What makes a good Team Around the Family meeting?

The group of professionals from the relevant agencies and services who are working with the family to provide help and support for their specific needs are known collectively as the ‘Team Around the Family’ or TAF for short.

TAF meetings are when the family meets with the different key professionals involved in supporting them to produce a plan to help them achieve their goals.

This plan is then reviewed on a regular basis to make sure it is working or if anything needs to change.

• The family should attend the meeting.
• Children, young people, parents and carers should all be supported to fully engage.
• The family’s voice should be at the centre of discussions and decisions.
• Remember that honesty and openness results in realistic discussions around strengths and needs within the family.
• Everyone should focus on the family’s strengths, and encourage them to resolve their own needs within their own wider network.
• Ensure the right professionals attend the meeting and contribute to the assessment, plan and reviews and are realistic about what support they can offer.
• If you feel an agency or service is missing, agree who will make contact.
• If progress is delayed or an agency needs challenging, agree who will escalate and follow up and include appropriate timescales.
• This link takes you to an Easy Read Team Around the Family template

Key things to remember:

• Hold the meeting in a timely manner.
• Make sure the family have consented to information being shared.
• Record discussions and actions on the Right for Children system.
• Arrange, agree and record the next review date before the end of the meeting.

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