Consultations on children and young people's services

Current opportunities to comment on developments to local services for children, young people and their families, plus feedback from recent consultations.

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Current consultations

There are no current consultations.

Feedback from consultations

Identification of Levels of Need

 Levels of Need - definitions [395kb] [Opens in New Window] Definitions of Levels of Need

Definitions of Levels of Need, agreed by the CYPSP Executive Group on 17^th September 2009, following revisions made following the consultation that took place earlier this year. At the meeting, the document was formally adopted as a way for all partners to define levels of need. All partners agreed to map this document against their operational procedures. Examples of these procedures would include care pathways, thresholds and eligibility criteria and service definitions.

Gloucestershire Reintegration Service (GRS) - responding to local and national requirements

This consultation closed on 30th November 2006, and involved Gloucestershire County Council consulting on how it can best deliver reintegration services in Gloucestershire in light of changing local and national requirements.

What you told us - The GRS Project Board, which was set up to oversee the consultation, heard from a wide range of people, and in December, presented feedback to over sixty people at a special event. The comments raised during the consultation have been used to put together a number of important principles, which will inform the new delivery model for Gloucestershire. The aim is that by September this year, the County Council will have a robust delivery model in place that allows it to respond to local and national demands.

Developing integrated services for children and young people in Gloucestershire

This consultation closed on 13th July 2006 and consulted on proposed models of integrated working for Gloucestershire.

For the latest news on developing integrated services, select the 'Integrated Working' page from the 'Related Pages' section  on the right of this page. If you have a question or would like more information please contact Katherine Smith at Gloucestershire County Council on 01452 583619, or email katherine.smith@gloucestershire.gov.uk. Details of the response to the consultation, can be found under  'Downloads'.

What you told us - Over 400 people from a range of organisations across the county took part in special consultation events, with the majority (87%) in favour of a combination of networks and integrated teams. This, they felt, would bring coordination and flexibility when supporting families, including those with more complex needs.

What happens next? An integrated working group is taking this work forward. Thirty-eight local networks, also known as multi-agency groups, have been developed so far, and the group is looking at how we take forward a more integrated approach for children with more complex needs. The CYPSP is keen to ensure that the proposed model is tested out, and following recommendations from the integrated working group, has agreed that pathfinder teams should be set up in the following areas:

• Gloucester - Integrated Youth Support Team for children and young people aged 10 to 19 or 24
• - Integrated Children's Team for children with more complex needs covering children aged 0 to12
• Cotswolds - Integrated Youth Support Team for children and young people aged 10 to19 or 24
• Forest of Dean- a Rural Route Finder covering children and young people aged 0 to19, where local stakeholders will be asked to develop the model of integrated working that best fits their area

Options for integrating young people's support services in Gloucestershire: consultation with key partners

This consultation took place during summer 2006 and looked at the different options for integrating the management of young people's services across Gloucestershire. (You can download the consultation from the right of this page, IYSS Discussion Paper). It proposed that an external organisation be commissioned to take the lead and this approach received broad support from the county's Children and Young People's Strategic Partnership (CYPSP). Last November (2006), Gloucestershire County Council's Cabinet agreed that an external organisation will be commissioned to deliver Connexions services and lead the development of integrated young people's services across the county, in partnership with the County Council.

The agreed approach aims to bring several benefits:

• improved outcomes for young people;
• better access to services;
• better use of resources;
• continued ability to attract additional funding into the county.

Plans to take this forward are under way. A tendering process has begun to provide:

• advice, guidance and support to young people from April 2008; and,
• management and leadership of young people's services in partnership with the County Council.

A provider will be selected during summer 2007, with contract negotiations completed in September, and the contract operational in April 2008. A Head of Young People's Services has also been recruited. They will be closely involved in the change process to help establish longer-term integrated leadership and close working arrangements across teams and organisations.

The review of young people's services was influenced by Section 6 of the new Education and Inspections Act, which gives all local authorities new responsibilities around providing positive activities for young people in their area.

•  Integrated Services Consultation Evaluation August 2006 [364kb]
•  Integrated Services Consultation Paper and Response Form June 06 [322kb]
•  Integrated youth support consultation letter [185kb]
•  IYSS Discussion Paper March 2006 [205kb]
•  IYSS Appendix 1 [30kb]
•  IYSS Appendix 2 [23kb]
•  IYSS Appendix 3 [30kb]

Consultations during 2008-09 - now closed

Identification of Levels of Need

Ended: 9am, Tuesday 26th May 2009. See consultation feedback section of this page.

The many organisations, agencies and settings providing children and young people's services across the county are using different models to describe levels of need, according to different criteria, and using specific evidence-based approaches. There is confusion among service users, practitioners, providers and commissioners. This consultation aimed to agree a common model to promote integrated working, which would bring benefits for service users and professionals.See 'Feedback from consultations' section below to download the agreed definitions, resulting from this consultation.

•  Levels of Need Consultation Paper April 2009 [11 pages] [112kb] [Opens in New Window]

Locality Hubs

Ended: 9am, Tuesday 26th May 2009

•  Locality Hubs Consultation Paper April 2009 [264kb] [Opens in New Window]

Consultation - CAF Memorandum of Understanding and Protocol

Ended: 3rd March 2008

The wider implementation of the Common Assessment Framework (CAF) would be greatly facilitated and better assured by the adoption of a multi-agency protocol. This has been drafted as the CAF Memorandum of Understanding and Protocol, which we believe gives a clear message to all staff working with children and young people regarding how to incorporate the use of CAF to build upon the excellent work already taking place across agencies and organisations. CAF MOU & Protocol [194kb]