The role of the Lead Practitioner is to coordinate actions and services and track and share information. The Lead Practitioner will be decided at the initial TAC meeting and will take account of the child, young person or family's views.

The Lead Practitioner will be the practitioner with the most relevant skills and experience and has a responsibility to ensure that services are co-ordinated.

Responsibility for meeting the child and young person's needs rests with the whole team, with the Lead Practitioner having a coordinating and tracking role. Where parents or young people do not consent to information being shared or to the process, this is factored into the assessment so that the most relevant way forward for all concerned can be taken.

The Lead Practitioner works directly with the family to build a trusting relationship and acts as the key link between the family and other professionals.

Becoming the Lead Practitioner does not imply the person does all the work and is singly accountable. It means they will ensure the TAC is working together efficiently and track the child's progress.

It is vital that all members of the TAC recognise they continue to be accountable for the child's welfare.

Until now many professionals have expected to pass on referrals to other agencies once they have identified a child's needs. For teams around children to work the Lead Practitioner plays an important role in making sure that the child’s needs continue to be met, particularly when handing over to a new Lead Practitioner.

Key Functions of the Lead Practitioner

The Lead Practitioner, in taking a lead role, will:

• Act as a single point of contact for the child, young person and/or their family, who they can trust and who can engage them in making choices, navigating their way through the system and effecting change
• Co-ordinate the delivery of the actions agreed by the practitioners involved to ensure that children/young people and families receive an effective service which is regularly reviewed. These actions will be based on the outcome of the assessment and recorded in a TAC plan
• Reduce overlap and inconsistency in the services received.

To carry out the role effectively, it is likely that a Lead Practitioner will perform a number of key functions including:

• building a positive working relationship with the child or young person and family to secure their engagement and involvement in the process
• by providing the child, young person or family with sufficient information to empower them to contribute to the decision making process and ensure they remain central to any decisions taken
• using the outcome of the assessment of the child, young person or family (usually this will be via the CAF but could include other more specialist assessments) to
  - identify where additional services and other practitioners may need to be involved in supporting the child, young person or family and convene a TAC
  - agree a 'needs led' package of support, the practitioners to deliver it, the timescales to achieve outcomes and review and monitor this through the TAC process
  - involve the child, young person and family in the development of the TAC plan
• ensuring 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, or whether the child or young person's needs have been met and they no longer require additional support
  - gaps in services which must be reported to the CAF Co-ordinator
• ensuring that where children, young people and their families may require more specialist services:
  - the Lead Practitioner may continue to support them with a TAC while any more specialist assessments are carried out
  - an effective 'handover' takes place when a new Lead Practitioner is identified to deliver and co-ordinate the ensuing support

A Lead Practitioner should have access to professional supervision and/or line management from their own agency and, where appropriate, additional training to enable them to make appropriate decisions.

For more information please visit: http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/everychildmatters/leadprofessional/