Early Help and support for families in Herefordshire
Early help is about providing your family with the right support at the right time, to meet your needs and help you to achieve lasting positive change in your everyday life.
Early help support can be provided if you have a child or young person up to the age of 18 years or up to 25 years old for those with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND).
Our Early Help Team work with children, young people and their parents and carers, to support families to deal with problems as soon as they start to emerge and to help prevent situations from escalating.
If you are experiencing any type of difficulties within your family, you can contact your child's nursery, school, college, health visitor, GP or other professional for information, advice and support. You can also see the additional support available within Herefordshire in the Virtual Family Hub on the Talk Community website and in the Herefordshire Directory of Early Help Services or ring the Children's Help and Advice Team (CHAT) telephone line listed below. For children with SEND please see the additional support available on our Local Offer and Short Breaks Scheme pages.
Our team may suggest that an Early Help Assessment would be a good idea, so we have all your information in one place to ensure that your family's needs are supported.
Children's Help and Advice Team (CHAT)
This confidential service is open to all families living in Herefordshire, with a child or children aged 0 to 18 years, or up to 25 years old for those with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND).
Our friendly and professional team will listen to your concerns and offer advice and support to help you and your family.
We can offer support, advice and guidance for families and young people on:
- Family relationships
- Challenging behaviours
- Housing and financial matters
- Emotional and mental health worries
- Keeping your child safe (online and in the community)
- Child wellbeing and development
- Children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), and their families
- Any issue affecting you and your family
You can contact the CHAT team on 01432 260261 (available Monday to Friday, 9am - 4.45pm) and speak to an experienced CHAT Advisor.