Why agencies work together

You will need to be clear about your role and responsibilities, and understand the different structures and governance of colleagues from other sectors, including the private and voluntary sectors, micro and direct employers, service user led organisations and brokers assisting with support planning.

Working across these boundaries is critical to planning and providing appropriate support. Effective multi-agency working is a significant challenge in your day-to-day work.

It is time-consuming and can lead to conflict. However, putting together different parts of the jigsaw is essential.

Safeguarding adults: lessons from the murder of Steven Hoskin Social care TV shows the tragic consequences of poor multi-agency communication and collaboration. Social workers link positive outcomes to multi-agency working in 'Voices from the frontline: social work practitioners' perceptions of multi-agency working in adult protection in England and Wales' Pinkney, et al.

The Journal of Adult Protection, We hope you will find this material helpful in your first year as a social worker. However, we recognise that this will not provide you with all the answers. For example, while this means that young people develop links with a number of support networks, workers in different agencies can sometimes have different goals and a different focus. For example, one worker might be working with mental health issues while another is working with AOD issues.

While these issues may be directly related, the interventions fail to treat the young person as a whole. This is one of the reasons why it is important to work collaboratively with other agencies. Task - writing exercise Question - List some other reasons why collaborative work is helpful with young people. Work with partners or colleagues on this question. Collaborative work with local services Group activity Question - List the services that you might be able to link with in your local area.

Think of ways that you could work together with these services. These might include case planning meetings, joint projects, networking, etc. List the services, and note the collaborative work practices for each of those services.

If possible, in consultation with partners or colleagues. Key strategies Maintain good working relationships with other agencies. This is particularly important if you are sharing information that affects a child's wellbeing.

Be clear about what you are sharing and why For example, are you making a child protection referral which needs to be acted up on or are you letting people know for information only?

Follow up with written documentation All verbal and face-to-face communication should be followed up with clear and comprehensive written documentation. Use specific language and describe risk and vulnerability in detail Different teams and agencies may use different terminology, so ensure you use clear language. If there is a form for information sharing, use it - it will help other people understand what information you are sharing or requesting and why. Acknowledge information that's been shared with you If possible, you should also let them know what's happened as a result of the information they've shared.

When people feel their contribution is valued, they are more likely to communicate in future. If you're working in a multi-disciplinary or multi-agency team, make sure you understand your and everyone else's role. Discuss how you will work together to support a child or family. Always prioritise children's needs. Think about other teams working with a child and whether there is any information you can share that will help them provide support. It's particularly important to have a comprehensive handover whenever a child starts to work with a new practitioner or a different team.

Parents should receive the same messages from practitioners in different agencies. If several agencies are working with a family it might be helpful to identify a trusted key individual who will liaise with parents.

It's vital for practitioners to build trusting working relationships with each other. Members of a multi-agency team should feel equally respected and listened to. However, you should always discuss and explore any differences in opinion. This will help you gain a greater understanding of a child's situation and make informed decisions about the appropriate action to take.

If you have any concerns about the action being taken to protect a child, you must raise these following your organisational procedures. Your organisation should provide you with regular and ongoing training and supervision so that you can reflect on and improve your practice. If your organisation doesn't have a clear safeguarding procedure or you're not comfortable with the response to your report, you can contact our whistleblowing helpline.

You can also contact our helpline on or by emailing help nspcc. Commissioners and strategic leaders must work together to achieve the best outcomes for the children they support. Analysing multi-agency information can help:. When setting targets, make sure there are strong links between your priorities and those of other decision-making bodies.

Make sure your aims and objectives are clear and that everyone in your organisation knows what they are. Identify key people who need to be able to connect with each other to deliver effective multi-agency working at a strategic level and ensure they have regular opportunities to keep in touch. Good communication is central to effective multi-agency working.

Put processes in place to make it as easy as possible for frontline practitioners to work together and build trusting relationships. Provide clear pathways for inter-agency communication Different organisations have a range of structures so it's helpful to establish clear pathways for communication.