Referral & Assessment
The Referral and Assessment Team, what we call the Front Door, is the first port of call for all initial enquiries from anyone concerned about a child or for any emergencies. The Hub serves as the Multi-Agency Support Hub, traditionally what is called a referral and assessment team. This is where the referrals and key decisions take place.
The Hub works with both the children and families with ‘early’ needs and, in doing so, helps prevent escalation to more in-depth social care involvement.
Court Hub
The Court Hubs represent one ‘front door’ for all long-term pre-birth intervention support and assessment. Members of the Hubs carry out community pre-birth assessments on parents without current childcare responsibilities but who have previously had children taken into care, or who have other issues identified during pregnancy, such as mental health, cognitive or learning disabilities, drug and/or alcohol dependency or domestic abuse.
The Hubs work to secure permanency within the family, either in the community or through court processes. The most vital aspect of their work is to help make the child’s journey as smooth and safe as possible, whether that’s through PLO, court, adoption and post adoption and to prevent a ‘cycle’ of being in and out of care.
Child Protection Hub
The Child Protection Hubs respond to urgent Priority 1 and 2 child protection referrals. Everything they do is geared towards keeping children and young people safe from the risk of significant harm. They gather information and assess and prioritise all decisions about the most appropriate response under S47 of the Children Act.
The Hubs work with children and their families subject to a child protection plan and in PLO, permanency planning and adoption. They also carry out assessments on children and young people who have been sexually abused, as well as those who use sexually abusive behaviour. The Hubs work closely with the Local Safeguarding Children’s Board and all of their work is carried out within the appropriate legislation procedures and timescales.
Fostering Service
The Family Placement Service within the Trust acts as an Independent Fostering Agency and a Voluntary Adoption Agency with the aim of providing a range of safe and secure placements to meet the assessed needs of children and young people in care and to promote and safeguard their welfare. The service provides placements that promote stability and positive outcomes for children and young people by working in partnership with young people, carers, adopters, birth families, other professionals and the community, while ensuring foster carers, adopters and their families receive professional guidance, support and training as appropriate to help them fulfil their roles as effectively as possible.
Youth Offending Team
The Slough Youth Offending Team works with young people to help stop offending, maximise their full potential and help them become responsible, crime-free members of the community. Following the 1998 Crime and Disorder Act, Youth Offending Teams were established in all local government areas in England and Wales. These teams are tasked with carrying out all youth justice services within their area. The Slough YOT is a multi-agency team that brings together the experience of police, social care, probation, education and health, in order to prevent offending and re-offending by children and young people.
It is the aim of the Slough YOT to engage young offenders at an early stage, and in the context of their families, so that offending behaviour can be tackled before it becomes entrenched.