The short answer
Working Together to Safeguard Children 2026 reorganised the language of help for children and families in England. There are now three broad levels, with Family Help covering two kinds of support:
| Level | What it is | Legal basis | Consent | Who leads |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Universal services and community-based early help | Everyday support from schools, health, family hubs, youth services and others | No statutory threshold | Voluntary | The service involved |
| Family Help: targeted early help | Coordinated support for families with multiple or complex needs, with a plan | Sections 10 and 11 of the Children Act 2004 | Voluntary, needs consent | A Family Help lead practitioner |
| Family Help: child in need | Statutory support and services for a child in need | Section 17 of the Children Act 1989 | Voluntary, needs consent | A lead practitioner, who may or may not be a social worker |
| Child protection | Enquiries where there is reasonable cause to suspect significant harm | Section 47 of the Children Act 1989 | A statutory duty on the local authority | A social worker |
Sources: Working Together 2026, paragraphs 122, 125, 126, 135, 138 and 172.
What Family Help is
Working Together 2026 says Family Help brings targeted early help and child in need support closely together to create “a seamless system of help and support”, built on consistent relationships with lead practitioners and simple assessment and planning (paragraph 123). Families can move between targeted early help and section 17 support without starting again.
Targeted early help covers services such as parenting support, mental health support, domestic abuse services, youth services and housing and employment support. It is for families with multiple or complex needs, or whose circumstances make them more vulnerable (paragraph 134).
The law hasn’t changed. DfE’s Families First Partnership programme guide says the legislative framework is not changing, and local authorities keep their duty to children in need. The guide expects safeguarding partners to bring targeted early help and child in need into a single Family Help offer, and to reflect it in a refreshed threshold document, by March 2027.
How it works for a family
Working Together 2026 describes the main parts (paragraphs 136, 138 and 144):
- One assessment. Where a family would benefit from targeted support because of multiple or complex needs, there should be a multi-disciplinary Family Help assessment. Safeguarding partners should have a single Family Help assessment that can be adapted to the child’s needs, so families don’t have to repeat their story if things change. It is done with the agreement of the child and their parents or carers.
- One plan. Support is coordinated through a Family Help plan designed with the child and family and updated as their needs change, including if section 17 or section 47 work becomes necessary.
- A team around the family. Practitioners working with the family should communicate well, for example through regular multi-disciplinary meetings. Many areas call these team around the family meetings. The Families First Partnership programme guide sets out how the lead practitioner coordinates this team.
- Family group decision-making. Areas should use approaches such as family group conferences to involve the wider family network.
Families usually come to Family Help after a practitioner, such as a school, health visitor or GP, identifies a need, but they can also ask for help themselves. Working Together asks local authorities to make contact details clear so that children, parents and other family members know who to contact for advice or support (paragraph 163).
Local procedures vary
Local areas are introducing Family Help at different speeds and under different names. Some still call it early help. The referral route, the assessment form and who can be a lead practitioner are all set locally. Working Together asks safeguarding partners to publish a threshold document (paragraph 125) and a local protocol for assessment that says who can act as lead practitioner (paragraph 154). Read both for your area.
Is it voluntary?
Yes. Working Together says Family Help “is a voluntary approach, requiring the family’s consent” (paragraph 135). The Family Help assessment should be done with the agreement of the child and their parents or carers (paragraph 144).
If a family doesn’t consent, practitioners should try to understand why, make sure the family knows the support is voluntary, and think about how the child’s needs could be met another way, for example through universal services. Practitioners should still tell the family that their data will be recorded and shared. If there are concerns that the child has suffered or is likely to suffer significant harm, a referral should be made to children’s social care immediately (paragraph 146).
The lead practitioner
Each family in Family Help has a lead practitioner who coordinates support, makes sure the assessment and plan respond to the family’s needs, and helps the family co-produce the plan (paragraph 137). The role can be held by social workers, other local authority staff, including in a Best Start Family Hub, or staff in partner organisations. A practitioner who starts with a family at the targeted early help stage can carry on if the child is later assessed as a child in need (paragraph 138).
If child protection concerns arise later, the Family Help lead practitioner should keep working with the family and be involved in decisions, while social workers with child protection expertise lead the child protection work (paragraph 251).
The school’s part
KCSIE 2026 asks all staff to be ready to identify children who may benefit from Family Help (paragraph 6) and to know the local criteria for referring to it (paragraph 13). It lists children staff should be particularly alert to, including young carers, children with special educational needs, children who are persistently absent and children at risk of exploitation (paragraph 18).
When a concern is raised, the options include support within school, a Family Help assessment or a referral to statutory services (paragraph 60). Where a child doesn’t need statutory services, the DSL generally leads liaison with other agencies and setting up an assessment. Staff may support it, and sometimes act as the lead practitioner. KCSIE says these cases should be kept under constant review, with a referral to children’s social care considered if things aren’t improving or are getting worse (paragraph 64).
Working Together also points out that schools are “uniquely placed” to spot concerns early through daily contact with children and families (paragraph 131).