Integrated Children's Services

The primary aim of Integrated Children’s Services (ICS) is for all organisations to work in partnership to improve the lives of children, young people and parents/carers in Dundee. This means that Dundee City Council, NHS Tayside, Police Scotland, the Third Sector, private sector and communities jointly focus their resources where they are needed most in order to reduce inequalities and to help families to thrive. Services support the implementation of the Tayside Plan for Children, Young People and Families 2023-26, which outlines our key priorities and aims:

• Early Years - children will have the best start in life, they will be cared for and supported to learn in nurturing environments
• Education - children, young people and families will be meaningfully engaged with learning and extend their potential
• Health - children and young people will be physically, mentally and emotionally healthy
• Inequality - children and young people who experience inequalities will achieve comparable outcomes with others
• Protection - children and young people will be safe and protected from harm at home, in school, and in the community

In practice, this means that, as a partnership, we work together to implement all aspects of Getting it Right for Every Child (GIRFEC), The Promise, the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) and Scotland's incorporation of the UNCRC into law.  It means that a range of professionals, such as Midwives, Health Visitors, Teachers and other School Staff, Social Workers, Police Officers and Third Sector organisations try to identify problems early, support families to build on their strengths and provide guidance and support to help address different types and levels of need. We have a particular focus on the following vulnerable groups and issues:

• Looked After Children and Care Leavers
• Young Carers
• Children and young people with Additional Support Needs (including those which are Complex)
• Parents
• Educational attainment
• Healthy living and physical activity
• Substance misuse
• Mental health
• Physical, emotional and sexual abuse and neglect

We engage with communities and families to jointly identify priorities and develop shared responses. We also continually evaluate the impact of what we do, including obtaining the views of children, young people and families about their experiences of services and the extent to which they consider they have made a positive difference to their lives. Our approach towards engagement and evaluation will help us to learn about the needs of communities and whether we need to change the range or type of services we provide to meet these needs.

In the Children and Families Service, Social Workers and Support Workers work with children, young people and their families where there are concerns about the welfare of children and young people or where parents or carers need some additional help. Teams work with children and young people from pre-birth to 18 years and with Care Leavers up to the age of 26 years. Teams also support Foster Carers, Adopters and Kinship Carers. 

The service also operates an Out of Hours emergency service which covers both adults' and children's services and operates across both Dundee and Angus Councils.

In addition, the service undertakes:

• Child protection assessments
• Assessments of need
• Child's Plans and interventions such as 1:1 work and family work
• Support to address personal and social needs, such as mental health and substance misuse
• Assessments and support, including short breaks, for children with Additional Support Needs 
• Assessments of and support to prospective and current Foster Carers, Adopters and Kinship Carers
• Accommodation in Children's Houses and external residential placements
• Reports to the courts and Children's Hearing