The Yor OK Preventative Strategy includes the Information Sharing and Assessment requirements made by the Department for Education and Skills for all local authorities and their partners. All contributing agencies should share information on children and young people they know to be vulnerable via the Child Index with the consent of the child, young person and where appropriate their parent/carer.

Improved communication between practitioners will underpin City of York’s drive towards preventative services, leading to better outcomes for children and young people.

Information Sharing is not about controlling the lives of children and young people, but maximising their life chances. Decisions about service provision can be made with a more informed picture of the contributions of those involved. By piecing together sometimes disparate bits of information a much better view can be gained of the needs of a child or young person. We can then ensure that the right services can be delivered at the right time.

Who is this aimed at?

The Yor OK Preventative Strategy is aimed at identifying children and young people who may need additional support to prevent them developing increasing needs.

Children and young people will obviously move into, out of and between the levels of need according to their particular circumstances over time. There is some flexibility around the boundaries between the different levels in the triangle and practitioners will need to exercise their judgement in these situations.

Who will be involved?

Any agency or service (statutory, voluntary or community) that comes into contact with children and young people can become involved in the strategy. They all have a vital role to play in ensuring early identification of vulnerable children and young people. A coordinated response by all agencies involved helps to identify the lead professional and the best course of action.

What is it for?

The purpose of working with the Child Index is to ensure practitioners share information about a vulnerable child/young person in order to provide the most suitable services at the most appropriate time to prevent them developing increasing needs.

The Child Index is a tool to be used if you wish other practitioners to know that you have significant information about a child or young person who is vulnerable and to find out if other agencies have identified similar vulnerabilities.

It does not replace any existing referral systems: for example if a child is at risk of significant harm, existing child protection procedures should be followed. Find out about child protection and safeguarding children in York.

Consent

Under present legislation consent is required from the child or young person, 12 or over (and where appropriate their parents/carers) to share information between agencies. Many organisations obtain consent to share information with other agencies as a matter of course, regardless of the thresholds. Yor OK should be added to each agency’s consent form as an additional body with which information may be shared.

Contact

If you have any information about a vulnerable child and are unsure what to do then call us and we will be able to offer you guidance on the appropriate action to take.  Contact details are on the right hand side of this page.