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3B — Allocation, First Contact and First Appointment

3B — Allocation, First Contact and First Appointment

The pathway from allocation through first contact and the first appointment.

3BJuly 2026

3B

About this section

  1. 3B sets out what happens once a client has been allocated to a support worker.
  2. It covers the point from allocation through first contact, the first appointment and the immediate actions after that appointment.
  3. This is the point where active Restitute support begins.
  4. The purpose is to make sure that allocation, first contact and the first appointment are timely, prepared, safe, relational, boundaried, properly recorded and connected to supervision from the start.
  5. Clients may have waited several weeks before allocation. The move from waiting list to active support should feel clear, steady and intentional.
  6. This section covers allocation handover, preparation before first contact, first contact, the first appointment and the immediate actions that must happen after that appointment.
  7. This section does not cover referral, onboarding or waiting-list management. Those are covered in 3A.
  8. This section does not cover sessions two to six or the full Six-Week Foundation Pathway. Those are covered in 3C.
  9. This section does not cover longer-term support, step-down, closure, bounce-back or long-term follow-up.

3B.1 Section-specific standards

  1. The Client Pathway Standards apply to this section. The standards below are additional requirements specific to allocation, first contact and first appointment.
  2. The allocated support worker must make first contact within 5 working days of allocation.
  3. The worker should establish the client's working-hours, contact and crisis-route arrangements during first contact or the first appointment.
  4. The first appointment triggers the immediate 3B actions: Lamplight record, risk assessment review, admin notification, assessment scheduling, assessment accuracy check where needed, weekly appointment pattern, practical organising tools, thinking time and supervision where required.

3B.2 Functional responsibilities

  1. 3B uses functional responsibilities rather than fixed job titles, recognising that teams delivering the Restitute Model can be small or large and that some people will be carrying out multiple functions.
  2. Allocation function means the person or team responsible for confirming allocation, matching the client to a support worker and ensuring allocation information is complete.
  3. Support worker function means the person allocated to begin active support with the client.
  4. Supervisor function means the person responsible for practice oversight, support, challenge and risk discussion.
  5. Referral administration/admin function means the person or team responsible for updating administrative records, scheduling assessments, maintaining pathway data and arranging agreed administrative tasks.
  6. Purchasing or practical support administration function means the person or team responsible for sourcing, arranging, purchasing or coordinating delivery of agreed items, tools, services or practical support where required.
  7. Safeguarding lead function means the person or team responsible for safeguarding advice, escalation and oversight.

3B.3 What will already have happened before allocation to a support worker

  1. Before a support worker begins active support, the client will have been accepted as eligible for Restitute support, confirmed that they want the service, completed the required assessments, completed onboarding, had confidentiality, safeguarding and consent explained, and had the Lamplight risk assessment completed.
  2. The information stored in Lamplight should make clear who the client is supporting, the reason for referral, family or system pressures, risk or safeguarding information, priority indicators, the agreed safe contact route and any contact restrictions, access or communication needs, known professional involvement, conflict-of-interest considerations, urgent deadlines and the date of the onboarding or baseline assessment.
  3. If key allocation information is missing, unclear or unsafe, the worker must raise this with the allocation function or supervisor before proceeding, or ensure that this information is captured during first contact where it is safe and appropriate to do so.

3B.4 Preparation before first contact

  1. Before contacting the client, the support worker must review the relevant Lamplight record, including referral and onboarding information, assessments, risk and safeguarding, priority, safe-contact arrangements, professional involvement and any recorded access or communication needs.
  2. The worker should review assessment scores before the first appointment to understand what appears to be causing most pressure.
  3. The worker should check the agreed safe contact route and any communication needs. The first appointment should normally be by video where this is appropriate and workable for the client.
  4. Where the worker or Delivery Site is new to the Restitute Model, the worker should let the supervisor know about the first appointment and arrange a brief supervision discussion for after first contact.
  5. Where there are risks or concerns about the client, the support worker should let the supervisor know about the first appointment and arrange a brief supervision discussion for after first contact.

3B.5 Making first contact

  1. The allocated support worker must make first contact within 5 working days of allocation.
  2. First contact should introduce the support worker, confirm that the client is still ready to begin support, offer or agree the first appointment, explain what the first appointment will broadly cover, check whether anything urgent has changed since onboarding, and avoid turning first contact into a full support session.
  3. The client should understand who the worker is, why they are contacting them, and what will happen next.
  4. The worker should offer clear appointment options wherever possible and avoid vague arrangements that leave the client uncertain.
  5. The first appointment should normally be by video where this is safe, accessible and workable for the client. If video is not used, the reason should be recorded.
  6. Example wording and templates for first contact, first appointment confirmation and first appointment reminders are held in Appendix C.
  7. If the client does not respond after allocation, the worker must follow the agreed no-response process, use the relevant Appendix C wording or template where helpful, avoid repeated uncontrolled contact attempts, consider whether risk, safeguarding or vulnerability requires supervision before closure, and record contact attempts and decisions in Lamplight.
  8. If the client misses the first appointment, one alternative appointment should be offered. Example wording and templates are held in Appendix C.
  9. If there is still no response after the alternative appointment or follow-up route, the final no-response process must be followed and recorded in Lamplight. Example wording and templates are held in Appendix C.

3B.6 First appointment

  1. The first appointment is the first active support session.
  2. It should help the client begin to feel known, supported and less alone, while also beginning to move from overwhelm into structure.
  3. The worker should take time to build trust, show empathy, listen carefully and help the client feel that they are being taken seriously.
  4. Emotional support and practical structure should both be present from the start. The first appointment should not become an unstructured emotional download with no plan, but it should also not become a task-based call with no warmth or reassurance.
  5. The first appointment should not be treated as an assessment interview.
  6. The worker should allow enough space for the client to explain what is happening now, without encouraging them to repeat every detail if that is not needed.
  7. The worker should listen carefully, respond with empathy, begin reducing guilt and self-blame where the client expresses it or it is clearly shaping their response, and start identifying practical pressures, urgent tasks, key professionals, risk issues and immediate next steps.
  8. The client should already have had confidentiality and safeguarding explained during onboarding. The support worker should remind the client if needed, particularly where new risk, harm or safeguarding concerns arise.
  9. The worker should ask about professionals involved with the client, the survivor or the wider family where relevant and record these details in Lamplight.
  10. Professional contact details, consent and any contact made must be recorded in Lamplight.

3B.7 First six-week appointment pattern

  1. Where possible, the worker should arrange the next five weekly appointments at the first appointment.
  2. The appointments should be at the same time and day each week where possible.
  3. If this is not possible, the worker should agree the next appointment and an intended weekly rhythm.
  4. This creates structure and helps the client feel that support is planned and prioritised, rather than fitted around other pressures.

3B.8 Practical organising tools and controlled practical arrangements

  1. Many clients begin support overwhelmed by multiple urgent and important demands.
  2. Practical organising tools help reduce pressure by moving tasks out of the client's head and into a visible structure.
  3. After the first appointment, the worker should arrange for the client to receive a diary and notebook when the client is carrying multiple dates, appointments, deadlines, tasks or worries, or says they are struggling to keep track. These are client-facing organising tools for the client and family. They are not the worker’s controlled record.
  4. The diary can help the client hold appointments, deadlines and commitments. The notebook can help the client create a broad, unfiltered list of what needs doing, fixing, thinking about or sorting.
  5. The worker should explain that carrying everything in their head is exhausting and that the list can include small issues as well as major concerns. The worker should help the client separate urgent tasks from important tasks over the first few sessions.
  6. Where the worker identifies that an item, tool, service or practical support may be needed, the worker should not purchase or arrange it alone.
  7. The worker should ask the referral administration/admin function, purchasing function or another agreed function to source the item, arrange delivery, contact the provider or complete the purchase.
  8. This ensures that at least two people are involved in any material transaction.
  9. Any item, service or practical support must follow the relevant practical support, grant-making, approval and recording requirements.

3B.9 Assessment accuracy after a long wait

  1. The support worker must check the date of the initial onboarding/baseline assessment when support starts.
  2. If more than 8 weeks have passed, wellbeing, carer confidence and health assessments must be re-run as soon as possible, usually in the first or second appointment.
  3. The purpose is to make sure support starts from accurate, current information.
  4. Finance assessment is completed once only and should not be repeated if already completed. If finance was not completed at onboarding/baseline, it should be completed as soon as possible after support starts.
  5. If reassessment is delayed because the client’s immediate support needs take priority, the reason must be recorded in Lamplight.

3B.10 After the first appointment

  1. After the first appointment, the support worker must record the appointment in Lamplight, review the existing risk assessment, record new or changed risk, safeguarding or priority information, notify the referral administration/admin function that support has started, check assessment accuracy after a long wait, check finance assessment status, confirm the weekly appointment pattern, arrange diary/notebook tools where needed, route practical items through the agreed function, identify issues for supervision, and use or record thinking time where needed.
  2. The first appointment triggers the assessment timetable. The support worker must notify the referral administration/admin function that support has started so the 6-week, 12-week and 30-week assessments can be scheduled.
  3. Example internal wording and templates for notifying the referral administration/admin function are held in Appendix C.
  4. After the first appointment, the support worker must review the existing Lamplight risk assessment.
  5. The risk assessment must be updated where the first appointment identifies new or changed risk, safeguarding concerns, escalation needs, priority indicators, or significant changes in the client, survivor, family or professional context.
  6. Any significant or unclear risk must be discussed with the supervisor.

3B.11 Thinking and reflective formulation

  1. Support work in the Restitute Model requires active thinking time.
  2. Workers must not treat support as a sequence of calls, messages, tasks and Lamplight entries only.
  3. Thinking time is legitimate work and should be recorded using the Thinking category in Lamplight.
  4. After the first appointment, the worker should think about what the client is carrying, what appears most urgent, what practical action could reduce pressure, what needs supervision, and what the first few weeks should focus on.

3B.12 Supervision after first appointment

  1. The support worker must contact their supervisor after the first appointment where the delivery service is new to the Restitute Model, the worker is new to the model, the case is complex, risk or safeguarding concerns have been identified, the worker is unsure about the next step, the client's needs appear to exceed the worker's confidence or capacity, or the worker feels triggered, overwhelmed or pulled into over-involvement.
  2. In a new Delivery Site or early implementation period, first appointments should be routinely discussed in supervision until the supervisor is satisfied that the worker is applying the model safely and consistently.
  3. Supervision after first appointment should help the worker make sense of the case, identify risk and uncertainty, avoid over-involvement, plan the next appointment, identify practical action, identify safeguarding or escalation routes, identify where another agency is needed, and reflect on the impact of the work on the worker.
  4. Any agreed client actions from supervision must be recorded in Lamplight where they affect the client pathway or support plan.
  5. Example internal wording and templates for supervisor notification after first appointment are held in Appendix C.

3B.13 Appointment boundaries, crisis contact and contact outside appointments

  1. The worker should explain that planned appointments are where most support work takes place.
  2. The worker should make sure the client knows the worker’s usual working hours and the agreed contact route between appointments.
  3. The worker should explain that unscheduled calls may not be answered because workers are often with other clients. Email, text or WhatsApp may be a more reliable way to make contact between appointments where this is an approved route.
  4. The worker should encourage the client to write down non-urgent issues so they can be discussed at the next appointment.
  5. The client must be told what to do in an emergency or crisis, including 111 option 2, police/999, safeguarding routes or any locally agreed urgent support route.
  6. Workers should not create a pattern of contact they cannot maintain, including routine messages outside their working hours.
  7. If a client makes frequent contact outside appointments, repeatedly presents issues as urgent, or struggles to hold appointment boundaries, the worker should discuss this in supervision.
  8. Supervision should consider whether the contact pattern reflects risk, distress, trauma response, isolation, practical confusion, dependency, unclear boundaries or a need for a revised communication plan.
  9. High levels of contact outside appointments should not be treated as nuisance behaviour. Some clients may have had very little consistent support, may not be used to being valued, and may be lonely, isolated or living with long-term hardship.
  10. Where frequent contact reflects isolation, loneliness, low confidence or lack of ordinary support, the worker should consider practical steps that help the client rebuild connection and routine, including safe community activity, hobbies, volunteering, work, friendships or structured weekly activities where these are safe, wanted by the client and fit their circumstances.
  11. Significant contact outside appointments, crisis contact, safeguarding concerns and agreed boundary plans must be recorded in Lamplight.

3B.14 Record keeping and Lamplight requirements

  1. The first-contact record should show the allocation date, contact date and method, outcome, appointment offered or agreed, safe-contact and communication needs, urgent changes, supervision required and any follow-up.
  2. The first appointment record should show key issues raised, urgent and important tasks, professional contacts and consent, safeguarding or risk concerns, risk assessment review, practical tools or items arranged, weekly appointment pattern, working-hours/contact-boundary information, admin notification, assessment scheduling, assessment accuracy action where needed, and supervisor discussion required or completed.

3B.15 Appendix references

  1. Example wording and templates for common 3B communications are held in Appendix C.
  2. 3B should be read alongside the Client Pathway Standards, including the standards on Lamplight, case transfer and handover, lead-carer/child-centred practice, the Client Pathway Standards and Practice Audit and Spot-Check Pack, and relevant safeguarding and digital safeguarding requirements.

3B.16 What must stay the same and what can change locally

  1. The Restitute Model needs to be delivered consistently, even when it is used in different places.
  2. Local Delivery Sites may adapt local arrangements where this does not change the model.
  3. Local changes must not remove key safeguards, weaken recording requirements, bypass safeguarding, remove supervision, or allow support to become unstructured.
Component Fixed requirement Can vary locally Not acceptable
First-contact SLA Allocated support worker must contact client within 5 working days of allocation. Which approved communication route is used, based on agreed safe contact route. No monitored first-contact standard.
Pre-contact preparation Worker must review relevant information held in Lamplight before first contact. How the worker makes notes for their own preparation. Contacting the client with no review of the case information.
Functional roles Allocation, support worker, supervision, referral administration/admin, purchasing/admin and safeguarding functions must be assigned. Job titles and team structure. Assuming a smaller site can ignore a function because it does not have the same staff structure as Restitute Core Team.
Relational first contact First contact should be warm, calm and personal. The worker should introduce themselves clearly and explain what happens next. Individual wording and style. A cold, transactional or rushed first contact.
Contact route Worker must use the agreed safe contact route and follow approved digital safeguarding arrangements. Email, phone, text, WhatsApp or other approved route. Using unapproved routes or allowing out-of-appointment contact to replace planned support.
Appointment boundaries The client should know working hours, the agreed safe contact route, emergency routes and that planned appointments are where most support work happens. Local wording, emergency signposting and approved communication route. Unclear boundaries, routine out-of-hours contact, or uncontrolled unscheduled calls.
High-contact clients Frequent contact outside appointments should be treated as a boundary, risk and supervision issue, not as nuisance behaviour. Local supervision route and communication plan format. Labelling the client as a nuisance or allowing contact outside appointments to replace support.
Video contact Video should normally be preferred for support sessions where this is safe, accessible and workable for the client. Platform used, if approved and safe. Avoiding video by habit or convenience without recording a reason.
First appointment First appointment should build the relationship, listen, contain, identify urgent pressures and begin task focus. Exact structure and length within reasonable boundaries. Unstructured emotional download with no plan, or purely task-based call with no relational support.
Weekly foundation pattern Worker should arrange the next five weekly appointments at the first appointment where possible. Exact appointment times and local scheduling. Loose or ad hoc appointment rhythm without reason.
Assessment accuracy after long wait If more than 8 weeks have passed since onboarding/baseline, wellbeing, carer confidence and health must be re-run as soon as possible, usually in the first or second appointment. Whether this happens in appointment one or two, depending on client presentation. Starting support from stale baseline information without checking whether anything has changed.
Finance assessment Finance is completed once only. Complete it at start of support only if it was not completed at onboarding/baseline. Timing within early support if it was missed previously. Repeating finance unnecessarily where it has already been completed.
Professional contacts Worker should identify relevant professionals and obtain consent before contact unless safeguarding/legal exceptions apply. Which professionals are relevant. Local agency routes. Contacting professionals without consent or lawful safeguarding reason.
Client-facing diary/notebook tools Client-facing organising tools should be offered when the client is carrying multiple dates, tasks or worries, or says they are struggling to keep track. Lamplight remains the controlled worker record. Local equivalent tools or digital alternatives. Leaving overwhelmed clients with no practical organising method.
Purchasing / material transactions Worker identifies the need, but the admin or agreed purchasing function sources, arranges or purchases items/services so that two people are involved in material transactions. Local purchasing route, supplier process and approval route. Worker independently purchasing or arranging material support without the agreed control route.
Risk assessment Worker must review the Lamplight risk assessment after the first appointment and update it where the first appointment identifies new or changed risk, safeguarding concerns, escalation needs, priority indicators or significant changes in context. Local review route or supervisor discussion route. Risk held only in memory, informal notes or messages.
Admin notification Worker must notify admin/referral administration when support starts so 6-week, 12-week and 30-week assessments can be scheduled. Local admin route. Assessments missed because active support start was not communicated.
Thinking time Thinking and reflective formulation are legitimate work. How thinking time is scheduled and recorded locally. Treating support as only calls, messages, tasks and Lamplight entries.
Supervision First appointment must be discussed in supervision where site/worker is new, case is complex, risk is present or worker is unsure. Whether this is immediate debrief, scheduled supervision or supervisor check-in. New workers or new sites handling first appointments without supervision oversight.
Safeguarding Any safeguarding concern identified during first contact or the first appointment must pause the normal pathway where needed and be handled through the agreed safeguarding route. Local thresholds, referral routes and consultation arrangements. Using the Restitute Model instead of local safeguarding procedures, or continuing normal pathway movement where safeguarding makes that unsafe.
Record keeping Key pathway information must be recorded in Lamplight. Use of a local pathway tracker for operational oversight, provided Lamplight remains the controlled client record. Key information held only in emails, messages, paper notes or memory.

3B.17 Audit and spot-check resource

  1. The 3B audit and spot-check checklist is held in the Client Pathway Standards and Practice Audit and Spot-Check Pack.
  2. The checklist may be used for supervision, Lamplight record review, pilot-site review, quality assurance or learning after a concern, complaint, safeguarding issue or pathway breakdown.
  3. It is not completed for every client. Lamplight remains the controlled client record.
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