Children can be referred to the Child Development Centre by health professionals (e.g., GPs, Health Visitors, Community or School Nursing staff or Paediatricians and Hospital staff where children will be returning to Barking & Dagenham).

Children are usually eligible for referral if they have difficulties in two or more areas of their development, which will then have a significant impact on their activities of daily living. Referrals are made using the Single Point of Access referral form. Referrals should be completed electronically for legibility, and all sections should contain as much detail as possible.

If the referral is successful, a programme of care will be decided on an individual basis. This could be intensive e.g., weekly or on a monitoring and review basis. Therapeutic programmes will be developed in a variety of settings, with a range of prescribed activities within each programme.

The service has links with the following:

Health	Local Authority
Acute Paediatricians	Educational Psychology Services
General Practitioners	Portage
Child & Adolescent Psychiatry	Special Educational Needs Service
Ophthalmology	Day care Services for Under Fives
Orthoptist	Disabled Children’s Team
Audiology
Dentistry
Dietetics
Tertiary Centres to include clinical genetics
Health Visitors
School Nurses