What to Include in a Referral

GUIDANCE FOR REFERRERS

A complete referral moves faster through assessment and matching. Here’s what to include so we can respond quickly.
What we need
  • Basic details: age, gender, current placement status, and preferred age band (16–17 or 18+)
  • A summary of the young person’s needs, risk factors and any known triggers
  • Placement history: previous settings, and why they ended, if relevant
  • Any education, health or care plan currently in place
  • Preferred location or borough, if there’s a reason for it (school, family contact, existing support network)
  • Placing authority and named contact for the referral
What slows things down
  • Referrals with no risk information: we can’t match against a home’s dynamic without it
  • Missing placing authority details, which delays funding confirmation
  • Referrals sent without a named contact we can follow up with directly

Once we have the above, our placements team reviews the referral and begins matching against current availability. See Our Process for what happens next.