About ContactPoint
ContactPoint is a key element of the Every Child Matters programme to transform children's services by supporting more effective prevention and early intervention.
ContactPoint is one of a range of tools that will help services work together more effectively on the frontline to meet the needs of children, young people and their families. You can read more about integrated working on this website.
"Previously families could have had different services knocking on the
door on different days, having to answer the same questions over and over,
which can be very distressing for them. Now it is so much easier to
coordinate services, which is better for everyone, especially the families
involved."
Senior Inclusion Officer, trailblazer area
Information held on ContactPoint
ContactPoint will only hold the following basic information for all children in England (up until their 18th birthday)
- Name, address, gender, date of birth and a unique identifying number.
- Name and contact details for a child's parent or carer.
- Contact details for services working with a child: as a minimum,
educational setting (e.g. school) and GP practice, but also other services
where appropriate.
- A means to indicate whether a practitioner is a lead professional and if they have undertaken an assessment under the Common Assessment Framework.
Those providing a sensitive service (those in the fields of sexual health, mental health and substance abuse) will be required to seek informed, explicit consent before recording their contact details on ContactPoint. Where they are recorded, only an indication of an unspecified service would be visible.
Informed, explicit consent will also be required for care leavers or those with learning difficulties to remain on ContactPoint up to age 25, to facilitate the transition to adult services.
ContactPoint will not hold:
- any assessment or case information
- details such as birth weight, exam results, medical records, or diet
- subjective information about a child or their parent
The information that can be held on ContactPoint is limited by law as provided by Section 12 of the Children Act 2004 and the supporting Regulations. Read more about the legislative background and Regulations
"It has helped me to save time normally spent tracking down who is
involved with the same child. This also meant that work wasn't duplicated
and most importantly the child and family experienced joined-up
support."
Family Support Worker, trailblazer area.
Read about the trailblazer case studies.
ContactPoint will be made available to local authorities and national partners in England from late 2008, to early 2009. Further details will be provided in January 2008.
Documents
Integrated
Working Factsheets
A series of factsheets including one on ContactPoint.
ContactPoint:
Q and A - November 2007
Case
studies
Examples from the trailblazer local authorities, demonstrating the benefits of
locally developed systems.
Integrated
Children's System, the Common Assessment Framework and ContactPoint - an
overview
This page was last updated on 05 December 2007
