Key announcements

Due to maintenance, some of our online forms and systems will be unavailable from 6:00am on Saturday 30 March to 7:00am on Monday 1 April. We are sorry for any inconvenience. To find out more about the section 114 notice, visit our section 114 page

Birmingham Children’s Partnership - Resources

Families are telling us about the many challenges they face, together with their concerns as a result of the aftereffects of the pandemic and the cost of living crisis. So as partners across Birmingham we are connecting together to support families who want early help. These are conversations around initial help and support for things like food, fuel, mental health, loneliness, amongst others.

The following sectors are connecting together in ten localities: community, voluntary and faith sectors, health, family support, social work, police, schools, education, further education, nurseries, children’s centres, health visitors, GPs and West Midlands Police.

Ongoing support in ten localities

Each area has a voluntary sector Locality Lead and staff from a range of services, see our list of the ten Locality Leads.

The ten Locality Leads have close relationships with partners and communities, so they can help the whole family.

For example: provide family support, give advice and guidance including linking to food banks, connect families to the professionals who can support them and coordinate the help, support early help assessments (evidencing what the needs are, identifying the family strengths and finding the right solutions to support the journey of the family), connect families into the local community resources to help families be independent and resilient within their communities.

Family Connect

Some families need support from more than one professional. We no longer make referrals for early help, but connect and work together to support families, continuing to build relationships and supporting a range of needs of all family members.

To get support for a child, young people, or a family, complete the Family Connect Form for Professionals and give as much detail as possible. This will enable us to understand the family needs and provide appropriate support from within the Early Help Partnership.

Family Connect Form - for Professionals

Family Connect Form - for Professionals (If you can not access the form you may need to contact your own IT admin for permission to gain access or remove firewalls).

If you are a parent, complete the Family Connect form.

Family Connect Form - Self Identification

To help you to complete the Family Connect Form, see the guidance and a sample completed form

Making Every Contact Count (MECC)

Making Every Contact Count (MECC) is all about daily conversations that you may already be having with professionals that they can also talk about conversations on how to make positive changes through advice and guidance to their health, wellbeing, debt, housing, adaptations, environment, social needs, etc.

Find out more about MECC

Available Funding

Birmingham's Local Welfare Provision scheme helps vulnerable people in short-term crisis with food and essential items. It is grant-based, which means people who receive help from it will not have to repay anything. It is not intended to replace the council's statutory duties.

The scheme is funded on an annual basis and once the fund has been exhausted for that financial year, there will be no further awards.

The scheme is purely discretionary and people have no statutory right to an award.

From Birmingham with Love

For a simple list of universal early help that is available from partners for all families go to the From Birmingham with Love page. This includes a flyer or poster that can be handed to families and translated versions.

Government vision for Early Help

The Ministry for Housing, Communities, and Local Government recently published a vision and toolkit for early help.

Download the guide


Page last updated: 30 November 2023

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