Preparing for Multi Agency meetings
Multi-Agency Action Planning Meeting Checklist
A Multi-Agency Action Planning Meeting falls within Stage 3 of the Process.
Before you move onto this stage, ask yourself the questions from Stages 1 and 2 of the Process.
i)Have you done an assessment of the child / young person’s needs – what’s getting in the way of this child / young person achieving their potential, based on the SHANARRI indicators?
ii)Can you or your team improve outcomes for this child / young person without any other input? (Stage 1)
iii)Can other specialist input from your Service or Agency help you improve outcomes for this child / young person? (Stage 2)
If you or your Service can’t improve outcomes for the child / young person and you need to involve other Agencies or Services, you need to move onto Stage 3 and a Multi-Agency Action Planning Meeting may be the most appropriate way of drawing up an Action Plan.
This check list reflects one of the key GIRFEC principles - that children, young people and their families are central to the assessment, planning and review processes and are actively supported to be partners to these processes.
The following is a check list of actions to take before and after a Multi-Agency Action Planning Meeting:
What do I need to do / think about before a Multi-Agency Action Planning Meeting?
1. / Am I clear about the purpose of a multi-agency action meeting? Why do I think we need one?2. / Have I discussed the need for a meeting with the parents and child / young person – what’s to be gained from having a meeting?
3. / Has the need to share information been discussed with the parents and / or child / young person (dependent on their age and level of understanding)?
4. / Who should be at the meeting?
5. / Have I told the parents and child / young person who will be at the meeting?
7. / When and where should the meeting be held (bearing in mind the needs of everyone attending inc. the parents and child / young person)?
8. / Have invitation letters been sent out? Has ‘Request for a Service’ form been completed and sent out (or the meeting invitation if it is a review)? Do I need to include ground rules and remind other professionals that if they can’t attend, they need to phone to let me know this and send report / alternative representative?
9. / How do I support / enable the parents to express their views / have them represented?
10. / How do I support / enable the child / young personto express their views / have them represented? These views are likely to have been gathered as part of the ongoing conversations with young people and their families – consider if the young person needs to attend the whole meeting to express these views
11. / If the child / young person or parents aren’t going to attend the meeting, how are their views represented and by whom?
12. / Do the parents and / or the child / young person want to bring someone to support them at the meeting?
13. / Do I have my own assessment summary / analysis to present at the meeting?
14. / If this is a Review meeting, am I aware of / familiar with the existing multi-agency Action Plan?
15. / Who is going to take the minutes if we don’t have an admin.support worker within my place of work to do so?
16. / If we don’t have an admin. support worker within my place of work, would it be more straightforward to complete the Action Plan at the meeting?
What do I need to do after a Multi-Agency Action Planning Meeting?
1. / Has someone spent time with parents / carers after the meeting to ensure they understood what has been agreed?2. / Has someone spent time with the child / young person after the meeting to ensure they understood what has been agreed?
3. / Has the Action Plan been typed up within 2 weeks of the meeting using the appropriate paperwork?
4. / Has a copy of the Action Plan been sent to everyone who attended the meeting?
5. / Does a copy of the Action Plan need to be sent to anyone who sent their apologies / didn’t attend the Action Planning Meeting?
6. / Have the Lead Professional, parents and child / young person signed a copy of the Action Plan?
Ground Rules for ‘professionals’ for Multi –Agency Action Planning Meeting
Meeting Guidance:
In order for this meeting to have a positive outcome and to allow all parties to contribute, please observe the following guidance when invited to / attending an Action Planning Meeting.
Send apologies
Send appropriate representative if unable to attend or send a written report of assessment information and your involvement
1.Arrive on time
2.Stay for the full meeting
3.Bring relevant (assessment) information (use assessment on page 50 if your service has no suitable assessment)
4.Keep discussion relevant to task / assessment
5.Be respectful to all attending the meeting
6.Be solution focussed
GUIDE to Preparing children and young people for multi-agency meetings
The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child reflects the notion that children are equal citizens with equal rights in a world often dominated by adults and puts a responsibility on anyone who engages with children to ensure their rights are upheld.
'Parties shall assure to the child who is capable of forming his or her own views the right to express those views freely in all matters affecting the child, the views of the child being given due weight in accordance with the age and maturing of the child'
Article 12.1, the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child
One of the challenges when action planning for children/young people is to ensure that we continue to genuinely involve the young people in their assessment and planning as we move through the different stages of the process.
At a team, setting or service level, all professionals and practitioners should have developed a child-centred approach which ensures they actively seek and listen to the views, feelings and wishes of young people. Professionals and practitioners will also help young people understand any intervention and decisions which affect their lives.
Whilst individuals have control over their engagement with young people at stages 1 and 2 of the process, it is essential that this child-centred approach is maintained at the 3rd stage – the multi-agency stage, where several agencies combine together to create an Action Plan to help the young person achieve their potential. The young person should still actively contribute to the assessment and planning processes and their views should be heard and taken into account by the 'team around the child'.
The representation of the young person's views and their participation applies to all children. It isn’t possible to lay down prescriptive rules as to how this should be done because each young person's needs should be considered individually. The lead professional must ensure that the views of the child/young person are reported, understood and taken account of.
The following checklist provides guidelines as to the various questions or actions that should be considered prior to a multi-agency meeting. Each of these guidelines should be applied bearing in mind the age and understanding of the young person.
Please remember that multi-agency working is a process, not a single event, and ensuring the participation and involvement of young people should be an ongoing exercise.
What do I need to consider at the Multi-Agency Meeting?
1. / If the young person isn't going to attend the whole meeting, how are they to join the meeting – who / how will someone go out and bring them in?2. / Does someone need to sit with the young person before they come into the meeting?
3. / Is there a specific chair for the young person at the table – and who would it be most appropriate for them to sit next to?
4. / Do the seating arrangements allow the young person to leave the meeting if they feel the need to do so?
5. / Does the young person know everyone attending the meeting? Good practice would be for everyone present to introduce themselves (for the benefit of all).
6. / Avoid using jargon or acronyms. These create a barrier to good communication for anyone and particularly young people and their families.
7. / For those young people who attend the meeting, how are their views going to be sought and listened to within the structure of the meeting? For Stage 3 multi-agency action planning meetings, the action plan template can be used to structure the meeting and this contains a section on the young person’s views.
8. / How is the Chair (or any one attending the meeting) going to respond to the views of the young person in order to assure them that their views have been heard?
8. / If the young person does not attend the meeting, the Chair should explicitly ask for the young person's views, understanding, wishes and feelings to be presented?
What do I need to consider after the Multi-Agency Meeting?
1. / Who is going to reflect with the young person and parents after the meeting? When and how is this going to happen – immediately after the meeting? Later in the day? Later in the week? What's right for that particular young person and their particular meeting?2. / Who is going to ensure the young person and parents understand the outcome of the meeting (whether they attended or not)? Is the Lead Professional the most appropriate person to take responsibility for sitting down and going over the Action Plan with the young person?
3. / Bearing in mind the age and level of understanding of the young person, how are they going to receive a copy of their Action Plan?
4. / Does the young person know who their Lead Professional is?
5. / Do they know who to contact if they have any concerns or something isn’t going right in a particular setting?
6. / Does the young person know when / where the review of the Action Plan is being held?