Early intervention and early help assessments
Early intervention
Early Intervention is an approach, not a service. It is a term used in Swindon for all services that work together to deliver early help to families.
The Early Intervention approach is a graduated and proportionate response to need that focuses on “whole family” support, providing help as needs emerge so that families are supported to become resilient and the challenges they face do not escalate unnecessarily.
In Swindon we have Early Help Assessment with families to ensure families have access to the right help at the right time to meet need and improve outcomes. The Early Help Assessment is recorded to consider the needs of a child and their family so that a Plan can be developed and implemented to ensure support is in place to meet need and improve outcomes.
In Swindon we recognise that it is important to provide the right support to families at the right time to achieve change that lasts and we have established The Right Help at the Right Time Guidance
How does the process work?
The practitioner who identifies a child’s needs consent from the young person, parent or carer to engage in the conversation, following which he or she coordinates an Early Help Assessment and Plan and, if appropriate, initiates a Team Around the Family (TAF) meeting.
The purpose of the TAF meeting is to bring together practitioners with the appropriate skills to meet the identified needs of the child and develop a support plan.
The parents and practitioners (and children where appropriate) will agree the most appropriate person to undertake the Lead Professional role (this is the person that will co-ordinate the support for the family through a trusted relationship). Actions will be identified and regular reviews undertaken, with the focus on a child-centred approach, positive engagement with the family, increased community involvement and collaboration between agencies.
Statutory needs assessment and the Education, Health and Care Plan
The Early Help Assessment and Plan should be used by early years settings, schools and colleges as part of the graduated response to meet the needs of children and young people with SEND (Special Educational Needs and Disabilities) to record, monitor and evaluate provision, intervention and progress against outcomes set.
This can then be used as a basis and evidence for statutory assessment for an Education and Health Care Plan if this is required in the future.
- Early Help Assessment - September 2025 (Word document)
- Early Help Plan and Review - September 2025 (Word document)
- Child's voice
Useful resources
- Identifying special educational needs
- Education, health and care plan
- Health assessment
- Short breaks
- DfE guide for parents
- Swindon good practice guide (Word document)
Our continued commitment to the improvement of the current early help model is laid out in the following strategy document:
