Who this service is for
We focus on families involved in care proceedings. We work with children that the local authority are concerned with, including those involved in child protection, care proceedings, and looked after children. Whatever the legal status of the child, MALT will work with them and their families to help improve their mental health.
Why refer to this service?
Camden Multi-Agency Liaison Team (MALT) is a joint health and local authority commissioned service. The aim of Camden MALT is to provide a clinical service to families at what is usually the family’s last chance to change before a Care Order is made.
MALT has clearly been successful in building up trust amongst the variety of agencies working with young people with often highly complex needs and in chronic situations.
Outcomes from MALT indicate that some families are able to make use of clinical input to change and keep the family together. Feedback from the courts is also positive, noting that the service’s work is ongoing and not an assessment in isolation from service delivery.
MALT acts as a screening point for other CAMHS services in the area and has curbed the tendency for referrers to make referrals to two or three places at once.
An independent evaluation of the service revealed that families who had used the service considered it to be approachable, accessible and supportive, and they liked many aspects of their contact with MALT, even if they had not liked the final outcome.
It is believed that, as a result of the work done with young people in foster care and in residential care, the service now has a better image with many young people in care.
Treatment offered
This service is based within a family centre, with a children’s centre and nursery; many families use the centre for a variety of reasons, so this reduces stigma. There is a community approach: children and families are seen in a variety of settings, such as home or school, so the child is seen in his or her natural setting.
There is a commitment to multi-disciplinary working with expertise from psychiatry, psychology and social work.
A variety of psychological treatments are offered to parents and children. As well as carrying out direct work with the parents and children, the service also offers consultation work to the allocated social worker.
How to make a referral
Please call our coordinator on 020 7974 3370 for more information.
All professionals considering a referral are welcome to call our administrator to arrange a time to speak with a clinician.
For reasons of confidentiality, we cannot accept referral forms by email. When you fax or send your referral form back to us it will be allocated to one of the team’s clinicians.
