Early Help, a service in Shropshire providing much-needed support to families, has relaunched following an in-depth transformation.
On Tuesday, July 16, professionals from this service and Shropshire Council alongside partners across the voluntary and community sectors, health, and education, came together to celebrate the new strategy.
This initiative is focused on providing parents, carers, and children with the appropriate help when they need it.
This service is tailored to support families at the earliest possible stage, to stop escalation into more serious issues.
It involves advice on various issues, including schooling, parenting, behaviour, and misuse of drugs and alcohol.
The focus is clear: work with families from the onset to resolve any concerns, helping them to become independent and resilient.
It's an approach that helps to avoid crisis and disruptive intervention, which is not only significant for the families but also costs the council.
This increase in support is a result of significant investment into Early Help as part of Shropshire Council's broader ambition to deliver The Shropshire Plan, where healthy people are central.
As part of the transformation the team spoke with families and young people in Shropshire to work out what they need from the service.
This feedback became the foundation of the newly crafted Early Help Strategy.
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Highlights of the strategy include an 'Early Help Front Door', a solo point of contact to access the service or make referrals swiftly.
Additionally, improvements have been made to increase accessibility for families with special educational needs and disabilities, the assessment processes have been improved, reducing the time it takes for support.
They have also developed a number of approaches and revamped web pages.
Cabinet member for children and families at Shropshire Council, Kirstie Hurst Knight said: "Early Help is at the forefront of our transformation ambition, and the service is now in a strong position to help the families of Shropshire thrive, now and in the future.
"Our community partners and local voluntary organisations have played an important role and will continue to be a vital link between the service and our unique communities.
"Thank you to everybody who took part in surveys, focus groups and engagement sessions.
"The insight of our local families was key to the successful Early Help transformation and will continue to inform our plans to develop, commission and deliver the right services and support that meet the needs of children, young people and families in the right place, at the right time.
"We look forward to the next steps of the project, making Early Help even more accessible as part of our family and community hubs offer this summer."
The feedback from families benefiting from the service thus far has been positive.
One person said: :"I now have places I can go for help so I can get the support and advice needed for both of my children, who have special needs.
"To have this support has been so valuable and has given me the inner strength to be able to think clearly and act independently again."
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