Supporting families

In January 2015, supporting families was selected as an early starter for the expanded 2015-2020 programme, with funding confirmed for the first financial year running as a ‘payment by results’ model.

A family outcome plan was also created to help identify and address the needs of families facing multiple complex issues at local level, as set out in government criteria below:

• parents and children involved in crime or antisocial behaviour
• children who have not been attending school regularly
• children who need help (identified as in need or are subject to a child protection plan)
• adults out of work or at risk of financial exclusion, or young people at risk of this
• families affected by domestic violence and abuse
• parents and children with a range of health problems

Families should have a minimum of two out of the six criteria and they’re prioritised for support as follows:

• families with more than one family member contributing to multiple needs, most likely to benefit from an integrated whole-family approach
• families who are the highest cost to the public purse, therefore those who may have several criteria

A copy of the Northumberland supporting families partnership outcome plan can be downloaded here.

This plan promotes a common set of measurable outcomes for agencies and partner organisations to provide support, which reduces risk and vulnerability for families while encouraging service transformation towards a whole-family approach.

Success is demonstrated through ‘significant and sustained progress or continuous employment,’ using the outcome measures for each criteria. This means there should be less need for re-referral in the future.

The extended criteria means support can be offered earlier. Some families may need this support to come from many services, some from just one. If these services aren’t involved then the early help process will provide assessment and a planning framework.

To access funding from the government, the partnership has to agree to take part in a national evaluation of the programme. There are three things the local authorities must provide:

• quarterly anonymised family progress data
• information on delivery costs and savings
• basic personal information on family members for the national impact study

How do I know whether my information could be shared?
Families working with the partnership and that meet two or more of the criteria could have their information shared. A leaflet is available for those who could have their information shared.

How are you using our information?
If your family is considered for support through the partnership, we may share your personal information (name, address, DOB, identification numbers if held) for research purposes only. These are used by the government to evaluate the effectiveness of the support.

How will it affect me?
It will not affect your benefits, services or treatments. Details will be provided in accordance with the law and will be anonymous once processed.

Why is my information being shared?
We share information to help us to improve future services. We use your information to find out how support can help families.

You can opt out of this arrangement by speaking to the worker supporting your family or telephone the Northumberland County Council contact centre on 03456 006400. 

If you’re a parent or carer of a child who you feel would benefit from additional support, please ask the child’s school or other involved professional to make a referral to the early intervention hub.

The early intervention hubs have been set up so that all referrals come in to a central point and can be discussed at a multi-agency meeting to ensure that families receive the most appropriate support at the right time.

If you want to refer to the early help hubs, click on the links below to access the referral forms and leaflets or contact earlyinterventionhub@northumberland.gov.uk;

The Hub form

• locality hub referral form
• Additional information form (Education)

Information leaflets

• central hub leaflet
• north hub leaflet
• southeast hub leaflet
• west hub leaflet

If you are supporting a family who you feel meet the supporting families criteria and they would like to access support from our employment advisors or you are a service who would like to tell us about a family you are supporting who meet the criteria, please complete this supporting families identification form.

If you’re unable to access the above form, you can request a Word copy by emailing supportingfamilies@northumberland.gov.uk.

All forms available on this page must be submitted by secure email or through CryptShare. It is important to fully complete all forms.

In this section you can view/download our assessment forms, action plans and the form to be used when agency involvement comes to an end.

Assessment forms are used to support practitioners when they’re identifying a need with a child, young person or family. Action plans are formulated so all involved parties have an extensive overview of everything going on.

The documents are below:

Leaflet

• Early help assessment leaflet

The Early Help Assessment

• EHA (Early help assessment) form
• Additional information form (Education)

Action Plans for TAFs

• Action Plan 1 – Crime ASB
• Action Plan 2 – School Attendance
• Action Plan 3 – Children Needing Help
• Action Plan 4 – Worklessness or Financial Exclusion
• Action Plan 5 – Domestic Violence and Abuse
• Action Plan 6 – Health Issues

Closing an Early Help Assessment

• EHA closure form

Guidance

• Frequently asked questions leaflet
• Early help assessment flow chart
• Team around the family guidance 
• Multi-agency thresholds document
• Step UP made easy
• Step DOWN to EHA made easy

Training enquiries
Contact the team on:

• Tel: 01670 536400 and ask for the Early Help Assessment Team.
• Email: EHA@northumberland.gov.uk

There is an E-Learning online EHA programme available through the NCC Learning Pool. This can be accessed by local authority, health, school, and early years settings. 

If you require further training, please contact us using the details above. 

Training dates
To be advertised soon.

Early help assessment trainers in Northumberland
Please contact a member of the Early Help Team on 01670 536400 or email EHA@northumberland.gov.uk 
 

• multi-agency threshold document
• single assessment framework
• safeguarding children