Sheffield is committed to enabling and supporting all of its children, young people and families to be safe, healthy and successful now and in the future. We can best do this by identifying any additional needs as early as possible and providing the right support at the right time and in the right place.
Our vision is for every child, young person and family to recognise their strengths and to be supported to build capacity and resilience resulting in sustained independence that enables them to reach their potential now and in the future inspite of any disadvantages that they may face.
We will only achieve this vision by Working Together to support families and joint guidance is being produced by and shared with partners from the statutory and voluntary sectors in Sheffield.
Continuum of need
Sheffield’s 5 levels of need reflect a whole family approach to providing support for children, young people and families which is flexible and responsive. The needs of children, young people and their families do not move through the levels in a structured way, but rather on a continuum of need. Children, young people and their families may experience a range of different needs at different times and as such will move backwards and forwards through the continuum as needs are met
Early Help (Part 1)
A new Early Help Assessment Part 1 form has been produced to give brief whole family details and updates on work already undertaken with a family. This form replaces the Request for Support form (for MAST) and should be used to access the Early Help Gateway meetings. Completed Early Help Assessment Part 1 forms should be sent to the local MAST office, either by post or by secure email.
Early Help Gateway meetings take place every 2 weeks and are attended by multi agency partners. The meetings discuss the support needs of families and decisions are made about which services are best placed to provide support for a family at an Early Help level.
Our core offer
The MAST core offer has been revised in line with the Early Help Framework.
Early Help Practitioner Zone
We have now set up a practitioner zone on the Sheffield Directory. This has been created to store information and resources for practitioners, as well as linking up to services providing support to families.