Community Operating Groups (COGs): An Introduction to Targeted Family Support and Weekly COG Case Discussion Meetings

Transcription

1 Community Operating Groups (COGs): An Introduction to Targeted Family Support and Weekly COG Case Discussion Meetings April 2016

2 Contents Introduction..3 Weekly COG Meetings...4 Tipton COG...6 Wednesbury COG...7 West Bromwich COG.8 Oldbury COG 9 Rowley COG...10 Smethwick COG 11 COG Contact Details 12 Weekly COG Case Referral Form.13 2 P a g e

3 Introduction Targeted Family Support: Community Operating Groups (COGs) COG Teams provide Targeted Family Support to families at tiers 3 or 4 of the Sandwell Safeguarding Board Threshold Document. They also provide advice and guidance to professionals about how to provide help to families as early as possible. Our ambition is for COGs to become truly multi-agency hubs that coordinate and provide support to children and families. Multi-agency colleagues who are already based alongside local authority staff in COGs include: Domestic Abuse Advocates (employed by Sandwell Women s Aid) Troubled Families Employment Advisers (seconded from DWP) A COG Team is based in each of Sandwell s six towns. Each COG Manager is supported by two Senior Targeted Family Support Workers and up to five Targeted Family Support Workers. Each COG also has an Early Help Social Worker as well as Business Support. Targeted Family Support Workers (TFSWs) can act as Lead Professional where families require targeted family support, where the worker is best placed to do so. TFSWs support effective parenting and prevent family breakdown or the need for statutory social work intervention, as well as reducing crime and anti-social behaviour and helping to secure better outcomes for families. Early Help Social Workers can offer advice and support to other professionals (including schools and the voluntary sector) so that we can be fully confident about the application of thresholds and effective working between Universal Services, COGs and Children's Social Care. They can also offer advice about Early Help Assessments and the Lead Professional role to help partner agencies to meet their statutory duties to safeguard children. COG Managers are keen to develop local networks and to explore more effective ways of working, so please do get in touch if you would like to explore how we can work more effectively to provide services that make sense to families. Signs of Safety & Outcomes Star Increasingly, we are using Signs of Safety and Outcomes Star as recognised methods to support families. We always work with parental consent. If you would like to find out more about these tools and what they mean, please contact your COG Manager. 3 P a g e

4 Weekly COG Meetings Weekly COG Meetings take place in each COG Locality. They provide an opportunity to discuss the co-ordination of support to families where the Team Around the family (TAF) process is not securing the right outcomes. Professionals from any agency can seek further advice and support. Where appropriate a decision can be made to escalate the case to Children s Social Care. Parental consent for a case to be discussed must be obtained wherever possible in line with established information sharing protocols. Speak to your COG Manager if you are not sure COG Managers work closely with colleagues from other agencies to make sure that families are effectively supported. They work to agree a way forward where Consent cannot be obtained Consent is withdrawn Consent has been given but the family are not engaging A Lead Professional cannot be identified, is not present or is no longer suitable Actions have repeatedly not been completed by professionals involved TAF meetings have become difficult due to non-attendance, partnership disagreements or other factors There is a gap in the support plan which needs addressing If the challenge cannot be resolved then the case may benefit from discussion at the weekly COG meeting. The COG Manager will agree cases for discussion in advance and ensure that these are on the agenda. Weekly COG Meetings take place to facilitate effective multi-agency working on a case by case basis; paying particular attention to those cases which are most challenging and complex, with little or no progress made. Everybody who works with children and families in any particular locality is a member of their locality Community Operating Group and should be encouraged to attend a weekly COG Meeting if they have a contribution to make regarding the needs of children. The Weekly COG Meeting is an opportunity for practitioners to reflect on effective practice, identify areas for development and agree how good practice can be modelled across the partnership Weekly COG Meetings are co-chaired by the COG Manager and Care Management Team Manager. It is important that there is regular multi-agency attendance with representatives from key agencies. The families details that are to be discussed at the COG Meeting will be available on the Early Help System for members to carry out checks prior to attendance. COG members will be notified of the case list at least two working days prior to the COG meeting, allowing members adequate time to check their systems for relevant information. Attendees should have necessary authority to make decisions and allocate resources (or have these delegated to them for the purpose of the COG Meeting functions). 4 P a g e

5 Group Head (Targeted Support): Tom Common Tel: Tom joined Sandwell in April 2014, having held similar early help and targeted social work management roles in previous authorities: the last of which was recognised by Ofsted as delivering Good and Outstanding services to children and families. He is a qualified and HCPC registered Social Worker. 5 P a g e

6 Tipton COG (Located in Tipton Local) High Street Tipton DY4 9JB Tel: COG Manager Kate Griffiths Kate has a degree in Youth and Community Work. She has worked within the authority for 13 years in various roles within the Youth Service, Connexions, Youth Offending Services and Targeted Youth Service. In the last 11 yrs Kate has been working within the criminal justice system setting up and leading services in resettlement of young people being released from the secure estate, restorative justice, reparation and setting up the new Out of Court Disposal in partnership with the Sandwell LPU. She has extensive experience of partnership and family working to divert young people away from crime. 6 P a g e

7 Wednesbury COG (Located in Wednesbury Library) Walsall Street Wednesbury WS10 9EH Tel: COG Manager Suki Sian Suki has worked in Sandwell for the last 8 years in the Preventative arena of Youth Offending Service and Targeted Youth Support, for the first year as a Frontline worker and then as the Prevention Manager. Previous to this she has 11 years experience in Early Years and 4 years in Domestic Violence and Refuge work. Throughout her working career she has always worked in a multi-disciplinary team and has over 20 years experience of working with Young people and their families. 7 P a g e

8 West Bromwich COG The Court House High Street West Bromwich B70 8LU Tel: COG Manager Claire Martin Claire is a qualified Probation Officer with 12 years experience in the criminal justice system. She is currently leading on Integrated Offender Management for Youths in Sandwell, working closely with partnership agencies, including Probation and the Police. Her main area of current supervision is the high risk and prolific young offender cohorts within the Sandwell area. 8 P a g e

9 Oldbury COG (Located in Brandhall Library) Tame Road Oldbury B68 0JT Tel: COG Manager Naomi Clarke-Huggan Naomi has worked for Sandwell for 10 years. She spent her time working with Vulnerable Children and Young People in a number of occupations ranging from DECCA Senior Worker to Specialist Team Manager within Targeted Youth Support providing her with in-depth knowledge, skills and experience to provide support, advice and information to children, young people and families as well supporting staff to contribute towards the Early Help Strategy by identifying most vulnerable at the earliest opportunity ensuring a robust assessment and action plan is in place to ensure a sustainable future for those we support. Her passion for working with families to achieve better outcomes for their lives is a combination of Naomi being a mother and having that innate maternal instinct to want the best for any child as well as generally being interested in people and human behaviour (Hence why she studied Psychology, Sociology and Counselling all at degree level). Naomi is excited about new changes being implemented and looks forward to working with you all! 9 P a g e

10 Rowley COG (Located in Sandwell Local) Payne Street Blackheath B65 0JT Tel: COG Manager Rofia Noreen Rofia has extensive experience spanning 14 years working directly with families and children, managing people in a variety of family support roles and working in partnership with other agencies to ensure a holistic support for families. She does hands on work with families allowing her to see the positive impact that intervention has in the lives of families. She enjoys her work and has learnt that safeguarding children is best achieved by taking the child's entire environment into consideration. She worked with families intensively to tackle anti-social behaviour and crime using a whole family approach. Working with families entrenched in ASB and crime requires patience, resilience and building trust. Rofia is persistent and successfully builds up trust even when families have shut the door in her face. She could not have made progress without the support of colleagues. Team working is the key to successful work with families and she is looking forward to working within a wider team to continue to make a difference to families. 10 P a g e

11 Smethwick COG Hollies Family Centre Smethwick B67 7DW Tel: Interim COG Manager Barry Cole Barry has a degree in Youth Community and Health Studies and has managed Local Authority Multi-Agency/Disciplinary teams for over 12 years. He has worked in a number of settings including Residential Social Work, Youth Offending Team Prevention Officer, Youth Inclusion Support Team Assessment officer and Local Area Manager for the Connexions Service in Wolverhampton. He has extensive experience of working with schools and partners to affect best outcomes for children and young people. 11 P a g e

12 Early Help Desk Town Manager Contact Details When Weekly COG s take place Tipton Kate 6-8 Unity Walk When: Monday Griffiths Owen Street, Tipton, DY4 8QL tipton_cog@sandwell.gov.uk Time: 2pm Tel: Wednesbury Suki Sian Wednesbury Library Walsall Street, Wednesbury WS10 9EH wednesbury_cog@sandwell.gov.uk Tel: West Bromwich Oldbury Rowley Claire Martin Naomi Clarke Huggan Rofia Noreen The Court House High Street, West Bromwich, B70 8LU westbrom_cog@sandwell.gov.uk Tel: Brandhall Library Tame Road, Oldbury, B68 0JT oldbury_cog@sandwell.gov.u k Tel: Sandwell Local Payne Street, Blackheath, B65 0DH rowley_cog@sandwell.gov.uk Tel: Smethwick Barry Cole Hollies Family Centre Coopers Lane, Smethwick, B67 7DW smethwick_cog@sandwell.gov.uk Tel: Council House Early Help Desk Council House Freeth Street Oldbury B69 3DE Tel: Where : Unity Walk When: Thursday Time: 10am Where : Wednesbury Town Hall When: Thursday Time: 2pm Where: Court House, West Bromwich When: Thursday Time: 11am Where: Brandhall Library When: Wednesday Time: 3.30pm Where: Blackheath Library When: Tuesday Time: 10am Where: Hollies Contact Centre. 12 P a g e

13 Weekly COG Case Referral Form Date: Town : Referrer : Agency: Contact No: Family Composition (Family members, D.O.B, addresses) ecaf numbers Child: Siblings: Parent/Carers details: Why are you making this referral to Weekly COG Panel?: Concern that the caf is no longer working Brief outline of the concerns: What measures/interventions/risk management have you put in place? Risk Factors Protective Factors Is there a significant risk to a vulnerable Child/Young person? Family views to case being discussed at Panel: 13 P a g e