At this level the child or family has multiple or complex needs. The family is struggling to make changes without support and intervention from services. Regular home visits may be required.
If issues cannot be managed within the community and the family consents, additional support can be sourced through Intensive Family Support.
This support may include:
- work in the home
- involvement from more than one agency
- specific interventions that require co-ordination
What happens next
Additional support is provided in the home and through partner agencies. This aims to achieve positive outcomes where lower level interventions have not been successful.
Assessment and referral
Child development
| Strengths |
Needs |
- The child has met developmental milestones
- General health is good
- Child/young person has some level of emotional resilience
- The child/young person displays adequate self-care skills
- Has positive peers associations
- Can show empathy or understanding of consequences
- Can articulate positive aspirations for the future
|
- Child not meeting milestones
- Have unmet complex needs
- Chronic, recurring health problems
- Not engaged in Early Years provision
- Despite intervention attendance is below 90% and still dropping (persistent absentee)
- Regular fixed term exclusions and/or at risk of permanent exclusion
- At risk of becoming/or NEET (Not in Education, Employment or Training)
- Behavioural issues identified in school
- Displays challenging behaviours at home
- Involved in anti-social or criminal behaviour
- Risky sexualised behaviour
- Concerns about young person’s substance misuse
- Early evidence of self-harm or poor emotional wellbeing
- Presenting as hungry to professionals, with evidence of no healthy meals being offered routinely
- Where there is medical evidence that the child is unlikely to achieve/maintain a reasonable standard of health/wellbeing, but parents are engaging and/or there is no immediate risk of significant harm
- Specific dietary requirements of the child are not met, e.g. nut allergies
- Quality of diet includes a disproportionate amount of sugary and fatty foods
|
Parenting Capacity
| Strengths |
Needs |
- Parents/carers are willing to engage in agency support but require support
- Parents/carers provide some positive stimulation for child
- No concerns regarding parental substance misuse
- Parents see themselves as part of the solution to resolving issues
- Free from domestic abuse or mental health difficulties impacting on child
|
- Parental substance misuse
- Parental mental health
- Lack of emotional warmth
- Parents disengaged in relation to child’s behavioural concerns
- Missed health appointments
- Have experienced domestic abuse as a victim or perpetrator
- Regular arguments between carers not resolved appropriately
- Inconsistent care arrangements
- Parental learning or physical disabilities
- Conflict between parent and child including violence towards parent/damage to property
|
Family and environment
| Strengths |
Needs |
- Family are engaged in some form of employment
- The family has some extended support network
- Housing is stable despite overcrowding or issues of disrepair. Family are rectifying these problems
- The family have access to some social activities
|
- There is a lack of a supportive network and some social isolation
- Risk of eviction or prosecution
- Family in temporary accommodation
- Overcrowding or repair issues impacting on the family
- Financial issues – no employment, incorrect benefits, rent arrears
- Parents finding it difficult to find employment due to poor skills
- Community harassment/discrimination
- Reliance upon food bank or assistance
|
