How to make a referral
Concerned about a child?
Please complete a Request for Help Form.
Before completing the form, please ensure that you have consent from the parents and Young People over 11 years and that they are aware of the information being shared in the referral and what is being requested. You also need to gather the thoughts and views of the parents and children/young people. Best Practice would be to show a copy of this referral to parents so they are clear about the information you are sharing unless to do so would place a child at risk.
When requesting support from Early Help or Preventative Services, please consider the questions below before completing the Request for Help form:
- Have you spoken with Compass before making this referral? email Compass@southglos.gov.uk
- Is there an EHAP (Early Help Assessment and Plan) open for this family? If not, please discuss with Compass prior to making this referral
- Have universal services/support been tried in the first instance?
- Have you referred to the SEND Local Offer?
- Have you looked at the South Gloucestershire Children’s partnership: The Right Help in the Right Way at the Right Time (Threshold Document)?
If a child or young person is in immediate danger then please dial 999 and ask for police assistance.
Safeguarding children is everyone’s responsibility
IF IN ANY DOUBT SPEAK OUT
The contact number for the Access and Response Team (ART) is 01454 866000
The single assessment for early help is designed to support families and professionals to work together to achieve the best possible future for children and young people.
We recognise that every family can benefit from some extra support from time to time and that it is most successful when everyone works together.
The single assessment for early help encourages everyone involved to develop an understanding of a family’s strengths and challenges. It considers the support needed in all areas that affect a child’s development – from health, education and social development through to housing and family relationships.
Further information for professionals:
More information on national and local policies and procedures can be found on this page.
The Seven Golden Rules for Information Sharing
1. Remember that the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), Data Protection Act 2018 and human rights law are not barriers to justified information sharing, but provide a framework to ensure that personal information about living individuals is shared appropriately.
2. Be open and honest with the individual (and/or their family where appropriate) from the outset about why, what, how and with whom information will, or could be shared, and seek their agreement, unless it is unsafe or inappropriate to do so.
3. Seek advice from other practitioners, or your information governance lead, if you are in any doubt about sharing the information concerned, without disclosing the identity of the individual where possible.
4. Where possible, share information with consent, and where possible, respect the wishes of those who do not consent to having their information shared. Under the GDPR and Data Protection Act 2018 you may share information without consent if, in your judgement, there is a lawful basis to do so, such as where safety may be at risk. You will need to base your judgement on the facts of the case. When you are sharing or requesting personal information from someone, be clear of the basis upon which you are doing so. Where you do not have consent, be mindful that an individual might not expect information to be shared.
5. Consider safety and well-being: base your information sharing decisions on considerations of the safety and well-being of the individual and others who may be affected by their actions.
6. Necessary, proportionate, relevant, adequate, accurate, timely and secure:
ensure that the information you share is necessary for the purpose for which you are sharing it, is shared only with those individuals who need to have it, is accurate and up to-date, is shared in a timely fashion, and is shared securely (see principles).
7. Keep a record of your decision and the reasons for it – whether it is to share information or not. If you decide to share, then record what you have shared, with whom and for what purpose.
Source:- Information sharing: advice for practitioners providing safeguarding services (2024).