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2.2 Access to Family Support Services

RELEVANT LEGISLATION

Section 17 and Schedule 2, Part 1 of the Children Act 1989


Contents

  1. Introduction 
  2. Requests for Family Support Resources 
  3. Service Choice
  4. Family / Parenting Assessments
  5. Mother and Baby / Parent and Baby Assessments
For support services to children with disabilities, see Children with Disabilities Procedure


1. Introduction

  1. The following principles will inform the provision of family support services for Children in Need and their families:

    1. It is a key function of family support to strengthen families and enhance prevention, thereby reducing the need for children to become Looked After.
    2. Culturally appropriate services will be provided that are relevant to a child’s race, ethnicity, religion and culture.
    3. The safety of children will be given paramount consideration and services will work to ensure that they are safeguarded
    4. Most cases of family support will be short-term problem-solving interventions that are designed to enable decisions to be made about future service provision for children and their families. The vast majority of family support resources will not be provided for more than one year
    5. Services should be provided on the basis of an assessment of need in accordance with the Assessment Framework
    6. Children should, wherever possible, receive services from mainstream, “universal” provision such as those provided by education, health and housing
    7. Where resources are limited, they should be allocated to those who are most in need
    8. Family support resources will be provided in partnership with children, their families, and other relevant agencies
    9. Packages of support will be planned, reviewed and ceased within the context of multi-disciplinary/agency work that is fully inclusive of the views and input of the child and his or her family – see Child in Need Plans and Reviews Procedure.
  2. The Family Assessment and Support Team provides family support services, including family/parenting assessments, for Children in Need.  The Access to Resources Team arranges additional services as appropriate from other agencies, voluntary organisations and community groups to those with identified assessed needs.
  3. Where the request for service provision is non-complex/"one-off", an Initial Assessment will suffice for a referral to commence such services.
  4. As well as accessing services provided by Family Support Resources Teams, this chapter also covers the procedure for accessing the provision of services by Home Care (provided by the County Councils Direct Service Organisation) as well as other agencies, including commissioning services from external providers. 


2. Requests for Family Support Resources

  1. Family support resources can only be accessed by a referral to the Access to Resources Team.  The resources provided will be dependent on assessed individual and family need. 
  2. Referrals to family support resources will be made initially by telephone to ART and the worker receiving the referral will record the information provided.
  3. The social worker will send a copy of the Initial Assessment/Core Assessment to ART.
  4. ART will then establish whether the services required can be provided by the in-house Family Support and Assessment Team or by referrals to other agencies.
  5. ART will advise the child's social worker of the available resources that have been identified. Packages of family support will be offered in a flexible manner to meet the needs of the child and within the appropriate timescales.  This could include a single service or combination of services.  Which service option is chosen will depend on the needs of the child The social worker and his or her team manager will be asked to confirm that the resources offered are appropriate.
  6. Once the resources have been identified, the social worker will convene a Child in Need Planning Meeting - see Child in Need Plans and Reviews Procedure. A representative of the Family Support and Assessment Team or other resource to be involved will attend.


3. Service Choice

3.1 The service choice/intervention with a child and his or her family will be based on the assessment of the child’s needs and the most cost effective way to meet those needs and, where appropriate, those of the family.
3.2 When children and families are referred to other agencies for additional services, that referral is only made with the agreement of the child, family and the allocated social worker and/or their team manager.


4. Family/Parenting Assessments

4.1 When complex/comprehensive family/parenting assessments are required it may be appropriate for family support resources staff to work with the child's social worker to provide such assessments.  In such circumstances, assessments will be led by the social worker and other individuals and professionals may be required to input their own professional/specialist knowledge to the assessment.  The Social Worker will be responsible for the final recording and presentation of the assessment although other individuals and professionals may be required to record particular aspects of it. 


5. Mother and Baby/Parent and Baby Assessments

5.1 In exceptional circumstances it may be appropriate for parent and baby assessments to be undertaken within a residential setting.  Assessments may be appropriate for a mother, father or in some circumstances for both parents, together with their child/children.  Such a decision will be as a result of assessment and planning that includes a risk analysis or may be at the direction of a court.
5.2 It is the responsibility of the social worker's team manager to notify the ART manager where a decision is made that a residential family assessment should take place.

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