Information and Advice Support Service
This page is known as: www.birmingham.gov.uk/child-referrals
The Information and Advice Support Service (IASS) deals with all telephone contacts and referrals for Children and Young People requiring information, advice support or services from Children’s Social Care.
The team comprises of a Team Manager, Advice and Referral officers, Social Workers and CAF workers. CAF workers will provide support and advice on completing Family CAF’s and could support the co-ordination of the ‘Integrated Support Plan Meeting’ (ISP).
We intend to support you by providing reassurance, advice, signposting and guidance and support with the completion of a Family CAF and ISP meetings.
All contacts and referrals will be screened to ensure that we process urgent safeguarding referrals promptly.
Referrals should be in writing from all agencies, (inter-agency referral form or fCAF) however if you intend to make a referral for serious immediate concerns please ring for a discussion as early as possible too. The referrer will be asked to tell us the risk they have identified for the child and the outcome they expect for the child.
Where an fCAF is appropriate and family will not engage please hold a professionals’ meeting to discussion next steps before contacting IASS.
Decisions
A decision about a contact, referral or a Family CAF received by the Team will be taken in most circumstances within 24 hours.
Outcome of referrals
The team will advise all Family CAF authors or referrers of the outcome of their contact with the service by telephone or in writing.
All referrals will receive a response.
Concerns Checklist:
The team will process the most urgent referrals through to social work teams who will work with other agencies to support children and young people who require a specialist social care service. These urgent and immediate concerns include:
- Child(ren) found to be living in home conditions that are described / assessed to be unsafe and the child(ren) require immediate removal. Police Protection is likely to be used.
- Child(ren) found alone; eg: following a home visit by the police and the child(ren) are not considered to be safe and well, found alone on the street, etc.
- Physical harm; child(ren) with or claimed to have an injury. Medical examination may be required on the same day.
- Allegation d isclosure by a child that he / she is being sexually abused.
- Child / young person detained by police and parents refusing to take the child back home.
- Child or young person is experiencing acute neglect.
- Death of a child and it is suspected that this has been caused by the carer or parent and other children are in the household.
- Parents detained (or remanded to custody) by police and no other person to care for the child(ren).
- Death of a parent / carer or emergency hospital admission and no other person identified to care for the child(ren).
- Young person who is remanded by the court to into the care of the Local Authority.
- Unaccompanied Asylum Seeker and Asylum Seekers who have children.
- Homeless 16 / 17 year olds.
- Private Fostering; ie: children and young people under 16 who are or are about to start living with friends or someone who is not a close relative and are likely to remain or have remained for a period of more than 28 days.
Making Referrals
Birmingham Safeguarding Children Board
More information is available from the BSCB web site:Child Protection Procedures: Summary of Contents
What To Do If...You think a child maybe at risk of abuse / neglect.