What do they do?

The key functions of a lead professional are to:

• Build a trusting relationship with the child or young person and family to secure their engagement and involvement in the process
• Ensure that the child, young person and their family remain central to any decisions made about them, providing the child, young person or family with sufficient information to empower them to make their own decisions and enabling the child, young person or family to use them as a sounding board
• Use the outcome of the assessment of the child, young person or family to:
  - agree a 'solution focused' package of support
  - identify where additional services and other practitioners may need to be involved and secure their buy in to this
  - ensure that the child, young person and family are involved in agreeing this process and ensure that it is focused on the delivery of support
• Act as a key conduit and contact point between the child, young person and family, and other practitioners involved in delivering more targeted and universal services
• Ensure that progress is monitored, taking into account:
  - the changing circumstances and needs of the child, young person or family over time
  - progress made
  - the child, young person or family's experience of or satisfaction with services/support received
  - the views of other practitioners on the effectiveness of support
  - whether support or services should be changed and whether more specialist support may be required
  - whether the child or young person's needs have been met and they no longer require additional support
• Ensuring that where children, young people and their families may require more specialist services:
  - the lead professional continues to support them while any more specialist assessments are carried out
  - an effective 'hand over' takes place when a new lead professional is required to deliver and co-ordinate the ensuing support. In a number of areas this is referred to as 'handing over the baton'

In order to carry out these functions, it is vital that any practitioner who agrees to become a child, young person or family's lead professional has access to high quality professional supervision and line management support from their home agency, and where appropriate additional training to enable them to make appropriate decisions regarding:

• The child, young person and family's presenting need
• Those areas where they have the skills and knowledge to intervene
• Those areas where they need to gain support from practitioners with more specialist skills or knowledge
• Those areas where other practitioners are required to carry out direct work with the child, young person or family