Ofsted, the CQC and HMICFRS have published a joint report on the multi-agency response to children and families who need help.
The lack of capacity and resources across health, police and social care is limiting local areas’ ability to make early help services a clear priority. Many local partners recognise the importance of early help in meeting children’s needs early, but prioritising it is a challenge.
The report draws on the inspections of 5 local authority areas to evaluate how local partners, including children’s social care, health services, schools, police and wider services work together to support children and families who need help. The report specifically considers how well local early help services are delivered and co-ordinated.
Early help was effective where all leaders understood how to meet the needs of their local areas and worked with partners and local communities to make sure services were accessible. It also found that local partners were not equally engaged in delivering and making decisions about the early help services in their area.
