Who we can help

The Thames Valley Link Programme can help children and young people aged 0-18 years of age who have ‘complex needs’. Children and young people in this group experience the highest levels of health inequality in society. You can read more about this definition in this document ‘The ‘Framework for Integrated Care’ .

These young people’s needs are often:

  • Multiple (ie not just in one area, such as mental and physical health)
  • Persistent (ie long term, including for example learning disability, autism or both)
  • Severe (ie not responding to standard ‘clinical’ interventions)
  • Framed by family and social contexts (such as: early family disruption, loss or inequality, among others

Significant concerns

Often, professionals and others who provide day-to-day care and support for the young people have significant concerns about the young person’s ongoing emotional, mental health or neurodevelopmental difficulties.

Referrals to the county-wide link teams

The young people referred are likely to be those who:

  • Present with challenging behaviours – there may have been several referrals to different health, social care and other services. This may be because their presentations don’t ‘fit’ with existing services, which may only specialise in one of their needs eg autism.
  • Find engagement difficult – sometimes services find it difficult or are unable to engage some young people in cross-agency plans. When this happens the young person may fail to make progress.
  • Are known to social care, the police or other agencies
  • Are struggling in educational settings and are at risk of exclusion or may be excluded from school.

A leaflet for Families and carers

A leaflet for Young people

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Page last reviewed: 27 June, 2023