Our teams
Assessment and intervention
Our Assessment and intervention team hold CiN cases from assessment through intervention to closure or transfer if escalated to CP/LAC or legal intervention
Children with Disabilities
The team is a specialist service for children with disabilities, young people and their families. The team consists of a team manager and assistant team manager, social workers and a reviewing officer who work together to make a meaningful difference to the lives of disabled children and young people.
The team work closely with partner agencies and families to complete assessments, manage caseloads and support children in need as well as those who are at risk of significant harm, including working through PLO and proceedings.
Contextual Safeguarding
The team work with vulnerable adolescents who are looked after to ensure they are in a home which meets their needs, is safe, secure and encourage children to thrive every step of their childhood and into adulthood.
Domestic Abuse
The Domestic Abuse Team provide support for adult victim/survivors including advice and guidance and practical support. The team have a range of resources, interventions and expertise available to support those who have experienced domestic abuse and their families covering issues such as trauma bonding, power and control, dynamics and tactics of abuse and warning signs that a relationship is unhealthy. Support is aimed at those individuals at Medium or High risk as a result of the Domestic Abuse they are experiencing.
Family Drug and Alcohol Court (FDAC)
FDAC is a national therapeutic problem-solving court model, which offers an alternative to standard care proceedings. FDACs provide an innovative restorative approach which aims to improve outcomes for families by supporting parents to overcome their substance misuse, mental health concerns and domestic abuse, which put their children at risk. The FDAC team partners with the family court to provide an accessible, community-based assessment and intervention service for families with complex needs.
The specialist multi-disciplinary FDAC team includes social workers, a clinical psychologist, substance misuse and mental health workers to provide intensive support, built around the family; designed to enable and empower parents to overcome their difficulties.
Family Support
The team undertake family support with families who are involved with statutory social work teams and supervise family time for children for children in our care.
Family Group Conference (FGC)
FCG offer families the opportunity to meet in a safe and neutral environment to discuss and agree a future focused plans for their children and families.
Children and young people's safety, wellbeing concerns and decisions about where they will live can be discussed in these meetings. Families who engage in FGC are involved fully in decision making and benefit from developing their own plan of safety, action and support.
Fostering team
The Fostering team ensure the needs of our fostering households and the children and young people in their care are met and work collaboratively with others to achieve the best outcomes for children.
Our foster carers were recognised for their outstanding achievements at 2024's National Children and Young People Awards with two of our foster carers winning the Foster Carer Award for their dedication to the children they support, putting them at the heart of everything they do.
Our first mockingbird constellation has also been incredibly successful, and we are working with carers for the development of two further constellations.
Independent Reviewing
Independent Reviewing Officers (IROs) make an important contribution to the goal of improving outcomes for looked after children. Their primary focus is to quality assure the care planning process for each child or young person, and to ensure that his/her current wishes and feelings are given full consideration.
Kinship care
Kinship care arrangements come about because children are separated from their parents, or their parents are unable to provide the care and support the child needs.
The kinship arrangement may be permanent or temporary.
Our Kinship Care team encourage kinship care arrangements as they believe it is a better option for some children than being looked after by a foster carer to allow them to keep in touch with their parents, friends and other family members.
Residential Settings
Our aim is to support young people to grow self- esteem, build positive relationships and trust, re engage in education, develop independence skills and look to build a brighter future for themselves.
We are investing in the future of our cared for children. We currently have an established residential service with 4 children's homes, all with experienced management teams. In addition to this we are in the process of opening a further 2 homes over the next 3 to 12 months.
Safeguarding and Care Planning
The team hold cases where the child is on a child protection plan and/or subject to proceedings (including LBP) or Looked After under section 20 of the Children Act 1989. Some CiN cases will remain within the service based on established relationships. The team work within a strength-based and relational social work approach to address behaviours linked to adult and childhood trauma and compromised child/parental relationships.
SWIFT
We have developed a model called SWIFT which embeds social workers within our Family Hubs across the borough which provide welcoming spaces for families and members of the community.
Targeted Family Support
The Early Help Service provides an intensive 'Targeted Family Support' service. We offer this to Gateshead families with more intensive needs.
The team can give practical help, advice and advocacy to you and your family providing extra support with:
- family relationships
- children's behaviour
- home conditions
- parenting and introducing routines/boundaries
- health and wellbeing
- household budgets
- leisure and learning
- help from other professionals
Youth Justice Service (YJS)
The YJS work with children and young people, from as young as 10 up to 18 years of age, that break the law. These children could have been sentenced by a court or have come to the attention of the police but not been charged. In this case they would have their offending dealt with out of court.
The YJS work with young people to try to help them live better lives and ultimately stay away from crime.