We'll work with you to support you and your family
There is a different level of help, depending on what you need.
You might have asked for help yourself, or a professional working with you may have suggested some extra support. If there are concerns about your child's health or wellbeing, it's important to get help as soon as possible.
Getting the right help early can really make a difference. Support at the right time can stop worries from growing and help things feel more manageable.
Practical support for you and your family
A trusted professional will work with you to understand what support is right for you and your family. You can find out more about asking for that early help.
Your trusted professional will take time to understand:
- your family's situation
- what is working well
- where you might need more help
The approach means we work together with other professionals, as needed, to develop a plan. This will be agreed and put in place to support your family.
Early help in the community brings people together to support you at an early stage.
This usually happens through a team around the family meeting. This is a supportive meeting where you and professionals talk together about what might help and what should happen next.
The aim is to make worries feel easier to deal with by working together and agreeing on clear next steps.
This support is coordinated by the Locality and Community Support Service (LCSS), which is there to offer advice to those professionals in the community who work with you.
It may be that the services available in one of Oxfordshire's family hubs or children and family centres can help. They are all on hand to give you advice to help your whole family.
Sometimes the Multi‑Agency Safeguarding Hub (MASH) may decide that your family would benefit from extra support.
Professionals from children's services, the police, the health service and the family help team, which is part of MASH, will work with you to understand what support would be most helpful.
Support might include:
- working with your whole family
- home visits, one‑to‑one support for you or your children
- access to information, tools or parenting programmes
This support can continue over time, and in some cases, the Family Help Team may offer more targeted help if needed.
