Common protocols should be created to allow basic information about vulnerable children to be shared across local authority boundaries, a leading figure in Identification, Referral and Tracking urged last week, writes Amy Taylor.
Sara Tough, project manager for IRT & business manager for local preventative strategy at Telford & Wrekin Council, said that a common set of arrangements were needed to detect vulnerable children moving to different areas.
Speaking at a conference on children's services in London, she said: "There are no national standards that allow us to share basic details about children who are vulnerable…We cannot progress IRT beyond our local area without this.
"Families move around and at the moment we have no way to let another authority know that that child has moved and share information," she added.
While the same type of agencies in different areas, such as strategic health authorities, already shared information on children, Tough warned that there might not be such a good relationship between a strategic health authority and a school in different regions.
IRT involves the identifying, supporting and monitoring of vulnerable children. The new IRT pilots across Telford & Wrekin and Shropshire were launched last week.
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