A care team approach is an essential element of therapeutic care. This guide has been developed to support the practice of collaboration and participation through Care Team processes of which Care Team Meetings are a part.

Key Messages

• The complex needs of young people need to be matched with similarly complex solutions to their care and support needs involving multiple stakeholders and systems
• A Care Team approach provides a systems framework to drive a whole-of-practice approach to understanding, supporting and working through the needs of young people in the ITC system in a way that is child-centred, holistic and connected
• A Care Team approach provides a ‘shared lens’ that can be systematically applied to better connect and integrate an array of service providers and points of service delivery capable of matching flexibly to the needs and preferences of young people over time and at various stages of their care
• The core function of the Care Team is the establishment of holistic arrangements that are explicitly geared to the needs of young people, inclusive of the wishes and goals of the young person and their family, are culturally strong and focus on making a real and sustainable difference
• Care Teams support the development and implementation of the therapeutic care plan comprising interventions or strategies with young people that are replicated or at least congruent across environments
• A Care Team approach promotes horizontal rather than hierarchical relationships so that people treat each other on equal terms, within which all parties feel responsible for the success of their common purpose: the best interests of the young person
• Care Teams Meetings are an essential element of ITC and a vehicle for Care Teams in the collaborative process of planning for and meeting the needs of young people
• Effective Care Teams are more than a meeting – it is a practice or approach that is underpinned by principles and theory and a commitment to consilience, or a coming together of perspectives, ideas, goals and ambitions that have, at its heart, the needs of young people
• Care Teams do not need to have regular formal meetings to undertake their work – instead they must have regular discussions and conversations, and these must occur as frequently as is needed to