A rights-based, trauma-informed, multi-agency pathway supporting children and young people from pre-birth to adulthood.
Purpose & Alignment
This pathway sets out how Falkirk services work together to promote, support and safeguard wellbeing from pre-birth to 18, and up to 25 where legislation provides ongoing entitlement.
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- National Practice Model – Getting it right for every child (GIRFEC)
- Universal Health Visiting Pathway in Scotland
- Staged Intervention in Education
- Additional Support for Learning (ASL) Act
- National Child Protection Guidance (2021)
- Local Falkirk multi-agency procedures found on the Forth Valley Practitioner Pages
Wellbeing is understood through SHANARRI. Interventions must be appropriate, proportionate, timely and least intrusive. “Child” covers from infancy to 18, and to 25 where legislation applies. “Parent” includes all carers with a parenting role. Public authorities must act compatibly with the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC); children have the right to express views, have them given due weight, and challenge decisions. Practitioners should ensure accessible routes for raising disagreement or complaints.
Most children are supported by their families and universal services. Some require additional help, which should always be appropriate, proportionate and timely.
Every child and their family has a right to access support when they need it. This can be done via the named person, a point of contact that can offer help and support to families when needed.
A named person does not replace parents or carers who have a primary responsibility for bringing up their children. Children, young people and parents can say no to support or assistance offered by named persons. If this is considered to put a child at risk then child protection procedures should be followed.
A named person is available to listen, promote a child’s rights, take account of families’ views, advise and help a child and their parent(s), provide direct support or help them access other services.
Overview
GIRFEC relies on professionals sharing information about children and young people to identify areas of need and how best to support and keep them safe.
Organisations and people working with children and young people have access to sensitive, personal information and as a result are duty bound to handle, store, process and share this information in line with existing laws and guidance e.g. data protection, UNCRC, GDPR, common law duties and professional codes of practice.
Consent
In most circumstances, professionals supporting children, young people and families/carers will seek their consent before sharing information with another professional.
Practitioners should be careful to only share information that is necessary and proportionate to the purpose they are seeking to achieve.
Where safety takes priority
However, Data Protection rules do not prevent the sharing of information necessary to protect the welfare of a child or young person.
If in doubt refer to your agency’s Child Protection Lead.
Further information
Further information about information sharing can be found on the Forth Valley Practitioner Pages via these links GIRFEC Information Sharing Agreement, Information Sharing Guidance and Information Sharing Principles for GIRFEC.
Principle
Children, young people and families should have clear, accessible and safe routes to ask questions, raise concerns, disagree with decisions, and make complaints.
Practitioners should explain these options in a way that is appropriate to age, stage, communication need and understanding.
This section should include
- Who a child or parent can speak to first
- How to ask for a review of a decision
- How to make a formal complaint
- How to access advocacy or support
- What to do if the concern is urgent or relates to safety
Pre-Birth
The Forth Valley Pre-birth Planning Pathway supports early identification of wellbeing concerns during pregnancy. Early assessment supports protective planning prior to birth where required.
Birth & Universal Health Visiting Pathway
The Universal Health Visiting Pathway in Scotland offers a core home visiting programme to all families. All families receive the 11-visit Universal Health Visiting Pathway from the antenatal to preschool period. Health Visitors act as the named person, assess wellbeing, and may initiate a single-agency chronology to support families.
Nursery
With parental agreement, proportionate wellbeing information, including developmental milestones and any relevant single-agency chronology entries, is shared with nursery at transition. The Health Visitor remains the named person. Parents are included in decisions unless, in rare circumstances, doing so would place the child at risk.
School
At transition, when a child is moving from nursery to school sometimes information about the child’s wellbeing needs to be shared as part of transition.
The named person (Health Visitor), in almost all cases, in agreement with parents, will make sure that information is shared about the child’s wellbeing with the named person for the child in school (usually the head teacher or Depute head teacher or pastoral teacher in secondary).
Once the child is at school the health visitor is no longer the named person, this is now the responsibility of the school.
Post-School / 18+
Some young people will continue to require support beyond age 18.
Transitions must follow a rights-based approach in line with the UNCRC (Scotland) Act 2024, ensuring the young person’s views are central to all planning, and that decisions prioritise their best interests. Support should not end abruptly at age 18; some young people will continue to require coordinated GIRFEC support beyond this point based on assessed need.
When required, and in almost all cases with the agreement of the young person (taking account of their capacity), information about the young person’s wellbeing will be shared by the named person, at transition to further/higher education, training or employment.
Children and young people in conflict with the law must be supported in line with the updated definition of “child” and the duties set out in the Children (Care and Justice) (Scotland) Act 2024.
All agency actions must be compatible with the UNCRC, with a clear focus on welfare-based assessment and support throughout. A social worker will be the named person for these children and young people.
Practitioners working with young people in conflict with the law must apply the updated definition of “child” and fulfil the associated statutory duties to ensure that assessment, planning and intervention remain welfare-led.
Agencies must also act in a manner consistent with the UNCRC and apply the enhanced safeguarding duties coming into force in 2026, ensuring that the young person’s rights and welfare remain paramount at all stages.
Where a young person is involved in the Children’s Hearings System or wider justice processes, agencies must follow the updated legal definition of “child” and meet the new safeguarding duties under the Care and Justice (Scotland) Act 2024. Decisions must be fully compatible with the UNCRC, and young people should have accessible routes to participate, raise concerns, or challenge decisions that affect their rights.
Information sharing at transition points must be necessary, proportionate and transparent, with young people actively involved in decisions about how their information is used to support their safety, wellbeing and future pathways.
At each stage use the following GIRFEC key questions to talk openly and honestly with a child and their family about their needs. This is the start of your assessment of a child’s wellbeing needs.
- What is getting in the way of this child’s wellbeing?
- Do I have all the information I need to help this child?
- What can I do now to help this child?
- What can my agency do to help this child?
- What additional help, if any, may be needed from others?
- Are this child’s human rights being met?
While the GIRFEC questions refer to a child or young person, this applies equally to the wellbeing needs of unborn babies.
Overview
Universal services play a central role in promoting, supporting and safeguarding the wellbeing of children and young people. Most wellbeing needs are met at this level, where practitioners identify emerging concerns early and respond using proportionate assessment and planning.
Some children may require a bit of extra help to ensure their wellbeing is safeguarded and that they develop as they should.
The named person, in agreement with, and alongside the child/family, uses the Child’s Plan to identify any unmet wellbeing needs and access required services/supports.
Under GIRFEC and the UNCRC, children and young people have the right to have their views heard and taken seriously in all decisions that affect them. Planning and intervention at this stage must therefore be child-centred, rights-based and proportionate.
Role of the Named Person and the Child’s Plan
The named person, working in agreement with and alongside the child and family, uses the Child’s Plan to identify any unmet wellbeing needs and to access appropriate services or supports.
A Child’s Plan may be initiated to coordinate targeted support where this is required. Planning must be outcome-focused, linked to the SHANARRI indicators, and ensure that the child and family are fully involved in all decision-making, reflecting their rights to participation and informed choice.
When the named person is contacted by parents or another service regarding unmet wellbeing needs, a discussion takes place to agree what help is needed. In this process, the named person uses the GIRFEC 5 Key Questions and Falkirk’s additional 6th question to understand the concerns and confirm whether needs can be met within universal services.
Assessment Within Universal Services
The named person completes the Wellbeing Assessment and Plan with the child and parents, using this to identify or request support from within the same service. The named person, along with the parent, remains responsible for the child’s wellbeing during this stage.
Where a more detailed understanding is needed, the GIRFEC Lead Professional Assessment and Plan is completed with the child and parents. This assessment can also be used to identify or request support from within the same service.
All agreed actions are recorded in the Child’s Plan, and the Chronology is updated. The named person retains responsibility for coordinating and reviewing the Child’s Plan.
Universal Support in Education and Health
Within education, Level 1, 2 or 3 Intervention will be actioned depending on the assessed needs of the child, in line with Falkirk’s Staged Intervention in Education framework.
Within Health, including Health Visiting and School Nursing, the My World Triangle Assessment is always used as part of routine and additional assessment.
Reviewing Progress
The named person, child and parents review the Child’s Plan regularly to measure whether interventions are having a positive impact and whether outcomes are improving. This shared review approach ensures the child’s right to participate meaningfully in decisions is upheld.
When Escalation Should Be Considered
- Needs cannot be met within one service
- Risks are increasing
- There are indicators of significant harm
If significant harm is suspected, practitioners must immediately follow Child Protection Procedures, consistent with children’s rights to protection, safety and timely intervention.
Some children require support from universal services working together with one or more additional services to meet their wellbeing needs. When the child and parents work collaboratively with services, this forms the Team Around the Child (TAC). There is Forth Valley Tac Guidance to support practitioners throughout this process.
A TAC approach upholds children’s rights under the UNCRC by ensuring their participation, dignity, safety, and best interests remain central to all decisions.
Role of the Named Person and Use of the Child’s Plan
The Named Person, in agreement with the child and parent, uses the Child’s Plan to:
- Share and bring together relevant and proportionate information
- Assess wellbeing needs, developmental milestones, resilience and risk
- Identify any supports required, including involvement from other services
- Arrange a TAC meeting following TAC guidance — the child and parents must be included
- Develop a Child’s Plan outlining agreed actions
When a TAC Approach Is Required
Where a child’s wellbeing needs require coordinated support from more than one service, a TAC approach is initiated.
A Lead Professional is identified to coordinate the multi-agency Child’s Plan. Roles, responsibilities, timescales, and review arrangements must be clearly recorded.
The child’s views must be actively sought, meaningfully considered, and reflected in the plan. Where participation may be difficult, advocacy should be offered to uphold the child’s rights to express their views freely and be heard.
Assessment to Support Multi-Agency Planning
The Named Person completes the Child’s Plan: Wellbeing Assessment, and/or the My World Triangle Assessment, with the child and parents. These assessments identify the needs requiring support from external services.
The requested service(s) and Named Person then agree whether they can provide the support required. A TAC meeting is arranged, online or in person, with the child’s and parents’ voices at the centre.
A revised Child’s Plan is agreed, setting out clear roles, actions, responsibilities, and timescales designed to improve outcomes.
The TAC considers all available information using the Child’s Plan, including strengths, resilience and risk. Each TAC member is clear about their responsibilities within the Action Plan, and all members receive a copy of the plan within 5 working days.
Role of the Lead Professional
- Monitors and reviews progress toward the outcomes in the Child’s Plan
- Ensures actions are completed within agreed timescales
- Collates a Multi-Agency Chronology, where one is not already in place
- Ensures that if outcomes are met and the case is closed, services follow their discharge/closing procedures to avoid any adverse impact on the child
Within education, Level 4 Intervention will be actioned as part of the Staged Intervention framework.
Within health, Health Visiting and School Nursing continue to use the My World Triangle and Resilience Matrix.
Escalation
- Risks increase
- Parents disengage and risk remains
- There is suspicion of significant harm
- Compulsory measures may be required
If significant harm is suspected, practitioners must immediately follow Child Protection Procedures, consistent with children’s rights to protection, safety and timely intervention.
Where unmet needs continue or risks escalate, the Lead Professional (LP) should consider a referral to Social Work and invite them to a Team Around the Child (TAC) meeting to review the Child’s Plan. The Named Person remains involved throughout the TAC process, even when Social Work becomes formally engaged, ensuring continuity and a rights-based approach to support.
Within education, concerns must be escalated through the Child Protection Co-ordinator to the SSI Team Manager. If needs remain unmet, the case is referred to the ASN Service Manager, who liaises with the Social Work Manager to determine next steps and ensure timely, proportionate intervention.
When a child becomes Looked After at Home (LAC) or Looked After Away from Home (LAAC), or when the Scottish Children’s Reporter Administration (SCRA) requests a report, an allocated Social Worker becomes the Lead Professional.
If the Child’s Plan is not leading to improved outcomes, interventions must be reviewed, adapted, or intensified. Where concerns relate to hard to reach families, child not brought, non-engagement, disguised compliance or resistance, practitioners should refer to the Non-Engagement/Disguised Compliance and Working With Resistance guidance and the Forth Valley Multi-Agency Escalation Framework.
Information may be shared without the child’s or parents’ agreement where it is necessary to protect the child — in line with rights-based safeguarding duties.
Where compulsory measures or statutory intervention are required, the Lead Professional makes a referral to SCRA and prepares the associated report, drawing on relevant information from all agencies. Social Work will consider existing assessments, the Child’s Plan, chronologies and other key documents.
In rare circumstances where concerns escalate or a child may be at risk but no Lead Professional or Child’s Plan is in place, Social Work will identify a Lead Professional to complete the report using the Child’s Plan: Wellbeing Assessment and/or My World Triangle Assessment, in partnership with the child and parents. Any agency may make the referral.
When a child becomes Looked After, education will initiate Level 2 Intervention in line with Falkirk’s Staged Intervention framework. Looked After Reviews assume responsibility for oversight of the Child’s Plan, with the TAC continuing as needed to support coordination and ensure the child’s wellbeing.
The Lead Professional and the TAC must review the Child’s Plan: Action Plan regularly to evaluate the impact of interventions and whether outcomes are improving.
Planning at this stage must be:
- Risk and strength informed
- Trauma-informed
- Rights-based
- Clearly evidenced
If compulsory measures may be necessary, referral to the Scottish Children’s Reporter Administration is required.
Decision-making must demonstrate compatibility with UNCRC duties and ensure that actions are necessary, proportionate and in the child’s best interests.
A very small number of children require a multi-agency approach that involves referral to the Scottish Children’s Reporter Administration (SCRA) and/or a statutory or compulsory role for Children and Families Social Work (SW).
When SCRA requests a report, Social Work prepares a background report using information from all relevant agencies. At this stage—if they are not already—the social worker becomes the Lead Professional (LP). The Named Person continues to be involved through the Team Around the Child (TAC).
When professionals, including the Named Person, are concerned that a child may be at risk of significant harm, relevant information must be shared immediately, with or without consent from the child or parents, in line with Child Protection Procedures to safeguard the child.
If a wellbeing concern is identified, a referral to the Reporter can be made. Information may be shared without parental or child agreement if the child is at risk.
When a referral is made to the Reporter, Social Work prepares a background report drawing on existing assessments, the My World Triangle, Child’s Plan, chronology and other relevant information. If a Children’s Hearing is held and compulsory measures are required, Looked After Reviews become responsible for the Child’s Plan. TAC may continue to support ongoing monitoring.
If a child protection concern is identified, practitioners must follow Child Protection Procedures:
- Phone Social Work or Police
- Submit a Notification of Child Protection Concern
- Social Work must respond to the referrer within five days
An Inter-agency Referral Discussion (IRD) may be held involving Social Work, Police, Health, and Education. Relevant wellbeing information is shared to determine whether a SCIM Interview, medical examination, additional TAC support, or an Initial Child Protection Planning Meeting (ICPPM) is required.
If following an ICPPM the child is placed on the Child Protection Register, responsibility for the Child Protection Plan moves to a Core Group. When a child is removed from the register, the Core Group reverts to a TAC meeting.
The Lead Professional, Child Protection Planning Meetings and Looked After Reviews continue to review plans and wellbeing to determine whether outcomes are being met and whether support should be increased or reduced.
Where voluntary support is insufficient to safeguard or promote wellbeing, compulsory measures may be required through the Children’s Hearings System.
The Children’s Reporter determines whether grounds for referral are established.
The Children’s Hearing then considers whether compulsory measures are necessary, proportionate, and aligned with the child’s rights and best interests.
Practice Requirements at This Stage
- Risk and strength informed
- Trauma-informed
- Rights-based, in line with UNCRC duties
- Clearly evidenced
- Necessary and proportionate
These principles ensure that children’s rights to safety, protection, participation, and stability are upheld throughout statutory processes.
A Child-Rights Approach Must Be Evident Throughout
- The child’s views, wishes and feelings must be actively sought using age and developmental stage-appropriate and accessible methods.
- Decisions must be made in the child’s best interests, with clear evidence of how this has been considered.
- Children must have clear and accessible routes to ask questions, express concerns, or challenge decisions, with advocacy available where needed.
- Information sharing must be necessary, proportionate, transparent, and children should understand how their information will be used.
Trauma-Informed Practice Underpins All Planning
- Practitioners must respond in ways that minimise distress and avoid re-traumatisation.
- Meetings should be planned to promote the child’s sense of safety, choice, and control.
- Language used must be strengths-based, compassionate and non-blaming.
- The child’s relationships, connections and resilience should be recognised and supported.
Multi-Agency Collaboration Should Be Seamless
- Roles, responsibilities and timescales must be clearly agreed, with accountability shared across agencies.
- All practitioners involved must maintain open communication, ensuring the child and family do not experience conflicting messages.
- The TAC should focus on strengths, needs, risk, resilience and outcomes, with full child/parent participation.
