Integrated Working

The Every Child Matters agenda is about taking an holistic view of children and their development. Partnership working between agencies such as health, social services education and the voluntary and community sectors, with local authorities and with parents is essential to improve outcomes for children.

Integrated Working is about practitioners working together to improve outcomes for children and young people. It involves the use of common tools, processes and language (such as Common Assessment Framework, Information Sharing, YorOK Child Index, ContactPoint, Lead Practitioner).

These support members of the workforce to identify vulnerable children and young people early, assess their needs in a holistic way and provide support that is coordinated and built around the needs of children and young people.

Tools to help Integrated Working

The delivery of integrated frontline services to improve outcomes for children and young people needs to be supported by more integrated processes.

There are a variety of tools to help practitioners support children and young people:

• Prevention Route Map
  What to do if you have a concern about a vulnerable child or young person

• Safeguarding Route Map
  What to do if you have a child protection concern

• Information Sharing
  Advice on information sharing between practitoners

• YorOK Child Index and ContactPoint
  Tool to support information sharing between practitoners

• Your Info, York’s Common Assessment Framework ( CAF )
  A common way of gathering information about children / young people and families and deciding what type of support is needed

• Lead Practitioner
  Someone to coordinate support to a child or young person and family

• Thresholds
  A guide to help you decide what level of concern you have about a child or young person

• Pyramid of Need
  A tool to help know when to use the Integrated Working tools

• Service Directory
  The YorOK service directory is now linked to the national Family Information Direct. This means you can now search for services right across the whole country.