9.25 Team Around the Child |
Contents
- Overview
- Who is in the Team Around the Child?
- Which Children and Young People will have a TAC?
- When will the Team Around the Child meet?
- What does the Team Around the Child do?
- What is the relationship between the Team Around the Child and other parts of the agency or organisation
1. Overview
Every Child receiving a service from Children’s Specialist Services will have an outcome focused plan, which will be understood, owned and implemented by the Team Around the Child TAC including (where appropriate) the child, other family members and relevant professionals.
The TAC is the small group of people, including family members, who have direct contact with the family and who share responsibility for implementing the child/young person’s plan.
- In respect of all children and young people, responsibility for implementing actions and services should be shared amongst members of a clearly identified TAC,
- Meetings of the TAC have a status equivalent to other important meetings such as Child Protection Conferences and LAC Reviews.
2. Who is in the Team Around the Child?
It is the expectation that prior to referral into CSS a TAC will already have been established and members will have taken responsibility for preparing a CAF. A Social Worker from RAS may join a meeting of the TAC to consider what, if any, further assessment is necessary and to make plans. During the assessment phase the TAC will need to consider if the right people are involved and who else might need to be involved.
The TAC will typically be formed by the parents, the social worker and at least one other professional - a health visitor or teacher. The TAC may ask other family members or professionals to join meetings for a specific purpose.
3. Which Children and Young People will have a TAC?
All Children receiving a service in Wandsworth need to have a Team around them. When the Child is Looked After that team will include the foster carer as well as the parent if applicable.
4. When will the Team Around the Child meet?
TAC meetings should take place every 3 months as a minimum standards and should be chaired by a PSW/CSW at lest every 6 months.
A TAC meeting should also take place at the following key points:
At the beginning of the involvement of CSS when a social worker joins the TAC
- Within 48 hours of a child becoming Looked After in an emergency
- At the point of transfer between CIN, YST or CLA teams
- 3 months prior to the transfer between CLA and YST
A meeting of the TAC at these points will support transition, transparency around the exchange of information and avoid slippage in the delivery of services. Meetings of the TAC should be ‘instead of’ rather than ‘as well as’ meetings. This structure supports a holistic approach to the child/young person.
5. What does the Team Around the Child do?
A primary task of the TAC is to agree what the overall aim of the plan is and to agree what success looks like. The function of the TAC is to plan the work and in particular arrangements for seeing the child/young person, share information, revisit and review assessments and share responsibility for reconsidering the original analysis. The TAC has to agree how to manage and resolve differences of opinion.
6. What is the relationship between the Team Around the Child and other parts of the agency or organisation
Members are responsible for implementing and continually reviewing the Child’s plan between the Formal Review processes. Members have shared responsibility for reporting to the Formal Review but should not wait for feedback to each other. The responsibility of the CP Chair and LAC IRO is to act as a critical friend.
To be effective the TAC needs to have the authority to take decisions and agree actions. All professional members of the TAC are accountable to their agencies and need to agree the parameters of their authority.
Frameworki should be used to record Meetings of the Team Around the Child.
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