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2.7 Step-up and Step-down (EHaS to and from Social Care Teams)

Contents

  1. General Guidance about Transfer between EHaS and Social Care Teams
  2. Step-down
  3. Step-up
  4. Transfer Meetings
  5. The Template


1. General Guidance about Transfer between EHaS and Social Care Teams

All decisions about the transfer of cases must be made following these principles:

  • The child’s needs must be at the centre of any process;
  • Minimising the delay in transfer is essential in order maintain momentum and to best meet the needs of children and their families;
  • Transfer of work between EHaS and Social Care Teams is reliant on an understanding of, and working to Thresholds, trust and joint working in the interests of the child and his/her family;
  • The process should be straightforward and solution-focused.


2. Step-down

Early Help and Support (EHaS) is geared to intervene at the level of Additional Needs. This is ordinarily the point at which a number of agencies and services are beginning to rally round the child and the family to provide support as necessary. CwAN Coordinators do not arrange, coordinate or manage access to a single provider, but rather when a number of services are in play, nor do they ordinarily take on longer term work. In most cases, EHaS is provided for about a period of 3 months and often less.

An important feature of the provision of EHaS is that it is voluntary and services can only be provided if the parents/child have consented in writing to the sharing of information between Social Care and EHaS. When this is done, the EHaS Leaflet should be handed to the family.

If it is clear during social care intervention that the child/family no longer need such intervention, then at a Review Challenge meeting a proposal could be made for step down, so long as it fits with the narrative above. If this is agreed, it will be discussed at a transfer meeting.


3. Step-up

When a referral is received, the CwAN Coordinator will consider whether the threshold for a child with additional needs has been met. If there are concerns that this referral better fits a child with complex needs then a referral to children’s social care through IRT will be considered.

If during the course of EHaS intervention, it is clear that the concerns have grown in severity, a Review Challenge meeting will be called so that the team around the child can agree the proposed step-up. If this is agreed, then it will be put to a transfer meeting. Normal arrangements apply should there be CP concerns. A decision will need to reached as to whether any services being provided by EHaS should be continued.


4. Transfer Meetings

Transfer meetings will be held once weekly, at which all step-up and step-down proposals can be discussed and a way forward agreed. These will be attended by the relevant Group Manager and CwAN Manager and the referring manager/worker. A template will be completed by the referring individual/team. This is set out below.


5. The Template

Click here to view The Template.

End