Dear Mr Hook,
Thank you for your email, and thank you for your apology. I was somewhat shocked at the language used during our discussion, but felt in the interests of working towards a positive outcome for all that I would not pursue it, so thank you.
If I may take this opportunity to confirm my lines of enquiry following our meeting, which are:
- The length of time to respond to complaints has been out of timescales;
- That assessments (initial and core), were submitted out of timescales;
- That the content of the assessments was written in a prejudicial fashion;
- That Mr Hook was not effectively involved during the process of assessment;
- That the overall impact of the above concerns has been negative .
It was also agreed that we would identify alternative sources of support that you could pursue as you deemed appropriate.
In respect of the new initiative to help families with complex needs that you refer to, this is called Families Working Together. The criteria for referral to this programme is that the family is working with more than one single agency (i.e. Children's Services; Probation; Housing; etc.), and that they are engaging in either Child in Need (CiN), processes or Team Around the Child activity (TAC). As I understand your current situation, Helen is not subject to CiN and you are not involved in TAC, and as such would not meet the referral criteria. However, we shall attempt to identify other sources of support that may assist you as we agreed.
Just so that you are aware, I shall be away from work next week but have left instruction for colleagues to begin identifying such sources of assistance. As promised I will endeavour to keep you informed of progress.
Kind regards,
Adrian
