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Save Multi-agency services: Partnership agreements
Multi-agency services will bring together the work of a range of agencies. These might include:
- schools
- Early Years provision
- Sure Start children's centres and other Sure Start settings
- social services departments
- child and adolescent mental health services
- LA education support services, for example special educational needs (SEN), behaviour and education support teams (BESTs) and educational psychology
- healthy schools programmes
- primary care trusts
- children's fund programmes
- voluntary and community organisations
- police and other youth justice agencies.
Investing time at the beginning to develop sound relationships with these partner agencies is critical. In addition, it can be helpful to reinforce this mutual understanding with a formal partnership agreement. It will need to be updated at regular intervals (e.g. each year) and can cover a number of areas, for example:
- a statement of the purpose and tasks of the multi-agency service
- a list of the services or resources to be provided
– by the multi-agency service (e.g. location)– by the partner agency (e.g. staff resources) - details of relevant access and referral arrangements
– both into and out of the service, where applicable - training and development issues, for example:
– details of any joint training to be undertaken
– details of arrangements for continuing professional development for different members - data collection and information sharing
– details of information both services will provide to facilitate effective work
– details of consent and confidentiality procedures
– details of management information required - planning and review
– procedures for reviewing service delivery
– date for reviewing and updating partnership agreement - quality
– contact details for staff with responsibility for quality assurance
– contact details for making a complaint about either service.
Partnership agreements are particularly important for work with schools, where a lot of different staff may be involved and it is possible to get pulled in lots of different directions. The agreement should set out clearly what each party will contribute, and be recognised by all school staff as underpinning the work of the multi-agency team within the school.
Further resources
Integrated care network
Government website to help frontline organisations deliver flexible services to adults and children. It includes resources and information on strategic partnership working, including sample partnership agreements.
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as a Word Document
Last updated on 30/04/2009
