| Title |
Request for Assistance Team |
| Lead officer(s) |
Jane Simcox |
| Telephone number |
01563 503301 |
| Email address |
HSCPAdminCentralSupport@east-ayrshire.gov.uk |
| Date summary created |
08 Jul 2025 |
| Date assessment completed |
08 Jul 2025 |
| Summary of policy aims |
The core aim of the Request for Assistance Team (RFA) at the front door of social work will ensure that any social work intervention in the child's life is proportionate and needs led. This will ensure that the child and family will receive the right support at the right time.
The Team provides a first point of contact with children's social work, when the infant, children or young person is not known or not currently allocated or waiting allocation to social work. It will enable, children, families, members of the public and professionals to seek support for and raise concerns about the wellbeing of children so that they can receive timely and proportionate help. This includes children identified as, being in need of child care and protection.
In East Ayrshire we are committed to working in collaboration and in partnership with children, young people and their families as such all requests for assistance can only be made following explicit discussion with the child, young person and their family and there is agreement/consent to proceed with the request for assistance. There are exceptions to seeking explicit consent, particularly where there are child protection concerns and where seeking consent would place the child at further risk of harm or compromise a police investigation. |
| Key issues |
Following on from the HEART cluster model, a test of change was carried out over the past year on establishing the Request for Assistance team. The test of change focused on the GIRFEC pathway to ensure children and their families were being supported effectively and was met with a positive response from staff involved in the process.
Work is currently underway with practitioners to gather feedback from service users who have been supported by the RFA team during the test of change, this information will be used to inform any further service developments.
The RFA team will provide support to children/young people and their families which will in turn permit positive action or action to redress disadvantage through the interventions and guidance provided. Whilst the RFA team is not specifically intended to reduce inequality of outcomes associated with the Fairer Scotland Duty, as a high number of referrals come from SIMD 1 and 2 areas, it is likely that inequality will be reduced in these areas. |
| Summary of involvement with Groups |
Over the past year, requests for assistance for children and young people have been managed through the RFA team as part of the test of change, with children and families able to share their views with practitioners informally at any stage.
There is currently an exercise underway to gather feedback from service users about their experience with the RFA process, and this will be used to inform any further service improvements.
In establishing the HEART model, service users provided feedback on what was important to them, these key themes are still relevant, however, it was identified that there was a need for the RFA team authority wide to ensure appropriate levels of staffing and support across East Ayrshire. The RFA team allows practitioners to be responsive to service demands rather than following the cluster model which requires staff to be in fixed localities.
Practitioners have been consulted regularly throughout the test of change, and their views have helped shape the team.
GIRFEC national guidance sets out how children, young people and their families should be supported and all agencies are expected work together to achieve the best outcomes. |
| Key recommendations |
Request for Assistance Team to be formally implemented.
No indirect or direct negative impacts as a result of implementing the service formally, the RFA team will support improving health and wellbeing outcomes for children and young people through the GIRFEC pathway.
Continuous monitoring will take place through methods detailed in this assessment. |