Early Help: Is It Social Services and Can You Say No?

Part of: Child Lawyer

Early help is support that the council and its partners offer a child and family when a problem first shows, and in most cases you decide whether to accept it. In England it works at two levels. Schools, health visitors and family hubs give everyday support. For families with more complex needs, the council coordinates targeted support through what the 2026 statutory guidance calls Family Help.

A phone call or letter offering this support is not a child protection plan. Still, someone has noticed something about your family, and what you agree to now shapes what happens next. This guide explains whether you can say no and what practitioners can share about you. It also covers when an offer of support can turn into enquiries about harm. It forms part of our child law guide for parents.

Has a school, health visitor or the council got in touch? You can book a free initial consultation with one of our specialists before you sign anything.

What is early help in safeguarding?

It is support that services offer when a need first appears, so that the problem does not grow into something more serious. The national guidance describes two levels: community support through services every family uses, and targeted support coordinated by the council through Family Help.

The first level comes through schools, health services, youth services and Best Start Family Hubs (Working Together 2026, paras 126 and 127). The second is more formal. The council puts a plan in place and appoints a lead practitioner (para 126). Targeted support serves families with multiple or complex needs, or whose circumstances make them more vulnerable. Examples include parenting support, mental health support and domestic abuse services. Support can begin before a baby is born (para 134).

The legal footing is a duty to cooperate. Each local authority in England must make arrangements to promote cooperation between itself and its partners, with a view to improving the well-being of children in its area (Children Act 2004, s.10). The guidance places targeted support under sections 10 and 11 of that Act, where a family does not need statutory support or intervention (para 125).

Is early help social services?

Partly. The council’s children’s services coordinate targeted support, yet it remains a voluntary offer of help and a separate process from a child protection investigation.

The 2026 guidance brought targeted support and child in need support together under one name, Family Help (para 123). A child is “in need” if they are unlikely to achieve or maintain a reasonable standard of health or development without council services. The definition also covers a child whose health or development would likely suffer significant impairment without those services, and any disabled child (Children Act 1989, s.17(10)).

Your lead practitioner could be a social worker. Equally, it could be another member of council staff, including family hub workers, or someone from a partner organisation (para 138). The same person can carry on leading the work if the council later decides your child is a child in need. A social worker’s name on a letter therefore tells you little by itself. If the council has started a statutory assessment, our guide to the child and family assessment explains that stage.

Is it voluntary, and what happens if you say no?

Yes, it is voluntary, and you can say no. The guidance calls Family Help a voluntary approach that requires your consent (para 135). Practitioners should also carry out a Family Help assessment with the agreement of the child and parents (para 144).

If you decline, practitioners should try to understand why and make sure you know the support is consensual (Working Together 2026, para 146). They should also consider whether services you already use, such as your child’s school, could meet the need. Even then, they should tell you that they will record and share your information, and explain why. Declining support once should not stop you getting it later.

If a practitioner has concerns that your child has suffered, or is likely to suffer, significant harm, the same paragraph says they should refer to children’s social care immediately. They do not need your consent for that referral. So before you refuse, make sure you understand exactly what the council is offering and why. If you do decline, it helps to say why in writing and to mention any support you already have.

Which council routes need your agreement?

Only child protection enquiries go ahead without your agreement. Community support and both kinds of Family Help depend on you accepting them. Knowing which route you are on tells you how much say you have.

What is an early help assessment?

It is the assessment that works out what targeted support your family needs, and it becomes the basis of your Family Help plan. Each area should have a single assessment, carried out with your agreement, that looks at the needs of everyone in the family (para 144).

The questions range widely. They can cover education, early years development, mental and physical health, money, housing, family relationships, domestic abuse and drug or alcohol use. Practitioners should take your child’s wishes and feelings into account wherever possible. The aim is that you do not have to repeat your story if things change. That cuts both ways, because the same assessment provides the basis for any later assessment under section 17 or section 47 of the Children Act 1989 (para 144). Practitioners can read what you say at this stage again if concerns grow.

Some councils still use the older name, the common assessment framework, or CAF. Leeds City Council, for example, says the CAF label is changing while the principle remains the same. Under a CAF, the agencies involved meet with your family as a team around the child or family, and a lead professional coordinates the agreed plan. If your letter mentions the common assessment framework, the rules on consent and sharing in this guide still apply.

Contacted about early help? Check which route you are on

Three answers place most first contacts. Choose the ones that fit and the panel shows whether you can say no, who may see what you share and what to ask next. Nothing you choose leaves this page.

What can practitioners share about your family?

Practitioners do not need your consent to share information where the purpose is keeping a child safe and they have a lawful basis under UK GDPR (Working Together 2026, para 32). They should be as open as possible and tell you what they are sharing and with whom, provided it is safe to do so (para 33).

That covers sensitive details too, such as health information. The Data Protection Act 2018 lists the safeguarding of children as a condition that allows sharing without consent (Schedule 1, paragraph 18). It applies where nobody can give consent, where a practitioner could not reasonably obtain it, or where asking would undermine the child's protection. Inside Family Help, the guidance expects the practitioners working with your family to keep in touch, for example through regular meetings (para 136). It is safest to assume that what you tell one of them can reach the others.

Schools are often where an early help referral starts. Staff have daily contact with most children, and the guidance expects them to work with partners when they spot a concern (para 131). If your child's school has raised a worry, our guide to school safeguarding referrals explains what the school must do.

Can an early help referral lead to child protection enquiries?

Yes, if a practitioner becomes concerned that your child has suffered, or is likely to suffer, significant harm. The guidance says a referral should then go to children's social care immediately (para 146), and the council must make enquiries where it has reasonable cause to suspect that harm (Children Act 1989, s.47(1)).

Escalation can also be gentler. Practitioners should update your Family Help plan as your family's needs change, including where support under section 17 or enquiries under section 47 become necessary (para 136). The guidance also encourages family group decision-making, such as a family group conference, to involve your wider family in the plan.

Once the council opens enquiries, a social worker should lead them (para 146) and the process has its own steps. Our guides to section 47 enquiries and the social services investigation cover what happens next. Where an enquiry leads to a meeting about a plan, see our guide to the child protection conference.

Early help: frequently asked questions

General information about the law and guidance in England, not advice on your circumstances.