The following
principles will apply to key referrer groups:
-
Child Protection
Services - referrals to Integrated Family Services will be
directed to Child FIRST for assessment and allocation.
-
Other/ professional
referrers (including schools, hospitals, community and
health sectors, police etc) – will be encouraged to contact
Child FIRST through providing information and advice, acknowledging
transitional arrangements may require continuing some pre-existing
referral pathways to local Family Services providers.
-
Self/family
referrers– Family Services providers will retain a
capacity to accept and assess local referrals and to present cases
to weekly allocations meetings.
North Central
Integrated Family Services will be available to vulnerable families
that reside in the catchment and include children and young people
aged 0-17 years.
Commitment from all
Family Service providers to prioritise on the basis of greatest
need, whilst acknowledging and maximising the particular strengths
and service capacities of all agencies involved.
Child FIRST will be
the central and primary gateway for Integrated Family Service
response.
Cases will flow
through from Child FIRST to the relevant local Family Services
agency as soon as possible.
Data recording of
service delivery will occur according to Child FIRST and Integrated
Family Services requirements.
The Alliance commits
to ensuring that Child FIRST retains the capacity to respond to
incoming requests for service and will support the processes
required to ensure that the Child FIRST service does not get
overwhelmed.
Families previously
known to Family Services agencies will be redirected to Family
Services to minimise potential service duplication.
Prioritisation of
cases will be a core function of the allocation process which will
jointly determine risk and need of families and demand and capacity
for Child FIRST and Family Services.
Commitment to shared
responsibility for high quality service delivery, including high
levels of information sharing and transparency within all new and
existing cases, consistent with the Strategic Framework for
Family Services and Child FIRST specifications and within the
limits of information sharing legislation
