Early Support is the central government mechanism for achieving better coordinated, family focussed services for young disabled children and their families. Disabled children and their families come into contact with a wide range of professionals. Early Support uses a ‘team around the child’ approach, with multi-disciplinary assessment and reviews. An identified key worker/lead professional will be allocated for each family, where appropriate.
The objectives we seek to meet through this way of working are:
- A reduction in the repeated history-telling by families.
- To ensure that all services provided for families with young disabled children are well coordinated and responsive to their needs.
- To have a clear focus on what families need- with direct parental involvement.
- Improved information sharing with other agencies.
- Periodic, multi-agency reviews.
- Better opportunities for supporting families, providing information and involving other agencies.
At present referrals to Early Support may come from professionals or parents via Specialist Children’s Services at the Wood Street Health Centre. Following the pilot Early Support is now becoming a standard feature of support for families with a young (0-5) disabled child. Children’s Centres are also expected to use the Early Support approach and materials to deliver quality services.
Contact us
Early Support Programme
Specialist Children's Service
The Wood Street Health Centre
6 Linford Road
Walthamstow E17 3LA
Tel: 020 8430 7909.
