FIRST RESPONSE Making a good referral

WHO ARE WE? First Response is the front door to Children’s Services in Bristol. We are the team that is contacted if there is a concern about a child or young person. Our team is made up of 11 First Response Advisors, 2 full-time equivalent business support administrators, 0.8 apprentice, 1 Early Help Coordinator (job share), 4 FTE Deputy Team Managers and 1 Manager. First Response triage all referrals made to Bristol Children’s Services via telephone, email and Web Form. This process can include gathering more information from partner agencies that have contact with the families and families themselves. Decisions are made my managers in the team as to whether a referral requires No Further Action or will be referred to Early Help or Social Care. Putting it into context…. We receive around 1800 -2000 referrals per month. In March 2017 we received 2152 referrals. In the last year (April 16- April 17) we have received over 21,000 referrals.

THRESHOLDS Referrals will take different pathways into teams surrounding First Response depending on whether a threshold has been met for a service or not. At First Response we review referrals using the information given and additionally gathered to enable us to make decisions on which service is best place to provide an intervention. Our focus is the child’s voice and their day-to-day life experiences meaning that concerns that have been raised are reviewed with the view to assess whether or not they are having an impact on the child’s safety, welfare and life experiences. Professional referrers should seek further information about thresholds (and whether a referral is required) from the BSCB threshold guidance. First Response have to make very quick decisions about pathways for referrals. Therefore it is vital that submitted referrals contain all of the information you have, further information that you have gathered, and your analysis of the situation. If your referral contains insufficient information about the child and family to indicate that a threshold for service has been met, the referral may be returned to you for further enquiries before it can be accepted.

What you can expect from us…. What we ask for and why…. Do Seek parental consent (unless you believe a child has been harmed or to do so would place a child at further risk). Seek parent/carers view of referral. What do they want? What do you think is needed? Speak to child/young person. What do they want to happen? What do they need? Tell us who lives in the household. If you are not sure – ask! What worries you most and why? Think IMPACT! Explain why you are concerned about the child and family. Strengths…Think Signs of Safety Ensure that all questions are answered in full. If you don’t know the answer, you need to find out from the parent / carer. Dont Leave empty boxes Use complex language or terminology specific to your field. Make sure that anyone from any profession will understand exactly what you mean and what your worries are. Use descriptive words without telling us what that means Assume that we know the family or that we will “fill in the blanks”. Don’t refer to First Response for early help if you haven’t already offered support that you can refer into directly, either through your own agency or other specialist support in the community. Leave the children out. Referrals often talk about the parents needs or one specific incident in the child’s life. We need to understand their day to day experience and why they need our help. What you can expect from us…. Feedback to referrers A new Web Form