Walsall Children's Services

Walsall has developed effective approaches to multi-agency working. Agencies work together through the children and Young People’s Strategic Partnership.

Walsall Children & Young People’s Strategic Partnership: Terms Of Reference

Walsall’s Children & Young People’s Strategic Partnership will:

Ensure Walsall’s children gain maximum life chance benefits from education, health, social care and cultural and leisure opportunities through effective, timely, responsive services, which improve quality of life, reduce inequalities and promote social inclusion.

We will secure modern services, which are focused on children and families, through effective commissioning, within a supportive infrastructure that promotes a performance management culture.

The government green paper, Every Child Matters, sets out the following aspirations of children and young people for each local authority to address through inter-agency liaison .
• being healthy
• staying safe
• enjoying and achieving
• making a positive contribution
• economic well being

Local Preventative Strategy

Organisations and agencies working with children and young people in Walsall have worked together to prepare and agree a Local Preventative Strategy (LPS), which seeks to reduce the likelihood of negative outcomes such as being excluded from school or becoming involved in crime. The LPS sets the direction for services that reduce social exclusion and that promote positive benefits for individuals and communities.

The LPS focuses on those children and young people who are most likely to experience difficulties later in life which would be averted through early intervention and additional support. It focuses on strengthening joint working between organisations and agencies in order to improve the effectiveness of the services provided.

Systems for Identification, Referral and Tracking (IRT) of Children and Young People at Risk

Essential Project Components

The overall aim of the Identification, Referral and Tracking project is to ensure that every child at risk will be identified, referred to appropriate preventive services and that their progress will be tracked to ensure that they do not subsequently “fall through the net”. This encompasses a number of key aims:

• All professionals in relevant agencies who identify young people at risk of underachievement, harm or offending have the opportunity to log their concern via a shared system to be understood as a set of procedures governed by agreed protocols, which may be supported by one or more ICT based systems.

• Different professional groups develop a common approach and feel able to work together to support those children and families who require intervention.

• Information can be speedily and easily conveyed to relevant participating agencies, and is shared at key points (e.g. when a child moves from primary to secondary school or when families move across local authority boundaries).

• The System can identify whether children have received, or are receiving, support through existing service providers.

• The System will ensure that timely referrals are made to other appropriate agencies and service providers.

• Key workers can track children and young people through the interventions to monitor progress.