5.1 Advice, Support, Consultation & Referral

Advice, Support, Consultation & Referral      

Referrals can be made in the following way:

Sefon's Children's Help and Advice Team (CHAT) is the front door of Sefton Children's Social Care Service. Children's Social Care are the first people you will speak to if you have a concern about a child or young person.  

You can call the CHAT Team on 0151 934 4013

In an emergency outside office hours, by contacting the Emergency Duty Team 0151 934 3555 or the Police;                                                             

In Sefton, partner agencies, members of the public and family who are worried about the safety and well-being of a child or young person have a duty to refer. This referral should be made at the earliest opportunity.  They will receive advice, support, guidance, and reassurance allowing the child or young person to receive the right service at the right time.

Using sound professional judgement, we ensure that children and their families receive the right level of support and appropriate interventions at the right time. You should always were possible seek advice from your designated safeguarding lead before making a referral. There is information available (link) on the sefton council website about this and you can call the CHAT on 0151 934 4013 or Emergency Duty Team, outside of working hours on 0151 934 3555.

In order the right service to be offered at the right time, it is important the following is consider when you are making a referral. 

• As much detail as possible of the incident or condition that causes the person reporting to be concerned about the child or young person
• Information about the identities of all adults living in the home who may have access to or care of the child, all children believed to be in need of protection, and the person alleged to have caused the need for protection
• Information about the functioning of the family and its individual members, particularly the child who is the subject of the concern;
• Obtain information about the child and family’s support network including relatives, extended family, or community members who may be potential supports for the child and the family;
• The family’s ethnic origin, first language, religion;
• Inquire about the current location of the child and the parent/caregiver and the accessibility of the alleged perpetrator to the alleged victim.
• Information will also be gathered from all sources of information that are immediately available, including information held within our records.
• When there is an open child protection case and a new referral is received, the information is provided to the responsible worker on the same working day (or next working day by an after-hours worker).
• We ensure all contacts are screened for the presence of domestic violence through discussion with the referrer whether other risk factors may be present such as:

If the child is known to have an allocated social worker, contact should be made with the allocated worker to share those concerns directly. In her/his absence, the manager or a duty officer in that team must be contacted.

Professional agencies should have internal procedures, which identify Designated Safeguarding Leads who are able to offer advice on child protection matters and decide upon the necessity for a referral. If the agency is still unclear about whether a referral is required, contact Sefton’s MASH on 0151 934 4481 for further consultation.

Arrangements within an agency may be that a designated person makes the referral. If the designated or named person is not available, the referral must still be made without delay.

A referral or any urgent medical treatment must not be delayed by the unavailability of designated or named professionals.

The person making the referral should also provide the following information if available, absence of this information must not delay a referral:

• Full name, any aliases, date of birth and gender of child/children;
• Full family address and any known previous addresses;
• Identity of those with Parental Responsibility;
• Names, date of birth and information about all household members, including any other children in the family, and significant people who live outside the child’s household;
• Ethnicity, first language and religion of children and parents/carers;
• Any need for an interpreter, signer or other communication aid;
• Any special needs of the child/ren;
• Is the child registered at a school or regularly attending a school? If so, identify the school;
• Any significant/important recent or historical events/incidents in the child or family’s life;
• The child’s account and the parents’ response to the concerns if known;
• The referrer’s relationship and knowledge of the child and parents/carers;
• Known current or previous involvement of other agencies/professionals;