Early Intervention and Social Care Model
Early help
We are committed to a range of Early Help Interventions by direct delivery and appropriately commissioned services (including children’s centres, parenting, work with young carers, family group meetings and work on domestic abuse in families with children). We also successfully deliver the National Troubled Families Expanded Programme (as Supporting Families in Central Bedfordshire), and discharge statutory duties in the early years and childcare market, ensuring appropriate quality and accessibility, along with provision of information.
Access to services
We have one access hub, fielding all inquiries from residents and professionals about services to children and alongside this sits a multi agency safeguarding hub (MASH) that includes police, early help and NHS staff, with access to the relevant systems to inform quick and integrated assessment of safeguarding referrals. The hub aims to respond to all types of queries so that no call needs transferring, and enquiries that don’t lead to full assessments are responded to by the appropriate early help staff. If a full assessment is necessary, this will be undertaken by the specialist assessment teams.
Working with families under S17 or S47
We have a locality model of service delivery integrating early help support from schools: NHS and children’s centres with specialist parenting and youth intervention alongside social work family support teams, and are working on further integration of services as part of a 2016 to 2017 transformation programme.
Services to children with disabilities is based in two specialist hubs (Dunstable and Biggleswade) with social work teams based alongside our respite units and special schools. These teams also undertake any S17 and S47 work required.
Children in care
We have specialist court and permanence teams supported by teams who work with looked-after children, and teams specialising in leaving and aftercare and fostering and adoption services. We have a strong and active Children in Care Council (link opens in new window) which meets regularly with the Director of Children’s Services and the Chief Executive.
Service oversight and improvement
Casework is managed through the Mosaic case management system, which supports a strong commitment to reflective supervision by managers leading small teams of 5 to 7, underpinned by audit and a culture of professional debate and challenge. Safe caseloads are a high priority for a very visible senior management team.
The professional standards service is the engine of service improvement, using learning from conference and review, audits and a network of social work consultants based within the services to continuously drive service improvements. They are supported in this by our Academy of Social Work and early intervention a joint venture between us and the University of Bedfordshire.