” referral pathway
The guidance for practitioners on Early Help Assessment, Team Around the Family, and Lead Professional
Details of training either held or planned
Minutes from the meetings of the 3 Locality Networks in Torquay, Brixham and Paignton

As the development of the new approach to Early Help continues, we will continue to update this website so that it becomes you “go to” for any information that you may need to help you support families.

What is Early Help and how are we delivering it in Torbay?

Early Help is not a specific service or team it’s an approach to working that brings together professionals from a range of different services who will work with the whole family to help improve things for everyone.

We believe that children and families need to be heard when they first ask for help to minimise the risk of problems getting worse and help them address them at the earliest opportunity. Engaging a family in Early Help is also a voluntary process and consent from children, young people, and their families to work with them should always be sought. Without this, it is unlikely that they will engage in the support that we can offer them.

Early Help can be provided through a single agency or multi agency response as appropriate to the needs of the child and family and the concern.

Our principles for Early Help are based on the principles of the legislation as described in Working Together to Safeguard Children, 2018:

“Providing early help is more effective in promoting the welfare of children than reacting later. Early help means providing support as soon as a problem emerges, at any point in a child’s life, from the foundation years through to the teenage years. Early help can also prevent further problems arising, for example, if it is provided as part of a support plan where a child has returned home to their family from care.”

Working Together to Safeguard Children, 2018

In practice, this means:

Always working WITH the child, young person, and family, and not “doing to”
Working in a relational and strengths-based way
Considering the whole family as part of the analysis of need and the solutions to that need
Identifying and addressing the problem at the earliest opportunity
Early Help being “everyone’s business”, promoting accountability, evaluation, and sustainability across the partnership

In delivering Early Help, we are very clear that where there is a safeguarding concern, the Torbay Safeguarding Children Partnership’s safeguarding procedures must be followed.

Key Documents

The guidance for practitioners on the Early Help Model itself

An easy read version of the Model

An easy read referral pathway

Early Help Assessment

Please find attached the relevant and up to date documents in respect of Early Help Assessment. We would strongly advise that you attend the training on this to be sure that you are confident in using these. Please refer to the training section on this site for more details.

Early Help Assessment Guidance August 21

Early Help Assessment August 21

Early Help Plan August 21

How to write a SMART Plan – Guidance August 21

Supporting Healthy Relationships Amongst Young People In Torbay
Presentation given at the Network Meetings in September 2021 by Public Health colleagues around supporting positive sexual health in young people.