Many authorities are exploring the use of Link Maker to support their commissioning practice in a number of different ways. If you would like to join the pilot, please contact us
New users are helped with clear menus, on-screen guidance and video tutorials. For further help please contact our support team who will be happy to assist.
A general guide to making the most of the pilot can be found below.
Inviting your providers
If you would like to find vacancies from known residential and fostering providers, please let them know. There is no cost to providers in using Link Maker now or in the future. Please note, SEN and semi-independent provision is not currently accommodated, but will be added in the future.
Dear provider
Our authority has decided to evaluate the use of Link Maker for sourcing placements, and we are inviting our providers to join us in this. Link Maker is a secure referrals portal that also allows you to list your vacancies for us and other authorities to find. We believe this could bring some benefits and we would welcome finding any of your vacancies in this way.
The system is free of charge for providers and you can find further information, and create an account, at www.linkmaker.co.uk
Please find a list of frequently asked questions enclosed. If you have any queries about how our local authority is piloting Link Maker, please contact us. For any help with the system itself please contact Link Maker directly on 0843 886 0040 or [email protected]
Download the FAQ for providers here, if you would like to include it in an email
Involving your team
Once created online, a child's case can be shared with anyone from your authority who may need to add or edit information, review potential placements, or oversee progress. Managers, commissioners, placement officers and social workers can all create their own user accounts directly on the website. There is no limit to the number of user accounts for your organisation.
Specific roles can be assigned to certain users. For example, managers can be given oversight of all cases, and administrators can verify new users and manage existing accounts. Please ask a manager to contact us to set this up.
Searching for vacancies
Issuing placement requests off-framework
Initially you might choose to focus on placements that you may expect to go further for, that are less time-critical, or involve services that are harder to find. Step-down placements may be a good example. You can make a placement request available to any providers with homes or carers in geographical areas of your choice.
Issuing placement requests within frameworks
Your authority can define any number of provider groups according to frameworks, tiers, lots, or preferred provider lists. These groups are then available to your team for targeting placement requests or filtering vacancies. Providers are responsible for ensuring they are ready to receive alerts when you issue a placement request through Link Maker, and we suggest the steps below to ensure providers have every opportunity to prepare:
We suggest the following plan and message:
Dear provider
Our authority is planning to use Link Maker to issue placement requests to you, and we are giving you advanced notice of what you will need to do. There will be no cost to you in receiving placement requests this way, and we hope it will improve the efficiency and security of the process.
If placement staff do not already have user accounts on Link Maker they should register now: www.linkmaker.co.uk
We will wait for at least one month from now before issuing the first placement request through Link Maker. For at least the first month, or 4 referrals, we will also send an email to this address to inform you that a referral has been made available. When we are confident that you are receiving alerts though Link Maker, we will stop sending these additional emails.
If you have any questions about how our authority is using Link Maker please reply to this email. If you need any help with using Link Maker, please contact them directly: www.linkmaker.co.uk/contact
We suggest the following message:
Dear provider
Please note that we have just issued a placement request to you via Link Maker. You should be able to view this now through your account.
Important: If you did not receive an email alert direct from Link Maker in the past hour with a link to this referral, please review your alert settings, and contact Link Maker if you need any help: www.linkmaker.co.uk/contact
We suggest the following message:
Dear provider
Please note that following a transition period, we will now be issuing placement requests through Link Maker without sending additional emails to this address. Please ensure that your user-accounts on Link Maker are kept up-to-date, and that your alerts are turned on. For any help with this please contact Link Maker: www.linkmaker.co.uk/contact
Identifying placements in-house
If you find Link Maker an efficient way to source external placements, you may choose to use it to manage in-house capacity too. Members of your fostering team can keep detail of current vacancies (or planned vacancies) up-to-date, to be available to placement officers from your authority only. This could reduce delay in exploring in-house options, allowing more time for a wider search where necessary.
Further information
System overview - features, documents & video
