Early Help and Preventative Services

Patrick LeesonCorporate Director, Education and Young People’s Services

Kent County Council

Vision

Our vision is that every child and young person, from pre-birth to age 19, and their family, who needs early help services will receive them in a timely and responsive way, so that they are safeguarded, their educational, social and emotional needs are met and outcomes are good, and they are able to contribute positively to their communities and those around them now and in the future, including their active engagement in learning and employment.

Resources for Early Help

Schools AEN funding £88mPupil Premium £30mSTLS and Special School outreach £7.7mPRUs and alternative provision £11.8m KCC Early Help Services £36.4mFree Early Years for 2 year olds £17.6m

Total £190m

Early Help and Preventative Services

These services are designed to respond early to tackle problems emerging for children, young people and families, who without early help would be at greater risk of developing more serious problems and having poorer outcomes. The services are organised around 0-11 year olds (Kent Integrated Family Support Service and 11-19 year olds (Kent Integrated Adolescent Support Service).

From April 2014

• New services, integrated teams for every district with lead manager

• KIFSS (0-11) and KIASS (11-19), effectively 0-19• Single point of access, with refreshed early help

assessment process that is more risk based and case manager for each case

• Key workers and teams wrapped around schools• Easier access to a range of services and

interventions

• Local and accessible

• Integrated, multi-disciplinary and multi-agency

• Targeted

• Family focused

• Scope is universal, targeted and specialist

• Risk based and needs led

• Outcomes focused through effective case management

• Logic models of change, only do what adds value and has greatest impact

Key Aspects of Delivery Model

Priority Areas• Safeguarding children and young people from harm and preventing problems escalating;

• Focusing services on high need families;

• Improving outcomes for, and meeting the needs of, vulnerable children and adolescents;

• Ensuring support to make big difference in the early years;

• Improving the emotional health and wellbeing of children and young people; and

• Ensuring early support for disabled children, young people and their families.

The Challenge in Kent

• Over 50,000 children and young people live in poverty in families with less than 60 per cent of median income, and so they are less likely to achieve or maintain the standards of health, wellbeing, safety, educational attainment or employment enjoyed by others.

• Many of these children thrive, in spite of difficulties, but among these there are children and families with multiple disadvantages who, without additional support, will not be able to improve their outcomes. For this reason Early Help and Preventative Services will ensure we target the right children, young people and families and respond with the most effective joined up packages of support that are likely to have long term positive impact.

Dataset for Early Help and Preventative Services

• In 2013-14 CAF completed assessments 3754

• Children and young people with TAF support 7149

• TAFs closed 3,690

• TAFs closed with outcomes achieved 1,554

• TAFs escalated to SCS 464

• Cases stepped down by SCS 1,153

Dataset for Early Help and Preventative Services

Troubled Families• Target 2560 families

• Families identified 2274

• Families worked with 2153

• Families fully engaged with at present 700?

• Families turned around 755 (29% compared to national average 33%)

• Highest target number in Swale (369) and Thanet (364)

Dataset for Early Help and Preventative Services

• Children registered at Children’s Centres 64738

• Children estimated from disadvantaged homes, 9700

• Children with SEND 1257

• PRU single registrations 218

• Dual registrations 562

• Persistent absence 3800 Primary, 5444 Secondary

• Youth Offending 371 (including 165 social care cases)

Dataset for Early Help and Preventative Services

• Children accessing free 2 year old provision 2366

• Children eligible 3847

• NEET 2867

• NEET vulnerable groups 1110 including

• 184 CiC

• 497 young parents

• 79 YOS

• 259 LDD

• Multiple risks• Key indicators and predictors• Whole family issues• Below thresholds for SCS• Requires multi-agency response

Criteria for Targeted Early Help

0-11 year olds: Kent Integrated Family Support Service

11-19 year olds Kent Integrated Adolescent Support Service

Range of Preventative Services

• Children’s Centres• Troubled Families Programme, • Early Intervention and Family Support Workers, • CAF Coordinators, • Attendance and Inclusion, • support for Gypsy, Roma and Traveller children, • Youth Work, • Youth Offending, • Connexions targeted support for NEET young people, • services for young people’s substance misuse, • teenage pregnancy and sexual health. • There will also be more joined up work with CAMHS, school nursing and

health visiting, together with a more coordinated approach to commissioning children’s health provision.

• Provide a single service response so that families, children and young people do not need to move around the system and in and out of different services

• Strengthen earlier intervention through universal settings and to deliver our early help services in families and in and around schools and other universal settings

• Coordinate our services with NHS services, so that we get a more integrated approach with health visitors, school nurses, CAMHS, and substance misuse and sexual health workers who all have a role in providing early help

• Have a clear simple pathway for children and young people’s needs to be identified and assessed and a clear plan of support provided for the family

• Deliver District based integrated teams that will work together to provide support, and that will meet weekly to coordinate and review the support packages for families in their local area, and the progress that is being made towards achieving agreed outcomes

• Use the strengths of families to help themselves and ensure continuity of support for them until they feel things have improved

The Approach To Preventative Services

Continuum of Need and Intervention Intensity

Major Risk Factors

• Poverty• Mental illness of parent• Unstable parental and family relationships• Neglect• Domestic abuse and child abuse• Premature birth• Adverse family events, separation, bereavement• Multiple risks increase likelihood of harm

Protective Factors• Supportive family environment and social networks• Nurturing parenting skills• Clear boundaries for children and young people• Schools and early years education, achievement, peer

groups, trusting adult relationships and care systems • Parental employment• Adequate housing• Access to services in response to needs• Access to caring adults in the wider family/community• Engagement in wider leisure, sport, arts, volunteering and

community activities

Key Drivers• Where to put the money - build up protective factors in

relation to risk• Strengthen the preventative work and support for

vulnerable children in universal services• Be clear who needs targeted support and why• Greater investment in parenting and family support • Develop capacity and resources to improve children’s

emotional resilience and mental health• Commitment to involving families, children and young

people in contributing to and deciding what will be most helpful

Quick Wins

• Identify schools willing to be ‘Early Adopters’ linked with the Children’s Centres and Youth Hubs

• Revise and refresh the CAF and ensure simplicity and clarity throughout the early help assessment

• Brand recognition and quick response times• Parental engagement in the earliest years• Schools and other partners to know the local offer

and their key KCC district leads

Issues for Schools

• Clarify the early help offer and provision in school• Identify the available funding and resources for early

help and prevention in school • Identify and prioritise pupils (and families) who need

additional early help services from KCC • Revise and review the use of the CAF and how the

school uses it• Consider improvements to parental engagement and

support• Schools and other partners to know the local offer and

engage with their key KCC district leads