Executive summary
The Early Help Strategy 2023 – 2025 describes how we can develop and deliver a whole system partnership offer. Coventry can collectively ensure children and their families receive the right help at the right time with the right people, to enable children to reach their full potential.
Principles and key deliverables have been collectively identified by the Early Help Partnership and form the foundation for the delivery of this whole system early help offer. This is how we will deliver the Early Help Offer together to all children, young people and their families, including the most vulnerable children who have experienced trauma in their lives.
The importance of children and their families influencing the design and delivery of the future early help offer is a key principle in the Strategy, ensuring that the voices of children are at the heart of everything we do. The Early Help Strategy defines the outcomes for children that the partnership will focus on, working together to improve children’s lives and intervene at the earliest opportunity. There will be a focus on improving outcomes for children through the mobilisation of the Early Help “Doing it Together” outcome groups.
The Early Help Strategy focuses on the implementation of the national programmes that are the key drivers in the delivery of Early Help: The Family Hub and Start for Life Programme and the Supporting Families Programme will be developed and implemented by the Early Help Partnership to enable the delivery of the Early Help Strategy.
By describing key demographic data, the Early Help Strategy highlights what life is like for children and their families growing up and living in Coventry and helps identifies the priority groups that the Strategy will support.
The Strategy outlines the roles and responsibilities of the partner agencies using the Early Help System Guide Workforce Table and aims to build on existing partnerships and develop new ones. It describes how information will be shared across agencies and the importance of the use of the shared recording platform (Early Help Module, EHM) so that families do not have to repeat their story and intervention can be provided using a joined-up approach.
Partners have collaborated in identifying the strategic priorities for the Early Help Strategic Partnership Group who, through strong governance arrangements, will oversee the delivery of a whole system early help offer. They will have a responsibility for monitor and evaluating the impact on children and their families. Services will work together to embed our understanding of what Early Help is about.
This will allow the partnership to understand goals, objectives, and expectations and have a collective responsibility and ownership of the Early Help Outcomes.
Early intervention is recognised as a key principle in many other associated strategies, plans and governance arrangements across Coventry. The Early Help Strategy references the interconnectivity to help ensure a One Coventry approach is taken to support children and their families.