Multi Agency working is a successful way of supporting children and families with additional needs and helping to secure real improvements in their life outcomes. By bringing together all the professionals to a meeting to support a family enables me to bring to the table a panel of people who have a wealth of experience and skills to help provide the family with priceless opportunities to seek the best interventions and support for their child and family. It enables myself as a professional to learn from other and have transferable knowledge and skills for other children in my care.
The concept and drive towards multi agency working is not a new ideal. There have been significant child tragedies that provided momentum to consider the relationships between agencies surrounding a child. However, it was the case of Victoria Climbie that manipulated government to respond by facilitating the consolidation and networking of children’s services. The government’s response bound the ideology of interagency co-operation into the Children’s Act 2004 and initiated the green paper entitled “Every Child Matters” which represents a national framework to help create a common language and shared vision for all practitioners to work together.
Multi agency working within our setting is carried out at both low level support through universal services, as well as higher level interventions if needed. The local offer is available within every borough to help enable both parents and settings to work in partnership with local and national agencies to promote the well-being of all children. One of the main challenges is engaging parents, seeking consent and bringing them onto this voluntary journey to bring about change and better outcomes. Building relationships and communication is key to build on trust and acceptance to support their emerging needs as a family.
