ABSTRACT
Readers have now reached a point where integration for children's services needs to take place on a scale not previously seen. Any proposed children and young person's service needs to recognise the growing appetite for what is increasingly described as "localism". Each locality will have a multidisciplinary Children's services teams. Professionals attached to the CSTs will form two distinct groups – those who are full-time CST team members, such as community paediatricians, children's social workers, educational support liaison workers and health visitors. Second, those for whom engagement will be on a part-time basis, such as housing, leisure or income support workers. The essential starting point for any integrated children's service has to be a comprehensive and shared referral and assessment process. Having established the basis of a common assessment process, which feeds into the shared integrated database, it then becomes necessary to devise a system for the CSTs to receive referrals.
