Page 12 - Getting it Right for Vulnerable Children and Young People in North Ayrshire

Partnership Forums The Partnership Forums are multi-agency practitioner groups who usually meet once a month to discuss individual children and their needs. The main aim of the partnership forums is to support decision making and resource allocation across specific locality areas; ensuring children get support in a timely and appropriate manner by co-ordinating supports and resources. They carry out this work in two ways:- 1) Providing advice and guidance where practitioners need direction on what supports/interventions are needed. 2) Making decisions regarding the use of external resources, taking account of the assessment of need, the availability of resources, and the available budget to meet the cost identified: The Partnership Forum has to be satisfied that the use of internal resource provision has been exhausted before agreeing to additional resources being used. There are 4 locality based Forums: 1) Irvine, Kilwinning and Dreghorn 2) 3 Towns 3) Garnock Valley and Largs 4) Arran. Each area (with the exception of Arran) has 2 forums. One for children aged 0-8 years of age and the other 8-16 years of age. Requests for assistance being made to the Partnership Forum should be completed by the Lead Professional if there are two or more agencies actively working with the child, or the Named Person where there is no other agency involvement. However, if it is clearly indicated on the Child’s Plan that all practitioners involved with the child agree with the request, it can be submitted by any practitioner. A request to the appropriate Partnership Forum should be discussed with a line Manager and if you are a Lead Professional, other members of the ‘team’ around the child to ensure all views are taken into account. If you are clear what support or resources are required this must be clearly stated on the Child’s Plan. If you are seeking advice, please state clearly in the recommendation that you are looking for the Forum to assist in identifying the most appropriate support for the child. All requests should be submitted to the Partnership Forum either through 4 AYRshare or by emailing partnershipforum@north-ayrshire.gsx.gov.uk 4 AYRshare is an information sharing tool developed by the three Ayrshire Local Authorities and NHS Ayrshire and Arran and is accessible to selected teams in Health, Education and Social Services. Getting It Right For Vulnerable Children and Young People in North Ayrshire Live V1.2 April 2014 Page No:12