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Early Help Hub
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What is the Early Help Hub?
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When should I contact the Early Help Hub?
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What happens when I make an enquiry?
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Safeguarding
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What do you want to do now?
What is the Early Help Hub?
The Early Help Hub works with families or young people who would like some extra support to deal with a difficult situation. Getting help early can stop things from getting worse and becoming harder to manage.
Calls to the Children Services Hotline (020 7364 5006) and the online enquiry form are directed through to the Early Help Hub.
When should I contact the Early Help Hub?
The primary role of the Hub is to provide a single point of access for the public, and all those working with children, young people and their families within the local community and across the authority, offering advice and recommending support for a range of issues which include:
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Family breakdown
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Housing problems
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Emotional health and well-being
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Money troubles
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Children’s and young people’s behaviour
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Parenting
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Drug or alcohol addiction
The aim of the Hub is to improve communication and information sharing across the authority, including internal and external partners, in order to support more effective delivery of services where there is a need for an Early Help offer response. The Early Help Hub has four main functions:
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Providing information, advice and guidance to the public and professionals who have queries about children who may need a coordinated Early Help response.
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Screening early help enquires to ensure an appropriate level of response for children, young people and their families which include those cases referred across or redirected from Children’s Social Care.
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Where necessary, undertaking direct work with families to assess need before identifying the most appropriate Lead Professional who can carry out an Early Help Assessment (EHA) and who can co-ordinate the multi-agency, family action plan.
Please note that the Early Help Hub only undertakes triage or discusses cases with consent; however anyone can make a general enquiry and ask for advice without consent, as long no names are given.
What happens when I make an enquiry?
Upon enquiry the Early Help Hub practitioner will check if anyone is already involved, what support is being provided, and whether or not additional information might be needed. You will be contacted by an Early Help Practitioner who will speak to you about what help or support is available.
It might be that an Early Help Assessment (EHA) is required, or reviewed if already in place, in order that the right help can be identified. If the case is already known to Children’s Social Care or if the information gathered during screening indicates that a child is suffering or is at risk of significant harm, the case will be escalated to the appropriate team.
The Early Help Hub practitioner handling your enquiry will also:
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offer general Advice/Guidance around a range of issues
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create an enquiry/contact record
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allocate enquires/contacts to the most appropriate service (internal and external services and agencies)
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inform the referrer of the outcome of the request by email or letter.
Safeguarding
The Early Help Hub does not replace the existing ‘Safeguarding Arrangements’ for Children’s Social Care in Tower Hamlets. If at any stage you have any concerns that a child is at risk of harm you must follow your agency’s safeguarding procedure and make a referral to the Multi Agency Safeguarding Hub (MASH) 020 7364 5006 (Option 3).
If you think a child is in immediate danger please call the police on 999 who can provide an immediate response.
What do you want to do now?
Contact
If it’s a weekday (excluding public holidays) and between the hours of 9am and 5pm, you can give the Early Help Hub a call on 020 7364 5006 and select Option two.
If you are sure that a child or young person needs more urgent help or is at risk of harm, please contact the Multi Agency Safeguarding Hub (MASH) 020 7364 5006 (Option 3).