Issue - meetings

Early Help Services

Meeting: 27/09/2018 - Children and Families Scrutiny Panel (Item 16)

16 Early Help Services pdf icon PDF 68 KB

Report of the Service Director - Legal and Governance requesting that the Panel discuss and challenge the performance of the Early Help service.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Panel received and noted the report of the Service Director, Legal and Governance which requested that the Panel discussed and challenged the performance of the Early Help service.

 

Phil Bullingham, Service Lead, Safeguarding, Improvement, Governance and Quality Assurance, Jane White, Service Lead, Children’s Social Care and Derek Wiles, Service Lead, Education and Early Help were present and with the consent of the Chair addressed the meeting.  In discussions with the officers, the Panel noted the following:

·  That in recognition that too many children had been escalating to the MASH and social work pathways, plans had been developed to bolster early help pathways and build specialist early help services.

·  That services were proactively targeting those parents that need the services rather than expecting parents to contact them.

·  That under the proposals the Early Help offer would become more targeted and would focus on more complex families.  Smart commissioning and partnership working would be used to encourage the voluntary sector to fill the gap between universal and specialist services. 

·  That professional groups had been working together to produce action plans for the improved management of safeguarding in the community

·  That progress made towards Children’s centres becoming vibrant community hubs, included improved sharing of spaces with a wider range of services and the recruitment and training of parents as volunteers to help with the delivery of play services.

·  That it was essential that these changes delivered the required outcomes as future budgets and plans are predicated on an effective early help service.