28 September 2018 weekly update

Dear Colleagues

Children’s Services Integrated Front Door

Please note the links in this update will not work until Monday 1 October.

As I have previously mentioned in my Headteacher Briefing meetings this year, we have been developing a new Integrated Front Door. This new Front Door will launch on Monday 1 October 2018.

It will bring together the Central Duty Team and Early Help Triage Team into a single integrated team. This team will be responsible for dealing with all Requests for Support at an Intensive level and above (Levels 3 and 4). It has been carefully structured to ensure that we send service requests to the appropriate destination and that families receive the right response, from the right service at the right time. Most importantly, the decision making around the most suitable service to meet the needs of children who are referred through a Request for Support will now take place within the Front Door.

If, however, you feel the needs of the family sit below Support Levels 3 or 4, and you would have previously considered completing an Early Help Notification, please contact your local Early Help Team. Your request for advice will be responded to within 2 working days by an Early Help Manager and you will then be able to discuss the needs of a child, young person or family and be provided with advice about the most appropriate type of support available within the community at Support Levels 1 and 2.

To help support this development, we have created Support Level Guidance (previously the Threshold Document) which will better assist partner agencies when considering where children and young people sit within the continuum of need. The guidance is accessible online and comes with an accompanying Support Level Guidance summary sheet (PDF, 323.6 KB). This is a double-sided sheet that is colour coded for ease of use and can be easily downloaded.

The current Interagency Referral Form (IAR) and Early Help Notification (EHN) are being replaced by a single Request for Support Form . The completed Request for Support Form must be uploaded via the Single Request for Support Upload tool

I would urge that all schools cascade and print off this guidance information and ensure that appropriate staff are aware of this important change.

Matt Dunkley CBE
Corporate Director
Children, Young People and Education