Early Help Practice and Process

Early Help Practice and Process: Relaunch 2026

Building Confidence in Early Help Through the One Family Approach

In response to the One Family Approach, updated national guidance including Keeping Children Safe in Education 2026 and Working Together to Safeguard Children 2026, North Lincolnshire is relaunching its Early Help Practice and Process training.

This refreshed programme reflects the latest legislation, safeguarding expectations and local practice developments. It has been redesigned to strengthen practitioners' confidence and competence in delivering effective Early Help support, ensuring children, young people and families receive the right help, at the right time, and at the lowest level of intervention necessary to improve outcomes.

North Lincolnshire is committed to offering Early Help at the earliest opportunity and at the lowest level of intervention needed to improve outcomes for children. Through the One Family Approach, children, young people and families are placed at the centre of a system that works collaboratively to build resilience, strengthen family and community networks, remove barriers to success, and enable families to become increasingly independent of services.

This training supports that vision by equipping practitioners with the knowledge, skills and confidence to identify emerging needs, understand what life is like for children and families, and work alongside them to find sustainable solutions. Practitioners will develop the skills to complete high-quality assessments, map strengths, risks, harms and protective factors, and create plans that are outcome-focused, child-centred and driven by the family's own goals and aspirations.

Importantly, this training reinforces that Early Help is not simply about referring families to another service. It is about practitioners recognising concerns early, having meaningful conversations, understanding needs, coordinating support, reviewing progress and, where necessary, escalating concerns appropriately. It reflects North Lincolnshire's commitment to prevention, partnership working and ensuring that the best quality professional help is available at the earliest opportunity.

This is a relaunch, not a continuation of the previous course. The content, framework and practice expectations have been significantly updated and therefore all practitioners and partners who work with young people and families, should attend regardless of whether they have previously completed Early Help training. The new training programme should be viewed as a core part of all practitioners safeguarding tools and knowledge base.

Learning Outcomes

By attending this training, practitioners will:

• Understand the purpose of Early Help, the One Family Approach, and key safeguarding updates.
• Recognise levels of need and confidently identify when Early Help intervention is appropriate.
• Complete high-quality Early Help Assessments that effectively map strengths, risks, harms, needs and solutions.
• Develop confidence in having supportive and professionally challenging conversations with children, young people, families and professionals.
• Create SMART, child-centred plans that focus on meaningful outcomes, resilience and sustainable change.
• Lead and contribute effectively to Early Help meetings, reviews and multi-agency planning.
• Ensure the voice and lived experience of the child remains central to assessment, planning and decision-making.

Empowering practitioners across North Lincolnshire to act early, work collaboratively with families, build on strengths, and deliver effective, outcome-focused support through the One Family Approach.

By booking a place on this training, there is an expectation that you will attend the full session. You will be asked to provide your manager’s name when booking. If you are unable to attend, please let us know as soon as possible by email to MARS@northlincs.gov.uk and copy your manager into the notification. Non-attendance without prior notification will be followed up with your line manager.