A partnership approach to providing early help for children and young people is essential to them achieving their potential, councillors will hear.
Durham County Council’s Cabinet will next Wednesday 16 October receive a report on The County Durham Strategic Partnership Approach to Early Help for Children, Young People and Families.
The strategy seeks to set out the council’s partnership vision, priorities and approach for providing effective, targeted and coordinated ‘early help’ in County Durham, in order to address inequalities, promote opportunity and secure better outcomes for children, young people and their families. This centres around trying to provide ‘the right support at the right time in the right place’ for families who need extra help.
It has been developed by the council with partners, and reflects responses to consultation carried out among parents, carers, young people and children.
The strategy outlines the collective responsibility across the council and its partners for identifying children and young people who require additional help and support, as well as to meeting the needs of these children, young people and families at the earliest opportunity.
It is accompanied by a plan setting out a range of actions which will be progressed by the council and its partners over the coming year to ensure they continue to develop effective approaches to delivering early help for children, young people and families in County Durham.
Cllr Olwyn Gunn, the council’s Cabinet member for children and young people’s services, said: “We want all our children to be healthy, happy, safe and achieve their potential and recognise that early help is essential to helping them get the best start in life so they are able to make the most of opportunities throughout their childhood and adolescence.
“Lots of families in County Durham face challenges and difficulties in their lives and these can lead to tough times for children.
“However with the right support from the right people as early as possible they can be helped to overcome significant challenges.
“In County Durham, early help is not a single service or team, but a way of working with families that all of our key partners and stakeholders working with children and families, as well as ourselves, can put in to practice.
“All agencies have an important role to play in helping children to thrive supported by universal services such as midwifery, health visiting and schools, as well as providing services to those children and families who need extra help to get back on track.”
