Following a full review of social work services for children and families it was agreed that the social work service will be delivered on a borough wide basis, with the teams having responsibility for all statutory social work functions in each of the five neighbourhood areas. The structure includes:
- A single Referral and Assessment Team, (recently reconfigured) to provide single point of access and ensure consistency in response and thresholds.
- Two Safeguarding and Care Planning Teams (from the reconfigured Children in Need Service) will work with children on the child protection register, children in need where there is a significant risk of harm and looked after children prior to permanency or where court proceedings are ongoing. The teams will be based at Blaydon District office and the Civic Centre.
- An Integrated Service for Looked After Children will bring together the Leaving Care Team, Therapeutic Services and part of the Children in Need team and will be co-located with the LAC Health team
- The Safeguarding Children Unit, based at Prince Consort Road offices will continue to support the work of the Local Safeguarding Children Board (LSCB).
- A Children with Disabilities Team - management arrangements for the Emergency Duty Team will be aligned with the Children with Disabilities Team, continuing to provide a generic service across the borough.
- Family Support Services - Family centres and family support coordinators will continue in their current form, with two family centre coordinators having responsibility for managing the service. See Family Support Review for more details.
- Youth Offending Team – YOT prevention and early intervention have been integrated within the new Area Based Working arrangements. The remaining YOT statutory services will be retained as a single specialist boroughwide team with responsibility transferring to the Head of Service for Children and Families.
- Business Support Service- teams are currently being reconfigured
Downloads
Latest:
Review Documentation 7 December 2007:
