Review of Social Work Services for Children and Families
Social work services for children and families in Gateshead have been remodelled to create a more coordinated and multi-skilled approach to delivering services for children requiring more specialist intervention. This is part of the continuing development of Children's Trust arrangements to improve outcomes for children and young people,
The Social work services, operational from 2nd June 2008 will be delivered on a borough wide basis, with the teams having responsibility for all statutory social work responsibilities in each of the five neighbourhood areas. This will create stronger links to other area based working arrangements in Learning and Children.
Structures for the reshaped Children and Families Service will include a single referral and assessment team, family support services, two safeguarding and care planning teams, an integrated looked after children's service, safeguarding children's unit, children with disabilities team and a youth offending team.
Business support teams are also being reconfigured to meet the changing needs in the new service.
Wrekenton District office (which accommodates one of the current children in need teams and administrative staff) closed at the end of May. Staff currently based in that office, have moved into the new borough wide safeguarding and care planning teams (based at Blaydon office or the Civic Centre) or into the Looked After Children's Service teams (based at the Young People's Resource Centre).
Most appointments within the new structure have been made including service managers, who, in addition to having responsibility for a key service will hold responsibility for a strategic theme and link into one of the five neighbourhood areas. Themes cover – early intervention/family support, corporate parenting, access and empowerment, safeguarding and quality and youth crime prevention and anti-social behaviour.
As the teams begin to come together under the new arrangements, a priority for the group over the next six months will be to ensure the safe transition of services.
For further information contact service managers:
-
Maurice Woodward (Family Support and Care Planning)
Tel: 0191 433 2704
-
Karen Arnold (Looked After Children and Corporate Parenting)
Tel: 0191 433 8209
-
Debra Patterson (Disabled Children and the Out of Hours Service)
Tel: 0191 433 2488
-
Joanna White (Safeguarding- Quality and Improvement)
Tel: 0191 433 8323
-
Susan Butler (Youth Offending)
Tel: 0191 440 0508
Find out more detail about the review in our first newsletter.