Early Help Hubs
The Early Help Hubs are multi-disciplinary teams in the East, West and South of Leeds. In each team there is a Hub Manager, early help practitioners and project support, alongside an Alcohol and Substance Use Coordinator, a Domestic Violence and Abuse Coordinator, and a Mental Health Coordinator. In addition there are police officers in each hub and strong links with the Families First employment co-ordinators from the Department of Work and Pensions. The teams are also co-located with other partners including (but not restricted to) the clusters and Family Action (commissioned service for family support).
The Early Help Hubs provide advice and support to clusters and partners working in the three localities to ensure seamless, co-ordinated and effective early help support and a ‘getting it right first time’ response.
You can find out more information from the One Minute Guide – Early Help Hubs
Cluster Partnerships
Clusters are local partnerships underpinned and core funded by schools. They include a wide range of partners including Children's Centres/Early Start, Children’s Social Work Service, Local Authority and Leeds Health and Care Partnership who work together, bringing resources and funding, to deliver early help services and provide support to children, young people and their families. There are currently 21 Cluster Partnerships in the city.
Each covers a geographical area, mainly defined by a ‘family’ or grouping of schools in the locality. Every cluster is unique and developed to meet the needs of the children and families that attend their cluster schools. The cluster usually employs and commissions staff to provide a range of services such as family support and social, emotional and mental health support for children.
You can find out more information from the One Minute Guide.
Reducing Parental Conflict
Parental Conflict can include regular bickering, arguing and frustration with each other about issues such as money, parenting or housework. When a child experiences this conflict frequently and it is unresolved, it could result in children feeling upset, confused or angry and affect their ability to resolve relationship problems throughout their lives and achieve positive outcomes.
In Leeds we understand that conflict is an everyday part of life; our aim is to ensure that conflict is constructively resolved thereby modelling appropriate relationships where any differences are agreed amicably between adults.
In Leeds we are taking a practice approach through providing workforce development opportunities.
If families would like to talk to someone about their relationship, a good starting point is speaking with someone at their child’s school. Sometimes schools are part of ‘cluster services’ and might request that a family support worker from the cluster offers some individual support. This would always be with a families consent.
Further information regarding reducing parental conflict can be found via the One Minute Guide
Decision making and access for specialist services
The Allocations Panel is a multi-agency meeting that takes place twice weekly for consideration of referrals to specialist services: Restorative Early Support, Multi-Systemic Therapy, Signpost. Decisions are made quickly, based on the right service for the family at the time and feedback is given directly to the referrer as soon as possible.
Funded early help services
The following are Leeds City Council in-house and commissioned early help services.
Restorative Early Support (RES)
Restorative Early Support (RES) Teams bring together social work and family support across the seven priority clusters within Leeds. There are seven teams, each including a group of specialist professionals whose aim is to help families solve their own difficulties, with support. Families only work with the team if they would like to and the teams always aim to work WITH families.
The team consists of social workers and family support workers. Each family will have a named worker who will provide support to make the changes the family identify. With agreement they will also talk to anyone else who may be involved such as other professionals, family members or friends.
The allocated worker will use something called ‘Rethink Formulation’ to work out what is causing concern right now, what could happen if things don’t change, what triggers things, the family history, challenges and vulnerabilities, what positives and strengths the family have and what keeps the issues going. From here, a plan will be devised with the family to address the main difficulties.
For more information about the RES Teams see the One Minute Guide.
Multi-systemic therapy
Multi-systemic therapy (MST) is an internationally recognised and proven evidence based treatment programme aimed at young people aged 11-17 years who demonstrate severe anti-social behaviour that puts them at risk of either going into care or custody. In the UK, it is recognised as a mental health treatment of choice for this group. MST teams work intensively with all the systems around a young person (e.g. families, carers, schools, other professionals and local communities) to develop and align intervention plans to achieve positive outcomes for that young person.
MST uses pragmatic solution focussed approaches such as parenting, family work and Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) to empower families to no longer need services. Following a specific model and a set of principles that continuously inform the work, input lasts for no longer than 20 weeks. Therapists have small caseloads, can offer 24 hour support to the families, and are committed to the MST approach of doing 'whatever it takes' to engage families and help them achieve the best outcomes that they can. This involves high commitment and adherence to restorative practice. The MST therapist takes the lead practitioner role for the young person for the duration of the treatment, which provides consistency and reduces the number of practitioner and professional contacts for the family.
There are standard MST teams in Leeds covering all areas of the city, which the service divides into East North East, West North West and South areas. Each team receives referrals from all agencies in their area.
For further detail see the Multi-Systemic Therapy service One Minute Guide.
Signpost
Signpost is a Family Intervention Service which works with the whole family to reduce the risk of family breakdown, where there is an identified child between the ages of 10 and 17. Signpost works with young people and their families when there are escalating risks linked to multiple social and environmental concerns such as anti-social and criminal behaviours, not accessing education or training. Signpost works with families who have complex generational issues who have experience of many other services including cluster, youth offending and children’s social work service.
Signpost leads the Family Plan, working to increase successful collaborative multi to improve the life circumstances of families, including keeping children at home, preventing homelessness (increasing stability of tenancy), promoting prosocial behaviours, reducing ASB and criminal behaviour, increasing parental skill and knowledge all to support sustainable change.
For further detail see the Signpost One Minute Guide
Families Together Leeds
The Families Together Leeds service, commissioned by Leeds City Council, provides family, group and volunteer support to improve outcomes for all children and young people, but especially those from disadvantaged backgrounds, across the city of Leeds. While support is offered to any family that needs extra help, the service helps families avoid reaching the stage where statutory/social work services need to become involved.
- Family Support assists families by allocating a Family Support Worker, who will work with the family to look at what is happening right now to cause concern and will help the family to work out what could happen if things don’t change. The worker will also talk about what triggers things, what are the challenges and vulnerabilities in the family, what positive strengths the family has and what keeps issues going. From talking this through, the Family Support Worker will help the family to develop an action plan, which will be reviewed regularly. Family support can be accessed via a referral from a partner agency into Leeds City Council’s allocations panels.
- Group Support helps parents and carers to explore the challenges they are experiencing in their parenting and allows them the space to think about what they might like to do differently in future. Groups are also a good opportunity for parents and carers to meet other families and learn from each other’s experiences. We work with partner agencies to co-ordinate group support, so groups are being delivered for parents and carers across Leeds where they are most needed.
- Volunteer Support provides support to families who are already working with our service or those families that need low-level support only. Volunteers provide information about local resources and offer practical support to access community services. Volunteers enable families to become more independent so that they can sustain their goals after involvement with our service has ended.
For further information, contact Families Together Leeds on 0113 532 6587.
Leeds Young Carers Support Service
Leeds Young Carers Support Service is committed to ensuring that young carers are supported to have equal life chances to their peers; are able to flourish and thrive; are protected from possible harm, including inappropriate caring roles, and are able to attend, attain and achieve in education.
This is undertaken through:
- Information, advice and guidance
The service will reach as many young carers as possible, including those who are currently unidentified through the provision of information, advice, networking and support to have their voices heard - Targeted support services
The service will provide support tailored to young carers’ needs, for those young carers whose caring role has a profound impact on their lives. This may include individual support and/or group support - Awareness raising
The service will proactively support improvements in the identification of and support available for young carers by services involved in supporting children and young people in Leeds
For information, advice and guidance regarding the young carers service contact 0113 7339126.
LSCP Practitioner Toolkit
The LSCP Practitioner’s Tool Kit is a resource for practitioners when working with children and families. The Tools support practitioners in their day to day work, to identify and understand what is going on within a family.
Early Help notification
Notification of Early Help is a way to inform the Children and Families Service about a family you are supporting.
The lead practitioner working with the family is responsible for notification - this involves sharing the family’s completed Early Help documentation
Completing the Early Help documentation, 'Understanding Me/My Family Part 1, Our Early Help Support Needs' will confirm if the family has multiple support needs.
If there are multiple support needs, you will notify Children and Families Service about your Early Help work with the family by emailing the completed document, with consent, to earlyhelp.notifications@leeds.gov.uk
Notifying the service helps us to understand which families across the city are getting support and helps us to measure our work with children and families and evidence the difference we are making to improve outcomes.
For more information on Early Help documentation and notification and, access to any support and guidance related to Early Help work with families, please contact families.first@leeds.gov.uk
To register early help activity:
- If you have access to Mosaic and are undertaking activity yourself, please record this directly onto Mosaic.
- If you do not have access to Mosaic, please contact the Families First team to register the activity by calling 0113 3781840.
- Should you need any further assistance regarding early help activity, please contact your local Early Help Hub.
Workforce development opportunities:
There are a number of training opportunities available in relation to early help. For more information contact michelle.cunningham@leeds.gov.uk
- Early Help Qualification – The Level 3 Early Intervention Qualification is a multi-agency qualification equivalent to an A level. For more information contact families.first@leeds.gov.uk
- Parental Conflict training – For more information contact Lyndsey.mortimer@leeds.gov.uk
- Rethink Formulation – for more information contact rethink.team@leeds.gov.uk, and see the one minute guide or visit Rethink Top Concern Approach.