Lancashire Continuum of Need and Thresholds

The Lancashire Continuum of Need (CON) provides help and guidance to practitioners at all levels, working in the statutory, public, voluntary and independent sectors, who work with children, young people and their families. It allows practitioners to identify levels of need and risk through the use of indicators related to outcomes. The CON also supports practitioners in determining how their service can best support and work alongside children, young people and their families by providing guidance as to what assessment and planning procedures to follow at each level to meet or prevent the escalation of need and support deescalation from statutory services.

Level 1 – UNIVERSAL

Children and young people who make good overall progress in most areas of development and receive appropriate universal services, such as health care and education. They may also use leisure and play facilities, housing or voluntary sector services.

Level 2 – UNIVERSAL PLUS

Children and young people whose needs require some extra support. Support at this level could be through a single agency assessment or early help plan, coordinated by the service who knows the child/young person and family best. A multi-agency meeting to share information and agree a plan to support the child/young person and family is helpful.

What does Level 2 (Universal Support) look like at St Leonard’s?

Pastoral Team

Mr Daniel O’Connor

• Emotional Literacy Support Assistant (ELSA)
• Mental Health First Aider
• Drawing and Talking
• National Autistic Society’s SPELL Framework
• Emotionally Based School Avoidance (EBSA)
• Brook Traffic Light Tool

Miss Eloise Graham

• Mental Health First Aider
• Drawing and Talking
• DOVE Self-Esteem Mentor

Miss Nikki Sumner

• Mental Health First Aider
• Drawing and Talking

Miss Amy Darbyshire:

• Mental Health First Aider
• Drawing and Talking
• DOVE Self-Esteem Mentor

Miss Ambreen Ahmed

• Mental Health First Aider
• Drawing and Talking

Children and Family Wellbeing Service

The Children and Family Wellbeing Service (CFW) offers a wide range of support across the 0-19yrs+ age range (25 years for SEND) with a ‘whole family’ approach.

The service identifies as early as possible when a child, young person or family needs support, helping them to access services to meet their needs, working with them to ensure the support offered is right for them, is offered in the right place, and at the right time.

Family HUB Network

The Family Hubs Network, where support for families is available both in person and online across all 12 districts of Lancashire. A Family Hub is a place where children, young people and their families can access support. We work with partner organisations like the NHS or schools to provide you with the help you need, without having to repeat yourself to lots of different people.

Burnley Tay Street Family Hub (Tay Street Family Hub, 21 Tay Street, BB11 4BU – Tel: 01282 470891)

Burnley Tay Street Family Hub – What’s On Guide

Mental Health Support Team

Evidence based interventions, Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), creative problem solving for children and young people with mild to moderate mental health conditions including anxiety, depression/low mood, sleep problems, panic attacks, specific phobias and behavioural and emotional regulation

The team’s ambition is to provide an early, evidence based intervention when young people experience a mental health problem. Any concerns regarding a child or young person needs to be raised with the senior mental health practitioner who covers the young person’s school. When the request for support is accepted an initial assessment is arranged either via the Attend Anywhere digital platform, or, if available, in a safe and confidential area within the school. Parents are often contacted to assist with the assessment. To support primary school children our teams will look at the best way to meet a young child’s needs, for example: children’s group sessions or parent sessions.

FreeFlow Counselling

Freeflow Counselling Service is based in Burnley, Lancashire, and has been a registered charity since 1997. Freeflow is run by a team of counsellors committed to offering a professional and confidential service in a safe and supportive environment.

We are a team of approachable, professional and sensitive counsellors offering a wide range of counselling approaches to provide the right support for you. We share a personal commitment and an ethical responsibility to practice to the highest professional standards in the field. Having worked collectively for many years with a diverse range of client issues we strongly believe that Psychotherapy & Counselling can help individuals understand and work through painful and seemingly overwhelming issues. Whatever your concerns, Freeflow can help you discover new directions and a more positive way of enriching your life.

NEST Lancashire

Nest Lancashire has been set up to support young people aged 5 to 18 (and to 25 for anyone who has learning needs) who have been impacted by crimes. We are a charity, you can talk to us in confidence, and all of our services are free of charge. Our aim is to help you recover from whatever it is you have experienced and our trained, friendly staff will be able to help you move forward and feel safe again.

The Lancashire Healthy Young People and Families 0-19 Service

On behalf of Lancashire County Council and the NHS, Lancashire Healthy Young People & Families Service (provided by HCRG Care Group) provide a range of child and family services throughout Lancashire that are free at the point of delivery. We provide Health Visiting services, health advice (from antenatal through to the first 5 years of your child’s life) and School Nursing Services for 5 to 19-year-olds (to age 25 for SEND). This includes advising on healthy growth and care, breastfeeding, providing help with common health problems and working with other professionals to support young families and carers.

Miss Gabrielle Howard (School Nurse)

Community Learning Disability Service

Our learning disability service is suitable for all ages because we recognise that some people with learning disabilities require support for the whole of their lives. However, we also recognise that the needs of adults are different to the needs of children and young people. Therefore, there are two separate specialisms within the All Age Service. The team have extensive experience in the health needs of people who have a learning disability and the health inequalities they can face.

Level 3 – INTENSIVE

Children and young people whose needs are more complex, in range, depth or significance. A number of these indicators would need to be present to indicate need at Level 3. More than one service is involved in an early help plan, with a named lead professional co-ordinating multi-agency support.

Level 4 – SPECIALIST

Children and young people who are suffering or likely to suffer significant harm or whose needs are complex and enduring and cross many domains. More than one service is normally involved, with a co-ordinated multi-agency approach and a Lead Professional usually under the statutory framework of Child in Need (Children Act 17)  or Child Protection (Children Act 47).