Directory of Services
- Adoption Support Team
- Area SENCOs
- Children with Disabilities
- County Psychologist Service
- Education Welfare Service
- Emotional and Behavioural Difficulties Support Team
- Pupil Referral Unit
- Hospital and Home Tuition Service
- Looked After Children Education Services
- Parent Support Advisors
- Social Care
- Special Educational Needs
- Specialist Advisory Teaching Service
Introduction
Improving outcomes for children and young people, so that every child achieves their potential, involves changes to culture and practice across the children's workforce. These new ways of working shift the focus from dealing with the consequences of difficulties in children's lives to early intervention and effective prevention. Every Child Matters sets out a children's trust model for whole system change, with integrated front line delivery, processes, strategy and governance.
Integrated working focuses on enabling and encouraging professionals to work together and to adopt common processes to deliver front-line services, coordinated and built around the needs of children and young people. Having a common referral form and process within Children's Services, linked with a CAF Pre-assessment Checklist (or completed CAF Form), is one step on the journey described above.
What will we achieve?
Through a common referral process we should begin to make steps towards achieving the following:
a. We will enable the collection of basic core data with a requirement to only fill in a form once no matter which or how many services need to be involved. This frees up more time for direct working with children and families.
b. We will have a common set of data, which improves the transfer of the Lead Professional Role in Children's Services.
c. The form and information section contained within it will begin to educate all practitioners about everyone else as it is all in one place and accessible. It will help to develop a common language and ownership.
d. Through the process of internal referral between agencies we begin to build relationships and common understanding about our distinctive roles and responsibilities, it forces the next step of actually working together.
e. The common set of data will act as a passport for Children's Services practitioners to negotiate between themselves, what responses are needed, and encourages a joined up response.
f. The common referral form will assist practitioners in developing and understanding the lead professional role. The lead professional is the practitioner who first identifies a need/receives a referral into their service, and will act as a single point of contact that children, young people and their families can trust, who is able to support them in making choices and navigating their way through support systems. The lead professional role can transfer to another professional where this is appropriate.
g. A common referral process will ensure there is no 'wrong door policy'. Whoever receives a referral is responsible for accompanying the child and/or family to the right door and feeding back to the referrer.
h. A common referral process will stop 'multiple referrals' where the referrer fills out as many forms as possible and hope someone answers because they are unclear about what help they need or where to get it.
One form = passport to all services required in a coordinated way:
The links on the right side of this page:
- Provide information about the Case Management Services within Children's Services, their eligibility criteria, and any additional information they may require from you when you make a referral.
- Access to the referral form and CAF Pre-assessment checklist.
- Information about the responsibilities of children’s services staff who receive referrals.