No, as we are a private service, we do not ask for a referral from a GP. A child can be referred by a parent or carer, school, local authority or other professional. We do require consent of Parental Responsibility, see here for details on this (https://www.gov.uk/parental-rights-responsibilities/who-has-parental-responsibility).

Please contact us with the individuals’ name, date of birth and parent/carer contact information. If you are a school, local authority or other professional, we will require confirmed consent to contact parent/carer or appropriate adult to begin the assessment process. We also ask that when a referral is made, a proposed funder is identified and permission to contact them is confirmed.

Future Steps do not advise on funding, however, many individual cases are funded privately or commissioned via school or Local Authority.

The cost of an assessment varies and is dependent on the individual and their needs. An introductory call and suitability criteria is free of charge and will enable us to provide you with a detailed, bespoke assessment quote.

Treatment costs differ, variations include frequency and number of sessions, programmes and group sessions. After the assessment, once recommendations are agreed and a report is finalised, costings can be sent to the proposed funder, outlining the cost of each recommendation.

In Future Steps reports and clinical documentation, we may state that the clinical presentation of an individual meets the criteria for a condition based on clinical findings of standardised assessments, however, this is not a diagnosis. This is because many diagnoses require a multi-disciplinary panel often including a paediatrician and psychologist. Our reports can be submitted as supporting evidence towards a diagnosis.

If a child has been assessed within the last 12 months, we will ask to see a copy of the assessment report. This report will be reviewed by our Clinical Management team to ensure that satisfactory standardised assessments were completed and that there is sufficient information provided. We may ask you to complete an assessment criteria telephone call to ensure that there have not been any updates to the child’s needs or wellbeing since the assessment.

It is important that reports from within the last 12 months are shared with us as some standardised assessment measures cannot be repeated within this time, otherwise the results are compromised.