How can early intervention help?

Early intervention can support a range of different needs, for example:

Identifying developmental delay in a young child and providing additional support
A child having difficulty settling into school, which may be affecting that child's behaviour
A young person who is grieving following bereavement or family break-up
Families who are affected by disadvantaged or disrupted lives
Anti-social behaviour or substance misuse issues in older children
Working with families where domestic abuse is an issue

Assessing your needs

One of the important ways we help families through early intervention is by using a simple, effective assessment of children's and families' needs.

This helps us to work with you to identify the most effective ways to work with children and families to change their lives for the better. This is called the Early Help Assessment. This assessment is carried out by a professional already working with a child, young person or family - known as the lead professional. An assessment will be completed within 30 days of our allocation meeting - Early Help Hub - and will be reviewed 6 weekly.

The work that follows that assessment is coordinated by a lead professional based in one of these services:

Children’s centres

This can involve one-to-one support for families with children (from pre-birth up to 5) as well as providing support to access the children’s centre groups, parenting advice and guidance, help with finding and preparing for nursery, provisions such as 2-year funding, managing finances, volunteering, and adult learning.
They also run both Incredible Years and Triple P parenting groups throughout the year.
We have 6 children’s centres in the Wokingham borough

Parenting and Family Support

This can involve one-to-one work with children aged 5-18 to support parents and the child with behavioural concerns or challenging behaviour. This includes; poor attendance at school, anti-social behaviour, the impact of parental substance misuse and/or parental mental health, and parental separation involving issues over contact. We can also advise and provide direct input to children and families where there are worries over self-harm, feelings of low self-worth, or child sexual exploitation (CSE) concerns. In relation to parenting, we also run Triple P parenting groups for primary and secondary-aged children throughout the year.

Prevention and Youth Justice Service

Formerly the Youth Offending Service, this service involves direct work with the child and family in cases where early warning signs of offending and or anti-social behaviour are present. For more information, visit our directory.

Youth Justice Service directory listings

NEET Prevention Service

The Prevention Service support young people Not in Education, Employment or Training

Team Around the Family and network meetings

The Team Around the Family or network meetings can consist of:

Wider family and significant people in the child’s life
A teacher or designated lead from their School
SMART (Self-Management and Recovery) substance misuse worker, either working with the child or family directly or providing advice and support
CAMHS (Child and Mental Health Service) worker involved with the child
Health Visitor, midwife or School nurse if applicable

Educational welfare

Alternative early intervention services are provided by other Wokingham Borough Council departments, or by partner organisations in the borough and beyond. These services include:

Educational Welfare Service
Educational Psychology Service
Young Person’s Health Service
Young Person’s Substance Misuse Service
Foundry College
Special Educational Needs

For more information, read our Early Intervention Principles.