Prince’s Trust Referral Form Guidance (for referral agencies)
The Referral Form is used to gather information about a young person from a referral agency before the programme starts. There are two forms: one for young people in compulsory education; and one for young people who have left compulsory education.
The form must be completed for every young person referred who has an unspent conviction in line with the Working with Offenders Policy. For other young people, it is not compulsory but good practice. The one programme, however, where it is not recommended for use is Development Awards. The forms can be shared with Delivery Partners.
Referral Agencies should complete the form when a young person is referred to a Prince’s Trust programme, before the programme starts and ideally before any formal induction or Taster Day.
The aim of the questions on the form is to gain enough information from the Referral Agency to:
Assess a young person’s suitability for a Prince’s Trust programme
Make any reasonable adjustments to the programme
Understand the specific issues that each young person is facing in their life
Find out if other agencies are working with the young person
Identify a need for additional risk assessments on the programme
For young people who self refer themselves to a Prince’s Trust programme, the Referral Form can be used alongside the Profile Form if a young person declares they have an offending background, or have learning needs, a disability/ health needs or issues with their family situation.
Young people’s Referral Forms should be kept for the duration of the programme and for three months afterwards (including post programme support) as set out in the Data Protection Policy. The forms do not need to be entered onto Trustontrack (Prince’s Trust in-house database) but any useful information should be entered onto the notes sections of the client record of Trustontrack.
The form does not need to be completed again if a young person is being referred to one Prince’s Trust programme to another, unless a previously undisclosed offence/disability is revealed or there is significant change in personal circumstances.
Guidance for each question
1. Young Person Details: basic questions to identify the young person. More detailed contact details will be collected on the Profile Form
2. Education Provider Details (Compulsory Education Form Only): to understand where the young person is being referred from and to identify the main contact at the education provider to notify if there is an emergency or to provide updates on the young person’s attendance or achievements on the programme
3. Referral Agency Details: to identify the main contact for the young person to notify if there is an emergency or to provide updates on the young person’s attendance or achievements on the programme.
4. Background Details for the Young Person
- Reason for Referral: this is a general question about why the Referral Agency thinks the young person would benefit from Prince’s Trust support.
- Education (Compulsory Education Form Only): to check eligibility, understand the young person’s level of engagement in education and to find out any specific learning needs
- Current Situation (Left Compulsory Education Form Only): to check initial eligibility and understand what the young person is currently doing
- Family Situation and Social Services Involvement: to understand problems at home or involvement from social services that need to be considered during the programme (e.g. providing the young person with extra/ flexible support or the requirement to make contact with social services to gather further information)
- ‘Children in Need’: any young person who is referred to and assessed by children's social services
- Child Protection Plan: Child protection plans are put in place for children who are at continuing risk of physical, emotional or sexual abuse or neglect. These plans are overseen by a social worker or other professional to ensure that there is ongoing improvement to the situation over a sustained period of time. All children who have a child protection plan in place are on the Child Protection Register
- Common Assessment Framework (CAF): standardised approach to conducting an assessment of a child's additional needs and deciding how those needs should be met across all children's services and all local areas in England. It aims to help the early identification of children's additional needs and promote co-ordinated service provision to meet them
Offending Background: to understand the young person’s offending background and to determine whether the young person needs to be risk assessed for suitability for the programme (all offences relating to arson, serious violence, sexual or children must be risk assessed). See the Working with Offenders Policy for more details.
- Offence - the crime committed
- Conviction - when a court of law finds a defendant guilty of a crime. The date of the conviction allows us to understand whether the conviction will become spent /unspent.
- Sentence - the court determines the sentence which includes the time that the offender will spend in prison and /or on probation. The length of sentence will tell us know whether the conviction will become spent or unspent.
Custody Details: to determine eligibility (young people must be less than 6 months pre-release), understand practical details of the young person in custody and determine which programmes are most appropriate depending on the young person’s address on release and whether they can attend residential if on tag
Mental Health Needs: to find out any mental health needs to assess suitability of programme and determine any reasonable adjustments or further support that need to be made on the programme, in line with Diversity and Inclusion Policy
Disabilities: to find out any disabilities to assess suitability for programme and determine any reasonable adjustments or further support that need to be made on the programme, in line with Diversity and Inclusion Policy
Addiction Issues: to understand any drug/alcohol addiction issues to assess suitability of programme and determine any reasonable adjustments or further support that need to be made on the programme
Any other Issues: to find out and understand any other issues that a young person might be facing that would help assess suitability of programme and any further support or reasonable adjustments that need to be made to the programme
Referral Form Guidance (for referral agencies) Sept 2012