The Northern Ireland Framework for Integrated Therapeutic Care (NIFITC) for Care Experienced Children and Young People

The Northern Ireland Framework for Integrated Therapeutic Care (NIFITC) was developed in consultation with all five Health and Social Care Trusts as a result of a Review of Regional Facilities for Children and Young People in Northern Ireland (2018) recommendation to establish a single therapeutic model for residential care in Northern Ireland. This recommendation has been extended to include all care experienced children and young people.

The NIFITC aims to promote implementation of a trauma, attachment and rights-based whole system approach across diverse settings and roles, to enhance child and family resilience and recovery from the impacts of multiple adversities.

An overview of the NIFITC is available here Connecting Care: An Overview of the Northern Ireland Framework for Integrated Therapeutic Care for Care Experienced Children and Young People (2021)

NIFITC Principles and Processes

Care experienced children and young people have all experienced significant adversities and it is vital that the services and supports they require should be based on an understanding of how adversity may have affected them. In a short video here

Click to open video presentation

Dr Tom Teggart, who led the development of the NIFITC, explains how the Framework is informed by this understanding.

In summary, the NIFITC principles and processes seek to support delivery of:

• relationally focused care and interventions to care experienced children and young people and their network of caregivers;
• structured pathways to increase accessibility to holistic assessment processes ensuring children’s needs, and in particular developmental and relational trauma impacts, are reliability identified with appropriate services accessed accordingly;
• a single, shared “team around the child” network planning and review process to deliver a “one child one plan” approach to ensure seamless interfacing between all agencies;
• enhanced participatory working with children, young people, families and caregivers which maximises children’s contributions as well as those of their family and caregivers, building on strengthening and sharing decision-making
• a diverse, knowledgeable, skilful and reflective workforce, trained in trauma, attachment and therapeutic care practices, adequately resourced and supported by a range of reflective practice and wellbeing opportunities;
• a critical and reflective learning culture at the heart of all service development feeding into organisational policies, processes and everyday practices and ensuring everyone’s contribution is recognised, valued and supported.

NIFITC Core Concepts

The NIFITC incorporates four core concepts:

• Building Safety;
• Getting the Help That’s Needed;
• Developing Agency and Taking Part and
• Addressing Inequalities.

The NIFITC organises design and delivery recommendations into a series of building blocks - six system or organisational components and five practice delivery components - which aim to help Health and Social Care Trusts, agencies and practitioners provide integrated care to care experienced children and young people and their caregivers. This short video introduces the eleven Building Blocks

Click to open video presentation

Further information for Health and Social Care Trusts and partner agencies on the NIFITC building blocks is available here: Northern Ireland Framework for Integrated Therapeutic Care for Care Experienced Children and Young People: The Building Blocks (2023).