Integrated and multi-agency working Essay

Working with children will often involve you working closely with families and different agencies. Multi-agency working and integrated working plays a very important part in ensuring children and families with additional needs are provided with the best possible support. Multi-agency working requires practitioners and professionals from different sectors and within the workforce to provide integrated support for children and families with additional needs. Multi-agency working provides many benefits for children and their family as they provide them with tailor-made support in the most efficient way. These benefits may include: -early identification and early intervention, -quicker access to services and/or expertise, -improved progress and achievement with their milestones and education, -better quality services, -better support for the families. Integrated working focuses on enabling and encouraging professionals to work together effectively to deliver front line services. Integrated working key elements include: -early intervention if needed, -assessments which allow practitioners to undertake an early and initial assessment of a child’s needs and access whether extra services may be required, -recording information in one place and with the consent of the child or parent, -sharing information with relevant inter-agency practitioners, -the team around the child discussing and making joint decisions with the family on the assessment and recommendations for further support, -the lead professional who is the key to the process of integrated working and is the practitioner who acts as the point of contact with the child, their family and who coordinates and monitors the action plan that may have been implemented.