4 Tick System

Approved Centre Status for members of the Advice in County Durham Partnership

One of the main aims of the Advice in County Durham partnership is to remove the guess work for clients in understanding which service(s) would best suit their needs, in addition to bringing to life to concept of "no wrong door” when accessing services.

The development of the 4 tick system simply makes it easier for clients to understand the level of service they may wish to access and not which service would suit them best, as this will be done by those organisations which are members of the network, and have a better understanding of the services available.

The tick system will assess the level of intervention each service provides, allowing clients to select a service at the level they need, at a location convenient to them. For example, someone who is simply looking for information and does not wish to speak to an advisor could access a one or two tick centre.

A client who would prefer to speak to an advisor, would access a 3 tick centre and if that service is unable to provide the specialist help the client needs, they could be referred to the appropriate service using the partnerships secure online referral system, making the process as seamless as possible for the client.

The 4 tick system will also help to map the sector with some accuracy, and will quickly identify the gaps and duplication in services, which will help to support the commissioning intentions of the Local Authority and other funding bodies.

Here are the definitions of the 4 levels of intervention which exist within the Advice Sector of County Durham.

Organisations who are members of the Advice in County Durham will be awarded "Approved Centre Status” with the appropriate number of ticks relevant to the type of service they offer.

For more information about becoming a member of the partnership or how to get "Approved Centre Status” for your organisation, please do get in touch.

	Information Point	Self-help
	Assisted Information Point	Information and Signposting
	Advice Point	Face to face interview to help diagnose enquiry and next steps to reach a resolution including referral to another agency, contacting third party on behalf of client, completing forms etc.
	Supported Advice Point	All of the above including: taking action on behalf of the client to move the case on e.g. negotiating on behalf of the client with third parties taking responsibility for follow up work.