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Completing an Early Help Assessment

Pointers for completing an Early Help Assessment (EHA)

An example 'gold standard' Early Help Assessment and Plan is available to download.

Checks

  • Think about who else might be working with the child and their family and how might be a source of knowledge to support their identified needs.

Consent

  • It is important that families understand what they are consenting to, what information will be stored and what will be shared with other support agencies/services;
  • parents need to understand they have a choice as to which agencies their information is shared with;
  • it is good practice to get written consent rather than verbal; and
  • if you have not got consent you should stop.

Planning

  • identify the date, time and place to carry out the assessment in partnership with the family;
  • determine who needs to be involved (family members and significant others);
  • whether there are any communication needs and how you might cater for these i.e. family speak a different language or parent is deaf;
  • bring along age appropriate methods or tools for talking with children and young people;
  • familiarise yourself with the Early Help Assessment so you know what to expect;
  • read through the example Early Help Assessment to help inform your practice.

Strength Based Conversations

  • Identify what is going well - focus on strengths;
  • identify what is the most important issue for the child/parents/carers/family at the moment;
  • remember to be capture the voice of the child, this includes their wishes and feelings;
  • any strength based conversations held with a young person (under 18 years) with the potential outcome being an Early Help Assessment needs to be undertaken with the parents/carers consent;

Completing the Early Help Assessment (EHA)

  • Make notes as you go along;
  • use open ended questions to identify what support the family need/want;
  • read back through the form with the young person/parents/carers and confirm the actions you have agreed together;
  • type up the Early Help Assessment on to the Early Help Module (if you have access) and ensure that the family are provided with an up to date copy; and
  • make sure you have signed consent to share.

Family Support Meeting

  • Meet with the family on a regular basis to monitor progress; and
  • within 6 weeks of completing the Early Help Assessment you should arrange a Family Support Meeting to review actions and progress.