360,000 missed opportunities to support families earlier
Our new analysis, based on FOI data from 137 local authorities in England, shows that thousands of children are missing out on support even after concerns about their wellbeing have been raised.
Early help services are designed to support families before problems escalate, providing practical support to families experiencing difficulties such as financial pressure, mental health challenge or parenting difficulties. But between 2020 and 2025, around 360,000 opportunities to provide early help support were missed across England at the crucial point at which child in need (CIN) assessments were closed. This is an average of 72,000 children a year missing out on a vital opportunity for support.
Across the local authorities included in the dataset:
- 88% of closed CIN assessments did not result in a referral to early help services.
- More than one in five of those children were referred back to children’s social care within a year.
Early help is a vital public service
Across Action for Children’s services, we see every day how timely family support can prevent problems from escalating. Early help services can:
- Support parents to manage challenging behaviour.
- Help families facing financial or housing pressures.
- Provide advice and guidance around children's mental health and wellbeing.
- Connect families to local services and support networks.
When this support is available early enough, it can help families resolve problems before they escalate into safeguarding concerns or the need for more intensive intervention.
However, our analysis suggests that many families are only receiving support once difficulties have already reached crisis point. Without access to timely help, families may struggle to address the challenges they face, increasing the likelihood that children will be referred back to children’s services.
Missed opportunities to support families
Our analysis draws on Freedom of Information (FOI) data responses from 137 local authorities in England, examining the outcomes of 2.2 million child in need assessments between 2020 and 2025.
When children are referred to children’s services, local authorities carry out a child in need assessment to determine whether the child needs statutory support. Where the threshold for statutory intervention is not met, families may instead be referred to early help services – voluntary support designed to address problems before they escalate. This can include family hubs, parenting programmes, play groups, speech and language support, housing and debt advice, domestic abuse support, SEND and disability services, and community-based mental health support.
Action for Children asked local authorities what happened after these assessments were completed including whether families were referred to early help support. Across local authorities included in the dataset:
- 88% of closed CIN assessments did not lead to a referral to early help services, a total of
- More than one in five children were referred back to children’s services within a year.
Using the national number of assessments carried out each year, we estimate that this represents around 360,000 missed opportunities over five years to provide early help and prevent a re-referral to children's services – an average of 72,000 children a year.
Differences between local authorities
The analysis also found significant variation between local authorities in how often families were referred to early help services.
Across the councils that responded, the proportion of assessments leading to an early help referral ranged from 1% to 25%. This is despite 93% of LAs saying they had a process in place to consider an early help referral when an assessment is closed.
This variation suggests that access to early help can depend on where families live, rather than being determined solely by their level of need.
How this compares with previous research
Our previous analysis of FOI data covering 2015-2020 found that around 64,000 children a year were missing out on early help support after their assessments were closed. The new analysis suggests this has increased to 72,000 a year, alongside more variation between local authorities.
What needs to change
Action for Children is calling for three changes to strengthen early help provision.
1. Early help must be recognised as a core part of the children’s services system.
Local areas should have a clear expectation to provide early help services, with stronger national recognition of the role these services play in preventing families' needs from escalating.
2. Early help services must be sufficiently funded across the whole of childhood.
Support should be available to families throughout childhood – from early years through to adolescence – including for older children who can fall through gaps in provision between children’s services and youth services.
3. Government should strengthen the evidence base for early help.
Improved national data and outcomes frameworks are needed to understand what kinds of early help services are available and which approaches are most effective.
Read more about Action for Children’s policy and research on early help and family support.
Methodology note
This analysis is based on FOI responses from 137 local authorities in England covering children in need referrals, re-referrals and the outcomes of assessments between 2020 and 2025. National estimates are calculated using Department for Education statistics on the total number of child in need referrals, assessments and re-referrals conducted annually.
