Continuum of Need
The West Cheshire Continuum of Need sets out how to access early support, the thresholds for single and multi-agency agency interventions at all levels, and when to consider a referral for a social care led ‘single assessment’. If you click on the interactive Continuum of Need below, you will be able to access further information about each of the Levels, what action should be taken and what support services are available within each level of need. Professionals are reminded to use the Safeguarding Children Partnership Practice Standards as a guide to expected practice when supporting children and families from Referral and across the Continuum of Need.
There is a clear expectation when making referrals to iART that an Early help Assessment (Team Around the Family) will already have been offered to a family (with the exception of those that clearly meet threshold for statutory social work intervention) and that evidenced based assessment tools (from the SCP multi-agency toolkit) will support all referrals. Please click on the levels to reveal further information. 
Professionals working with children and families will often be asked for advice about a child’s health. The documents below are two useful guides to give to parents and carers, outlining when medical help should be sought for their child.