Referral checklist
Placement stabilisation referral checklist
A working checklist for referring a placement under strain. Designed to be used as it stands — print it, or work through it before you write. Everything here exists to answer one question: can this support be delivered safely, in that area, in time to help.
In short
- Aim for one page of specifics rather than five of background.
- The flashpoints matter more than the history — when does it actually go wrong?
- Say what you want the support to protect. That single sentence shapes the whole package.
- Do not send case files or court bundles at first contact.
- If something is unknown, write 'unknown'. It is more useful than a guess.
Before you write: three sentences
If you can answer these three, the rest of the referral writes itself.
- What is at risk? "This placement will end within weeks unless something changes."
- What is driving it? "Carers are exhausted by escalating incidents after school and at bedtime."
- What should the support protect? "Keep the placement viable to the end of the school year, and keep education attendance up."
The checklist
1. Referrer
- Name, role, organisation and team
- Work email and phone
- Who can authorise spend
- Named contact for decisions between meetings
2. The placement
- Type — foster, residential, kinship, family home, supported accommodation
- How long it has been in place
- Whether notice has been given, and if so how long remains
- Whether carers or the setting want it to continue
- What the setting has already tried
3. The young person
- Age band — not date of birth
- Education or training status and attendance
- Their own view of the placement, where known
- What has helped before
- Communication or access needs affecting how support is delivered
4. The flashpoints — the most useful section
- When in the day does it go wrong?
- Which days of the week are hardest?
- What usually precedes an incident?
- What has de-escalated things before?
- Are there predictable triggers — contact days, school transitions, weekends?
5. Risk
- Specific risks, with frequency and severity
- Missing episodes — how often, how long, where
- Risk to self, to carers, to other children in the placement
- Anything making lone working inappropriate
- Safeguarding context relevant to screening
- Whether a current risk assessment exists
6. What you are asking for
- Proposed hours and when in the week
- Proposed ratio, or a request that we advise
- Required start, and whether fixed or indicative
- Expected duration and whether step-down is anticipated
- Location — town or partial postcode
- Whether transport is required
7. Outcomes and review
- What the support should achieve
- How you would know it was working
- What would trigger review, increase or step-down
- Whether a planned move is a possible outcome
8. Reporting and coordination
- What reporting you need and how often
- Who receives it
- Other agencies involved
- Upcoming meetings or reviews the support should feed into
What not to send at first contact
- Full case files, chronologies or court bundles
- Medical or therapeutic reports
- Full names, dates of birth or case identifiers
- Addresses — a partial postcode is enough
- Photographs
- Third-party personal data not needed for screening
Please provide only the information needed for initial screening. If further records are required, we will agree an appropriate secure method for sharing them. Our referral form is built for summary-level information and does not accept file uploads.
Common gaps that slow a response
| Gap | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| No location | Practitioner availability is geographic. Without it, feasibility cannot be assessed at all. |
| No flashpoints | Hours get spread evenly and do less than concentrated hours would. |
| No outcome | Produces a quote for hours rather than a designed package. |
| "High risk" with no detail | Cannot determine ratio, skill mix or lone-working position. |
| No funding position | Mobilisation planned around a date that cannot hold. |
| No named decision-maker | Design stalls waiting for someone who can say yes. |
| Unclear whether a move is possible | Changes the whole design — holding versus transitioning are different packages. |
What happens next
On receipt we screen the referral against our current service scope and operating boundaries, then come back to you on whether we can accept it and which practitioner and supervision arrangements would apply. We will confirm feasibility and mobilisation requirements following referral review.
Background on the approach: placement stabilisation, and what a local authority can do when a placement is breaking down.
Questions we are asked
Can we send this before funding is agreed?
Yes, and it is often sensible — a feasibility answer and an indicative cost help build the case. Just say funding is not yet confirmed so nobody plans mobilisation around a date that cannot hold.
What if the placement ends before support starts?
Tell us — the requirement usually changes rather than disappears. Support through a planned move, or bridging support around a temporary arrangement, may be more useful than the original request.
How much detail about the young person do you need?
Enough to judge whether we can deliver safely and staff it appropriately. Age band, situation, flashpoints, specific risks and outcomes. Not identifying details, and not a full history.
Can you advise on the ratio rather than us specifying it?
Yes. Describe the situation and the risks and ask us to advise. We will propose a model and explain the reasoning, including where we think a different ratio or pattern would work better than what was suggested.