Referrals
For more information about our referral process or to request a referral please email residentialenquiries@polariscommunity.co.uk or fill in the form below.
Area Camden takes young people for short to long-term placements. We aim to provide stability and we will work with the young person, their family, social worker and other professionals with the aims of:
- Reunification; returning the young person home;
- Preparing the young person for fostering or;
- Preparing the young person for independence
It should also be expected that the needs specified within the referral or care plan and/or social work assessment should relate to the type of living and educational programmes and provision that Area Camden's Children’s Homes are able to deliver.
We can offer and facilitate a variety of different services and activities. However, any specific services or activities should be identified and discussed with the managers prior to referral.
Young people should be aged between 11 and 17 on admission.
Management will consider the welfare of other residents in the consideration of referrals. This consideration will include any conflict of needs and age differences. A visit to the home by the referring Social Worker with the young person is essential prior to admission.
Before a young person can be admitted to Area Camdem, an assessment of their needs will be carried out, and the impact risk assessment will be completed. The placement will only be accepted where it is assessed that the home can respond effectively to the needs of the child during the referral process and it has been fully considered the impact that placement will have on existing group of children.
Admission procedures
Admissions to Area Camden will be planned wherever possible and the young person will be invited to visit the home for an introductory visit before full time admission.
Once an initial assessment has been completed, the young person, along with their family or carers (where appropriate) and the Social Worker from the placing authority will be invited to meet to discuss the placement suitability.
The young person will be given copies of our Children’s Guide which will be fully explained to them. They will be invited to discuss the general ethos of the home with the Manager or Key Worker.
The staff will clearly define what the young person can expect from the home and the young person will have a clear understanding of what the home expects from them.
If it has been agreed by all parties that the placement should go ahead then a formal contract will be drawn up between the placing authority and Area Camden.
The young person will be asked to sign the home’s rules in order to demonstrate their commitment to living in the house.
The expected standards of behaviour will be re-enforced as often as necessary to ensure that the young person fully understands this information. Key workers will also help the young person make an inventory of possessions on arrival.
Emergency Referrals
In exceptional circumstances, where there is no other suitable placement available or where there is a greater risk in not placing a young person, emergency admissions will be accommodated. Should this happen a review meeting will take place within 72 hours. The review meeting will specifically address whether the young person should remain at the placement or if it is in their best interests to be moved. The Care Plan and essential written information should be provided to Area Haringey by the social worker or, in the absence of a social worker, by the team manager as soon as possible but no later than 72hours after the placement began.
In the absence of written information being available at the time of the emergency placement, the Social Worker or Team Manager should give essential information verbally to the staff at Area Haringey. Such essential information would include any child protection, welfare or safety issues concerning the individual young person as well as any issues that may compromise the safety or welfare of other young people.
Area Haringey can accommodate emergency placements, however, our staff members acknowledge that this is a potentially unsettling time for all concerned. Young people should be helped as much as possible to deal with the move. This includes helping the young people already living at the home as well as the individual young person who is moving in.
Our staff will be aiming to meet the needs of the newly admitted young person regardless of whether the admission is planned or unplanned.
Area Haringey have clear procedures for young people leaving the home in both planned and emergency cases.
Make an Enquiry
For more information about our referral process or to request a referral please email residentialenquiries@polariscommunity.co.uk or fill in the form below.