Introduction

What is the Autism & Learning Disability Liaison Team?

The Autism & Learning Disability Liaison Team (Known as ALDLT for short) is a team of Care Navigators who have specialist knowledge and skills in working with people who have a Learning Disability, Autism or both.

The team provide support to ensure children, young people and families get the right support at the right time, and that local systems are responsive to meeting their needs in a holistic and joined up way.

The team came from a national drive for Keyworker teams from NHS England because:

• Many children and young people with a learning disability, autism or both, struggle to get the help they need from the system.
• Children, young people, and their families are often disappointed by a lack of coordination between system services.
• The system processes supporting children, young people and families can be complex and not joined-up or adaptable.

We are not a clinical team, this means that your care will still be coordinated by the CAMHS pathway that you are already working with, for example ‘Getting More Help’ or ‘Neurodevelopmental Conditions (NDC)’.

As part of a referral to our team, you and/or your parent/carer will be asked whether you consent to being added to the Dynamic Support Register (DSR).

This can help to support your care and is explained further in this leaflet.

Consent

Consent means agreeing.

In the case of ALDLT this will mean consenting to our involvement, to being on the DSR and potentially for a CETR.

These are different decisions, and you can change your mind at any time, you just need to let us know.

Who is the ALDL Team for?

Young people who:

• Are aged 0-25 years.
• Have a diagnosis of a Learning Disability, Autism or both.
• Are on the Dynamic Support Register (DSR).
• Are at risk of hospital admission, are currently in hospital and/or at risk of placement breakdown.

What happens after referral?

After we discuss the referral with you, we will discuss the situation as a team.

If we think we can help, a care navigator will be allocated to work with the young person.

What can a Care Navigator do?

• Identify any unmet needs or gaps in support provision.
• Organise support networks surrounding you and your family, a support network may include anyone who supports your family, for example, grandparents, uncles, mum’s friend.
• Be a single point of contact for you and your family in navigating the system(s)
• Ensure you are being included in and informed about decisions regarding your care.
• Ensure that you get timely access to the right personalised support.
• Advocate on behalf of you and your family when requested and hold the family story when navigating the system.
• Unblocking challenges and breaking down barriers to you accessing support.
• Ensure you have a clear personalised plan to promote your development.
• To ensure that Care Education and Treatment Review (CETR) recommendations / actions are completed in a timely manner and that there are updates to the Dynamic Support Register to reflect this.
• The Care Navigator will ensure continuity of care for the child/young person, and work across systems and services to ensure they respond and react to child/young person’s needs as required.
• Care Navigators should not be replacing or duplicating any other professional roles.
• Any Specialist Care Plans that have been developed to support you living in the community.
• Key information that people involved in your care and support should know, in order to help keep you safe

What do we do with this information?

The Dynamic Support Register for Children and Adolescents in Oxfordshire is managed on behalf of the Integrated Care Board (ICB) by Oxfordshire Autism and Learning Disability Liaison Team.

Once your child has been identified and added to the DSR, their care will be routinely reviewed in combination with their support network to make sure that all the best practice for young people with a Learning Disability, or Autism, or both is in place.

We know that the needs of young people can change quickly, so this register is intended to aid early identification of increased risk and help us to proactively support them in the community.

To identify risk, we use a set of questions. This gives us an outcome of Green, Amber, or Red. If the outcome is Amber or Red, you will be allocated a Care Navigator to work with you.

This also helps us identify if now is a good time to request a Care Education and Treatment Review.

The information on the DSR may also be used to help inform local services so that other people can access support as well. Any information shared with others for this purpose will be anonymised.

This means no one will know it is your information, and it will be grouped with other information to identify trends and themes in the services.

Meet the team

Team Manager

The manager provides the leadership and management for the team. If you have any concerns you can talk to them.

Care Navigator Clinical Lead

Will work as a Care Navigators but also provide support for the rest of the team.

Care Navigators

The care navigator will be the main contact with the team, supporting around the topics covered in “What can a care navigator do?”

Social Prescriber

They can help signpost to local resources. They might help identify a young person’s interests, which might identify what support would be right for them.

Parent/Carer peer support worker

Can support families through their lived experience, and challenge professionals to think differently!

Administrator

Supports the team with organisational and logistical tasks and may well be the first member of the team you talk to!

Contact us

For further information about this service please contact the ALDL Team

Phone: 01865 90 296

Email: DSR-ALDLT@oxfordhealth.nhs.uk