Each locality (Hampshire or West Sussex) provides a number of Early Help Hubs, usually set according to geographical area.

Early Help is designed to work with non-complex cases where a time-limited piece of work can prevent risks from escalating.

When a referral is made to the Multi-Agency Safeguarding Hub (MASH), in most cases the information will be passed to the Early Help team.

Early Help can work with families to provide additional support, such as a family worker or a mentor for the child/young person.

Referrals to Early Help go through the Multi-Agency Safeguarding Hub (MASH) and are usually made by Catherine (or Katy/ Wayne / Russell/ Janet/ Carol/ Iain in her absence).

If you think a student could benefit from Early Help, speak to your line manager who will hand on the information to Catherine or one of her DSL Deputies.

Consent is needed from the parent or carer to make a referral to Early Help – if a parent does not consent the intervention is unlikely to work so it is important to discuss it with them and get them “on board”.