1. The Early Help Assessment Journey. How to Assure a Quality Journey.
Support for OUR Early Help
Partner Agencies.
©Manchester City Council

2. Responsibility for the quality of the Early Help Assessment
Every person who is part of an E.H.A multi agency support offer, shares responsibility for the quality of that E.H.A journey.
To help you provide a family with a positive Early Help Assessment journey, your managers should support you to continually improve the quality of your E.H.A’s.
With help from the Early Help Resource pack, the Early Help Practitioner Zone Web page and further support from the 3 District Early Help Hubs, you will become confident in ensuring your E.H.A’s are of good quality if not better.

3. The Early Help Assessment Journey
The needs of the young person must
remain central to all planning 2
Strength based conversation 3
Level of need and response 4
E.H.A completion and registration 5
Team around the child/family
meetings 1
Presenting Issue
Exploring presenting issues via a Strength based conversation is the start of a journey.
Having assessed the level of need professionals should undertake and register an E.H.A where appropriate
A journey undertaken by you, in partnership with young people and families
Regular Team Around the Child meetings monitor the journey

4. Improving Quality: The areas to explore
The Recording of Information
The Early Help Assessment
The Request for Early Help
Escalation of concern via the Multi Agency Safeguarding Referral form.
Communication
The strength based conversation
Voice of the child
The team around the Child/ family
Each of the above areas, is a core aspect of working in partnership with young people and families.
Additional information and advice on improving the child and family experience of support at an Early Help level, can be found on the Manchester City Council webpage:
manchester.gov.uk/earlyhelppractitioner
Each of these methods of recording information, has been designed in keeping with Manchester’s Signs of Safety approach. As a result, our Quality Assurance Framework can be used to improve the completion and eventual outcome on each form.

5. The Early Help Assessment Quality Assurance Framework
Working together with key partner agencies across Manchester, we have developed a clear method for the evaluation of those initially registered and those completed/closed Early Help Assessments.
This method can also be used by professionals to self evaluate the quality of the Requests for Early Help Forms and Multi Agency Safeguarding Referral forms they submit.
The following slides provide an insight into to the evaluation framework and its actual use.

6. Q.A Framework 1
The framework is a written exercise, that enables individual workers, teams and agency managers to relatively quickly, assess the quality of the E.H.A’s you complete against 12 expectations.
Amongst the great feedback we have received, a partner in the voluntary sector informs us that they explored this process at a recent team away day. Team members felt they subsequently understood “how to undertake an E.H.A, by having a better understanding of what should be in an E.H.A”.

7. Manchester Early Help Assessment Quality Assurance Tool
This tool is designed as a self-assessment tool to be used by practitioners and managers.
IMPORANT – This scoring sheet is accompanied by a guidance sheet aimed at reducing subjectivity
Name of Person/Agency being Quality Assured
Completion of this section identifies self evaluations or alternatively an agency managers quality checking.
SCALE OF SCORING PER AREA
TOTAL SCORE OUTCOME EQUALS
Disagree
Partly Agree 1
Agree 2
A set of 12 expectations are represented on this form. You record a score reflecting if you feel an expectation has been met.
  Inadequate
Requires Improvement
Good
Outstanding
Once you have put a score against each of the 12 expectations add them, to give a total. This reflects a level of quality as expressed in Keeping with OF.S.T.E.D terminology. A1
EHA Assessment Number
Finally, this top row can be used (left to right) by managers to identify E.H.A’s when assessing multiple E.H.A’s at once
The family details are clearly recorded 2
The 12 expectation are listed in the left hand column. Scores are then recorded next to the relevant expectation

8. Manchester Early Help Assessment Quality Assurance Tool
The attached guidance sheet provides a more detailed breakdown
of what you should be looking for.
GUIDANCE FOR EARLY HELP ASSESSMENT QUALITY CHECKS
Disagree
Partly Agree
Agree A1 A2
Family details include only some full names, date of birth/age for all family members, recorded as living in the family home.
 All details including address are partially legible
To assist the process, we provide guidance on what warrants disagreement (0), Part agreement (1) or agreement (2)
Family details include full names, date of birth/age for all family members recorded as living in the family home.
Family details are not recorded
All details including address are not legible
All details including address are clearly legible.
The assessment has no clear examples/statements in any of the five areas of life, exploring what’s working well and what needs to happen next and why.
The ‘what needs to happen’ section (The plan) does not reflect the parent’s willingness/ability to consider undertaking agreed tasks themselves.
The assessment has clear examples/statements in 1 to 3 of the five areas of life, exploring what’s working well and what needs to happen next and why.
The ‘what needs to happen’ section reflects the parent’s willingness/ability to consider undertaking agreed tasks themselves.
The assessment has clear examples/statements in 4 to 5 of the five areas of life, exploring what’s working well and what needs to happen next and why.
The ‘what needs to happen’ section reflects the parent’s willingness/ability to agree in undertaking agreed tasks themselves.

9. A Challenge Exercise, for you and your team members.
The challenge is to arrange as large a group of staff as possible, from your agency, to complete an exercise. They need to be in small working groups, no smaller than two and no larger than five people per group. Your attention and time will be required for at least half and up to one hour.
Scoring the E.H.A is optional, however we would suggest, scoring should only take place once staff feel confident about what constitutes a good quality E.H.A.
The exercise is to take one or more of your completed E.H.A’s and take the time to discuss if you feel the expectations have been met. Participants must refer to the Q.A Tool guidance information

10. Expected Challenge Exercise; Outcomes and Benefits……………………
As an individual, group or wider team you reach a common understanding of what should go into a good quality E.H.A.
Teams become happier when they feel they are working towards a common understanding.
Gain knowledge as to what should be included in those ongoing E.H.A journeys, you will become involved with in future.
Managers gain an opportunity to positively influence a common team objective.
Gain an ability to identify how to improve sections or the overall quality of an E.H.A.

11. Q.A Framework 2
Assessing the quality of an E.H.A at the start of a process, reflects the potential for improved outcomes. This is promoted by ensuring the very basics such as “obtaining the voice of the child” are in place.
Our second Quality Assurance Tool is designed to measure the quality of a completed and subsequently closed E.H.A.
11quality expectations are measured against the information recorded when the E.H.A was initially registered and importantly 7 of these expectations are revisited at the point of a Team Around the Family meeting.
Copies of both Quality Assurance Tools are included in the Resource Pack. A range of other supporting resources can be accessed via our Early Help Practitioner zone web page.
manchester.gov.uk/earlyhelppractitionerzone

12. Quality Assurance impacting on Outcomes
When agreeing that expectations have been met, you are reflecting that key elements are in place to bring about improved outcomes for the young person and wider family.
Blank copies of both Quality Assurance Tools can be found in the Resource Pack. For further information on improving the quality of your E.H.A’s please contact your District Early Help Hub:
Central District
Tel no
South District
Tel no
North District
Tel no
The total scores of those E.H.A’s you have Quality Assured, will also reflect the level of any required improvement.
You will be able to clearly identify where the improvement is required, based on the separate scores against each of the individual expectations.

13. The Early Help Assessment Journey. How to Assure a Quality Journey.
Support for OUR Early Help
Partner Agencies.
©Manchester City Council