What to expect from an assessment

The Early Help Assessment (EHA) process is broken down into stages. Before doing one, your child’s worker will seek permission from you.

You will be asked to participate fully in the assessment, along with your child if appropriate to their age. This will help the worker to build a whole picture of your child’s life and development.

Outcomes of an EHA can be various depending on the discussion with your practitioner and others supporting you and your family.

See the outcomes below:

No further action

It could be that no further action is necessary as changes may have been identified and put in place which have been successful on review. The EHA could therefore close.

Ongoing needs

If ongoing needs have been identified these will be identified in the action plan and monitored by the setting with regular review within 12 weeks of the EHA being completed.

You will be included in the review process and have an opportunity to share any progress or barriers you have experienced and observed. This process continues until agreed actions are completed, needs can be met at universal level, and the EHA can close.

Progress not made

If the needs identified show that progress is not being made, either in the initial EHA or on review, the threshold may have been reached for targeted support.

Support is available from a range of agencies best suited to address these needs. The practitioner will discuss this with you and if necessary, with your agreement, make an online Early Help referral.

Safeguarding issues

If safeguarding issues have been identified during the Early Help Assessment process it could be that a Multi-Agency Safeguarding Hub (MASH) referral is needed.