Early Help Plan (EHP)
An Early Help Plan is a tool to use with the family to discuss and record the needs, strengths, goals and views that they identify, leading to a plan to support them. There are many different types of early help planning tools. An early help template can be downloaded here. Alternatively, practitioners may choose to use or amend assessment and planning tools from within their own agency.
Where there is more than one service working alongside a child and family, it is helpful for the family and involved services to hold a Team Around the Family meeting, to share information and co-ordinate an Early Help Plan together. A completed Early Help Plan remains the responsibility of the supporting agency/service to retain, in accordance with their own record keeping procedures. An Early Help Plan should be registered on the shared database administered by the Children & Families Hub. Guidelines for registering an Early Help Plan can be found here. A copy of the completed Early Help Plan should be given to all family members that were involved, including children and young people (age and understanding permitting).
Where there is more than one service working alongside a child and family, it is helpful for the family and involved services to hold a Team Around the Family meeting, to share information and co-ordinate an Early Help Plan together. A completed Early Help Plan remains the responsibility of the supporting agency/service to retain, in accordance with their own record keeping procedures. An Early Help Plan should be registered on the shared database administered by the Children & Families Hub. Guidelines for registering an Early Help Plan can be found here. A copy of the completed Early Help Plan should be given to all family members that were involved, including children and young people (age and understanding permitting).