Description of different commissioning structures
Of the existing FDACs, there are three main types of commissioning structure:
New independent service
The FDAC team is created as a new service run by an independent organisation like a local charity or health trust. The Local Authority create a service specification and commission via a tendering process. Who commissions the service will need to be decided; preferably it should be jointly commissioned by health and children’s services. You might also have a number of local authorities coming together to commission the team jointly. This is the model in the London, Leeds and Black Country FDAC.
Expand existing local service
Build an independent FDAC team from an existing local service. You can create an FDAC team from another multi-disciplinary service already established in your area as in East Sussex and Southampton. This is likely to involve getting agreement from the relevant commissioners of that service to change the existing Service Level Agreement (SLA). This can mean that FDAC cases are only a proportion of FDAC practitioners’ case-load.
Build a new stand-alone team
Build a team seen by the courts and professionals as independent and separate from the applicant local authority, staffed by a mixture of social work, domestic abuse, health and other professionals who may be seconded in from other organisations. This model is the most widely used, and is in place in Coventry, Pan-Bedfordshire, Milton Keynes & Buckinghamshire and the new Birmingham & Solihull FDAC.