Joined-Up Thinking Leading To Joined-
Up Services…
The most far-reaching programme of
change for children’s services for more
than fifty years is being introduced by
your County Council.
In a radical exercise of ‘joined-up
thinking’, the government has
recognised that the many groups and
departments, both government and
voluntary, who serve children and young
people and their families, need to work
together to provide effective
services. They are determined to
prevent any child ‘falling through the
net’ of social services, as in the
tragic case of Victoria Climbié.
The needs of the ‘customer’ are to come
first – with a single point of entry to
services, teams of professionals
combining their skills and expertise,
and many services available in one
place, in the centre of the community.
To achieve this, all service-providers -
the County Council, District
Councils, Strategic Health Authority,
Primary Care Trusts, Schools, Learning
and Skills Council, Youth Offending
Team, the Police, and Voluntary and
Community organisations - are to come
together to develop a single county-
wide plan under the Children’s and
Young People’s Trust Board.
An Interim Trust Board for Wiltshire
has already been set up, and the first
Children and Young People’s Plan is to
be produced by April 2006, initially
with a limited scope. Within the next
year, the permanent Trust Board will be
established to develop a full, long-
term Plan for April 2007.
The Children’s Trust will make it
easier to see the whole picture – both
on an individual level, as the needs of
the ‘whole person’ are met, and at a
strategic level, leading to a greater
focus on prevention than cure. The
long-term aim is to stop problems
arising in the first place, to enable
each child to fulfil their potential.
Children and young people will be
involved and consulted at every stage,
and communities gradually empowered to
solve their own problems, as voluntary
and governmental organisations work
together in one seamless whole…
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