Information for professionals
South Tyneside Multi Agency Threshold Guidance
The Multi-Agency Threshold Guidance has been revised following consultation and involvement with over 600 practitioners. Their contribution in this process has been invaluable and greatly appreciated.
The Multi-Agency Threshold Guidance is for practitioners and managers in all agencies that work with, or are involved with, children, young people and their families.
Thresholds
Thresholds are points at which something happens, stops happening or changes for a child or family.
They are a way of describing transitions between levels of need and types of services and support. They are also ways of identifying the points at which professionals might engage in dialogue with each other and with families to assess what has happened and what, if anything, needs to happen next.
Purpose of the guidance
The guidance will assist practitioners and managers in assessing and identifying a child's level of need and matching that need to the right service response.
The purpose of the guidance is to help us to provide the right support, at the right level, at the right time. We know that failing to do this often means that there is an escalation of need, poorer outcomes for children and families and increased risk for the child.
Early Help is incorporated into the Threshold Guidance and is key in the supporting of families where universal services alone are unable to meet their needs.