Interconnections Seminar: Team around the Child (TAC) & the Multi-agency Keyworker

Monday 7^th March 2005, 10.00 a.m. - 4.00 p.m.

Regent’s College Conference Centre

Inner Circle, Regent’s Park, London, NW1 4NS

The aim of the seminar is to share information between services which are using Team around the Child (TAC) and services which are considering adopting this approach

Seminar features include –

•         An explanation of the TAC approach for families of children who have complex needs

•         Presentations from 3 services who are using TAC

•         Plenary and small group discussion of various aspects of TAC

Services are invited to send a delegation with a mix of disciplines. This will give delegates an opportunity to examine the TAC approach from different points of view and a broader base for helping to develop service-improvement plans. Delegations can include parents.

Programme

Costs: We are operating a sliding scale from £190 for a single delegate to £110 each for a delegation of 5 or more. Please see booking form for details.

*Peter Limbrick is author of –

‘Early Support for Children with Complex Needs: Team Around the Child and the Multi-agency Keyworker’

‘An Integrated Pathway for Assessment and Support – for children with complex needs and their families’

‘The Team around the Child – multi-agency service co-ordination for children with complex needs and their families’

These books are published by Interconnections and available by post from the address below.

Seminar booking forms by post, fax or e-mail available from -

interconnections

Peter Limbrick, 9 Pitt Avenue, Worcester, WR4 0PL

Tel/fax: 01905 23255, E-mail: p.limbrick@virgin.net

Interconnections Seminar

Information about services who are giving presentations

Essex County Council: The Holistic Planning model

Presentation by Jane Ryder Richardson, Team Manager for Provision Development and Interagency Links, Special Educational Needs and Psychology Services, Essex County Council and Linda Fisher, Early Support Co-ordinator (Essex).

The concept of Team around the Child (TAC) has been highlighted in a number of multi-agency projects in Essex. One project, based in special schools, has developed a holistic planning model. It recognises how the concept of the ‘team around the child / young person’ supports joined-up working practices. It offers a framework to enable those involved (TAC) to plan and work out with each other how to support the identified shared goals. The model supports the person-centred approach to child and family focused planning and lends itself to supporting older young people in their transition into adulthood. 

Essex is also a pathfinder site for the National Early Support Programme and is using the concept of the Team around the Child to support families with very young disabled children. This is proving invaluable as practitioners work towards providing more co-ordinated services and use the Early Support materials to support the change of practice.

Walsall: TAC in the Child Development Service

Presentation by Carol Thompson, Specialist Health Visitor/Co-ordinator, Walsall CDC

and Suzanne Rimmer, Superintendent Paediatric Physiotherapist.
 

This service represents an integrated model of working between Walsall Teaching Primary Care Trust, The Early Years S.E.N.Team of the Walsall Education Inclusion Support Service and N.C.H.

Action For Children in partnership with Walsall Metropolitan Borough Council.
 

The multi-disciplinary team of the CDC has developed a multi-agency approach enabling
ongoing focussed family support using the TAC model. The function of the service is to assess and monitor the progress of all children living within the Walsall Borough who have a disabling condition or any marked deviation from normal development in the age range birth to 5 years. The main emphasis of the service provided, however, is not on assessment alone but takes into consideration other important areas of care, treatment, advice and support, which significantly affects the child’s developmental progress, while continuing to acknowledge and facilitate the parents’ role in all provision. Features of the service include –

•         Hub and Spoke model of service

•         Early identification is facilitated by an open-access referral system. Parents have direct access

•         if they wish to refer their child to the service

•         A weekly Referral Panel which consists of senior representatives from each agency

•         Screening of referrals for any acute medical concerns by the Specialist Health Visitors

•         Establishing a Team Around the Child if the child is found to have more complex needs

•         A Co-ordinator is appointed from within the Panel to ensure the smooth establishment of the small TAC

•         The Co-ordinator reports back the outcome of the Panel meeting to the parents and arranges an initial TAC meeting for the family within one month

•         The aim is to introduce the family to the small team immediately involved with their child and to appoint a key worker of their choice

•         This initial meeting takes place in the family home or at a venue of their choosing

•         The documentation used is a Family Service Plan which includes important aspects of the families main concerns as well as involving them in an agreed Action Plan and Target-Setting Process

•         The key worker ensures that network of social and family support services is provided as required

•         Ongoing medical follow-up as required at timely intervals, rationalised to meet the families needs

•         Educational provision formalised within the team setting

•         Continuity of support for the family during periods of transition for the child

Medway & Swale: TAC Incorporating Keyworking

Within Medway and Swale we incorporate 2 PCTs, 1 Acute Trust and 2 local authorities. We developed the Team Around The Child model some 3 years ago in response to families’ concerns which were about -

•         Improving the co-ordination of services including appointments and information sharing.

•         Using parents experience as expert carers in the centre of our planning.

Whilst the model addressed our needs, within a year we all started to feel pressure that more time was needed to make this work. Setting up TAC wasn’t just about arranging meetings it was about changing the way we work.

Our model now incorporates a number of strategies to ensure the original key aims are met. These include care pathways, keyworking and supportive therapeutic group intervention. Team Around The Child helps pull all these different strands of support together and provides us with a framework for good practice.

The development of the different models of working has enabled all staff to become involved in the change process - which has led to greater “buy in”. We are now at the stage of adding to individuals’ job descriptions the role each staff member has in providing a co-ordinated service. This will hopefully give a clear message that providing a co-ordinated service is an essential element in working with families and not just a model to aspire to!