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1. Where a 16/17 year old approaches the housing department as homeless a homelessness application is taken.
2. As part of the application process the officer considers any issues of additional vulnerability as part of the discussion with the young person to try and resolve the homelessness crisis..  In particular the officer should be alert to any indication that the applicant may be at risk of abuse (physically/emotionally/sexually etc) or may have special needs, which might compromise their self-care abilities.
3. If the officer identifies issues of additional vulnerability (as above) telephone consultation with the relevant office* should be initiated in order to determine whether a referral is appropriate.
4. If no additional vulnerability is identified then the homelessness application will proceed as normal without consultation with Children's Social Care Services.
5. If a young person is found (or likely to be found) intentionally homeless (and therefore only entitled to a short period of time in temporary accommodation - usually 7 days) consent should be sought for a telephone consultation with the relevant Children's Social Care Services Office* to determine whether a referral is appropriate.
6. Where, following consultation, it is agreed that referral to Children's Social Care Services is appropriate, this should be made on the standard Common Referral Form and faxed/emailed to the Referral and Assessment Service*. Arrangements will then be made for a joint assessment (Initial/CAF) to be completed within 7 days.
   
   Where the assessment concludes that the young person is need of accommodation, then the assessment should seriously consider whether or not s/he should be accommodated under Section 20 of the Children Act 1989. His or her wishes in relation to the implications of becoming a Looked After child will be relevant to this assessment.

Notes

Consent - In general young people should not be referred elsewhere without their consent.  The Coventry Safeguarding Children Board Procedures Manual and Coventry Information Sharing Protocol Guidelines do however indicate the circumstances when a referral can be made without consent and these should be consulted for guidance.  It should be noted however that consultation between agencies in respect of unnamed individuals does not require consent and can be a helpful way of determining an appropriate course of action.

*All referrals should be made to the Referral and Assessment Service.  Before making a referral in respect of homeless young people Housing Officers should determine whether the young person had a Coventry address prior to reporting as homeless.  Where the young person has no prior Coventry address the Housing Officer should establish the young person's 'ordinary residence' so that the Referral and Assessment Service can consult with the local authority with responsibility for that area.

End