Welcome to our Early Help Family Support page

This service is delivered by Worcestershire Children First company directly to families permanently living here in Worcestershire who have children aged 0 to 18 years old and need help and support specifically from a Family Support Worker. We are part of a wide range of early help services across Worcestershire for children and young people aged 0 to18 years old.

If you are a parent, carer or young person aged of 13 years old or older

You can request help and support directly from your local family support worker team. We are open: 9.00am to 5.00pm Monday to Thursdays and Fridays 9.00am to 4.30pm. Except on bank holidays. Please note we are not an emergency response service but will always try and get back to you the same day. Please click into the district box that covers your home address for details on how you can contact them.

We have six district teams who work across the whole of Worcestershire in your local community.

Our teams are: Wyre Forest, Bromsgrove, Worcester, Malvern, Redditch and Wychavon.

They work closely with other partner agencies, voluntary groups and organisations to help and support children, young people, and their families with a range of needs at an early help level of need.

Find out how to contact your district team

Professionals requesting help and support from a family support worker on behalf of a child or young person

Early Help is delivered by a whole range of partner agencies and services to children and their families at a preventative. To find out more please access the support web pages:

• Early Help guidance for professionals
• Virtual Family Hub
• Worcestershire levels of need guidance (PDF)

Worcestershire Children First (WCF) is one of the services who specifically work with targeted level 3 needs.

Early Help Family Support offer targeted intervention to families where there are complex, escalating needs that have not been able to be resolved by Early Help in the community. If you are a professional working, or have been in contact with a family or a young person who need help and targeted support from a WCF Family Support Worker, and you have assessed them having a level 3 need as per the Worcestershire Safeguarding Boards, Multi Agency Levels of Need Guidance. You can make professional Request for Support Via our Request for Family Support form.

When referring you will be asked to select from the below the one that best represents the presenting needs of the family you are asking for this service to work with:

• child with a special guardian support plan or adopted and has level 3 needs
• Section 117 leaving hospital plan
• previously Child Protection (CP), Child in Need (CIN) or Looked After Child (LAC) and escalating concerns at level 3 needs
• disabled child, parent or carers
• contextual safeguarding concern at level 3 need
• vulnerable to radicalisation
• child experiencing online harm that is not child protection but has not been resolved at level 2 need
• parent or carer drug, alcohol or substance misuse MH concerns impacting upon their parenting or family function
• child with specific needs around their substance misuse or their mental health and domestic abuse within their own peer relationship.
• attendance at school or education concerns at level 3 need only
• persistent and significant neglect with no change despite level 2 intervention and support

Complete a request for family support

As a professional we do not accept from you verbal or email requests for family support. We will share with the parent, carer or young person that you have asked for help and support on their behalf and what you have identified they need help with as we need their consent to work with them.

Are you worried a child might be at risk?

If you are worried about a child you can make a referral to Children's Social Care

Useful information on other sources of help and support

• emotional health and wellbeing: for support around children and young people’s emotional wellbeing and mental health further advice and support is available via these services: Website: YoungMinds
• managing teenagers: for support on communication and relationships with teenagers:
  • Website: Family Lives - Communicating with teenagers
  • Website: Family Lives - Setting boundaries for teenagers
• support with parenting: for support for you on the challenges of parenting: Website: Family Links - Parents